Evolving the club’s current ‘Autism Hour’, the new Inclusive Hour will take place from 3pm to 4pm every Sunday, while Wolves’ sensory stadium tours will also become inclusive under the new plans from disability access officer Laura Wright.
Among the bespoke changes which are to be implemented to make the club shop and stadium tours more inclusive, Wright has carried out training sessions with members of staff, to improve their knowledge of helping supporters who have various limitations, such as neurodiversity, visual impairment, hearing and dementia.
The changes are just a few of the progressive developments which are being put in place by Wright, which will see the club be able to cater to more people who attend Molineux with limitations.
Wright said: “When it came to the tours, I realised the word sensory was stopping a lot of people wanting to book as they thought the tours were only for sensory, so we wanted a word which would make it more inclusive.
“To make it more inclusive, we’ve had to make some changes. We also had ‘Visit Football’, the Premier League’s mystery shopper, come here and give us tips on what to do for the next season. For example, they said that our labels are quite small to read in the shop, so I’m going to put a basket of magnifying glasses in the shop as an alternative solution to that issue.
“We’ve been working alongside the Alzheimer’s Society, and they’ve told us how we should set the shop up to be more dementia friendly. We’ve also made sensory changes to the lighting and the sound, and we have British Sign Language interpreters, who are going to be available on matchdays.
“The tours are a little bit trickier, but all we can do is try. As well as the BSL interpreters, we’ve also increased the ‘touchy-feely’ exhibits for visual impaired people, so we’ll have match balls which they can hold as well as the old style of boots with the laces, they can also feel those.
“For sensory, I ask the tour guides to think about the five senses and explain the sorts of smells and tastes they might smell and taste. It’s making things bespoke and as inclusive as possible.”
Being progressive and trying new things can sometimes be difficult, but Wright admits the staff she has been working with regarding the retail and museum operations at Wolves have really bought in to making the club accessible to all, although she understands the changes are just part of an ongoing process.
“It’s been quite easy really,” she added. “I’ve done all the training for it, passed that on to the shop manager and ancillary manager and they’ve cascaded that down to all of their staff. Now, we’re relying on the staff to do it and take all the information in and put it into practice.
“They’ve understood the importance of it based on their training, and there is a lot of them coming to me and asking me questions, which is really good to see, and I encourage questions from other staff because that means they’re interested in it.
“It will be a big change and will give supporters more confidence to use the facilities we’ve got. We’ve already seen confidence building on a matchday and more and more people with challenges in their lives come to games now. Some of them don’t like to see their challenges as a disability and sometimes it’s a limitation, but if we give them the options, it’s not a limitation anymore and they are just accepted.
“There are so many different disabilities, and as a club we’re trying to get everybody to feel welcome, regardless of your challenges in life, and so far, it’s working.”
