Stagetext, a Colchester-based deaf access charity, has received a £20,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund.
The funding will go towards a community outreach project raising awareness of deaf access to arts and culture in the South East of England.
The project will see Stagetext’s team of ambassadors build relationships with deaf groups and deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing people across the area to spread the word about accessible events.
Stagetext says approximately 4.3 million, or one in three, people in the South East are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing and could benefit from captions and subtitles at live events in theatres, museums and other cultural venues.
Melanie Sharpe, CEO of Stagetext, said the charity’s research found 77% of people are in favour of venues offering more deaf accessibility via captioning and live subtitled performances and events to deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing audiences.
“By helping to spread the word about theatre captions and live subtitles for museum talks and tours, we can bring more people to arts and culture,” Sharpe said. “It’s not only transformative for those that are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, but it makes economic sense for the venues too.”