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Number of disabled ticket-buyers up 26% at venues allied to Attitude Is Everything charter

By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 July 2016

Music charity Attitude Is Everything says that the number of deaf and disabled fans buying tickets for festivals and venues signed up to its Charter Of Best Practice was up 26% last year.

Compiling sales data from those live music businesses which have committed to adopt best practice in making their events fully accessible, the charity says that 144,000 tickets were sold to disabled fans in 2015, compared to 114,000 the previous year. Attitude Is Everything reckons that the economic impact of these sales is worth some £7.5 million.

The increase is partly due to more venues signing up to the charity’s charter, though even removing those, the number of tickets sold to disabled audience members was still up 19,000, or 13%.

Says Attitude Is Everything CEO Suzanne Bull: “The Charter Of Best Practice is at the core of Attitude Is Everything’s activities. Each year we accredit a wide range of venues and festivals, from the biggest in the country to the smallest, and see them make a commitment to improving their access provision. Meanwhile, existing sign-ups improve what they do and move up to silver or gold status”.

She adds: “As well as encouraging innovation and best practice, this practical and straightforward process sends out an important message of inclusivity to deaf and disabled fans across the UK, who are attending live music events in ever increasing numbers. With fourteen new sign-ups in 2015, ticket sales across 103 of our charter venues and festivals contributed more than £7.5m to the UK’s music economy. Which, for those live businesses not partnering with us, begs one simple question: what are you waiting for?”