Earlier this year, we had the privilege of working with the Paralympics Heritage Trust to create audio descriptions for their recent exhibition.
Warwickshire Vision Support were approached by the Paralympics Heritage Trust to help them with an exhibition being held at Warwick’s Market Hall Museum.
The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of British Blind Sport (BBS), and their work in supporting visually impaired people’s participation in sport.
Dr Sam Goldstone-Brady from Paralympics Heritage Trust arranged a number of workshops at Warwick Museum, where exhibits were available to be handled and discussed, the idea being for visually impaired people to help with the audio description of display items.
Our Community Engagement Officer, Martyn Parker, who attended the workshops, along with several of our service beneficiaries, explained,
“We were given several items to examine, including a goalball ball, Team GB shirt and skiing gloves. We described them physically, and talked about the emotional impacts and personal memories they triggered in us. We also had a thought-provoking discussion around the positive effects of taking part in sport on mental and physical wellbeing.”
Sam recorded the sessions and used the results to write the scripts for the audio description on each item, giving the descriptions much more context and authenticity.
Sam commented on the workshops:
“Running the inclusive co-created audio-description workshops with Warwickshire Vision Support members this summer was a great experience. It’s key to the National Paralympic Heritage Trust’s mission to work directly with disabled people to help make museums more accessible and inclusive spaces. We are very excited to share British Blind Sport’s local and national histories, supported by local blind and partially sighted people.”
Once inside, you discover the inspiring stories of blind and partially sighted athletes who’ve overcome barriers, broken records and redefined what’s possible, including:
- a London 2012 Paralympic torchbearer
- one of the first visually impaired Nordic skiers for Paralympics GB
- the first blind woman to swim the English Channel
Featuring sensory installations, film extracts, and audio descriptions via QR codes, this is an exhibition that brings stories to life in powerful, accessible ways.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a sports fan; the stories celebrating human resilience and the artefacts for you to see mean there’s something here for everyone.
We’re proud to have supported the exhibition’s audio accessibility, helping to ensure everyone can enjoy and engage with the experience.
A big ‘thank you’ to everyone who helped to put this event together.
The exhibition runs until March 2026 at Warwick’s Market Hall Museum.