Background

Understanding Our Area – People and Places was a cross-community project supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme. It set out to increase the understanding and expression of our culture and history, our people and places, through museum collections, historic sites and cultural heritage using interpretation, arts and multimedia to create a peace building legacy. The initiative is part of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s PEACE IV Local Area Action Plan, funded by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, which is providing £3.8 million for community projects across the borough.

Between 2017 and 2020, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services supported a range of community-led projects, along with a range of events, showcases and resources exploring the history of the Causeway area.

Accessible Heritage – Glenshane Care Association

Glenshane Care Association, based in Dungiven, are a cross-community group of adults with physical and/or learning disabilities. Their Accessible Heritage project enabled them to learn about local heritage and history while gathering information relating to the accessibility of the sites they visited.

Participants were keen to have a pre-visit talk about the history of the site and, where possible, this was delivered by other groups taking part in the Understanding Our Area programme: representatives from Hervey Heritage Group, Mountsandel Discovery and Heritage Group, Carey Historical Society, Kilrea Development Committee, Portrush Heritage Group and Dromboughil Community Association all shared their specialised knowledge with the group. In turn, Glenshane Care Association were able to share their own experiences with Museum Services.

Bringing together their own finds and those of the Accessible Heritage – RNIB project, Glenshane Care Association produced an accessibility report for the managers of heritage sites outlining their own experiences and suggestions of how accessibility might be improved. They also contributed to the Accessible Heritage Guide produced by in partnership with the Accessible Heritage – RNIB project.

Hardcopies of the Accessible Heritage Guide are free and can be picked up from Visitor Information Centres across the Borough, or by contacting Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services through this website.

A digital copy of the accessibility report for site managers and the Accessible Heritage Guide may be downloaded from RESOURCES.