Friends House wins venue award

‘As a Quaker venue, Friends House has always been a place for inclusion.'

Friends House has won the ‘Best Venue for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ award at the London Venue and Catering Awards 2023.

The award was ‘a testament to all the work, training and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives’ put in place, said a statement from the Quiet Company.

‘As a Quaker venue, Friends House has always been a place for inclusion. This led to hosting many diverse groups and organisations, including peace, independence and Civil Rights movements. In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi gave his first public speech in London in our auditorium. In December 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was introduced at a lunch reception in Friends House by Bayard Rustin, a Quaker and Civil Rights activist.’

Friends House aims to be inclusive and accessible in practical ways, it said, with signs for autism awareness on hand-driers; gender-neutral toilets available; two accessible lifts with voice announcements and hearing loops; enhanced lighting to aid the visually impaired; and accessible toilets available on every floor.

The award follows discussion on social media earlier in the year, when it was pointed out that Friends House does not have a ‘Changing Places’ toilet for people with disabilities that require extra equipment and more space. The comments followed Esther Loukin’s Swarthmore Lecture on disability campaigning at Yearly Meeting in May. Co-founder of Reasonable Access, Esther Loukin highlighted a website with a Changing Places map. Over a quarter of a million people require this type of toilet to allow them ‘to get out and enjoy activities that people without these accessibility needs take for granted’, according to the Changing Places Consortium, which campaigns for more of these facilities in public places.

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