Directory of Writers' Circles,
Courses and Workshops

Shape -
Shape is the country's leading disability arts organisation. Please visit their website for all the latest news, events, workshops etc.
www.shapearts.org.uk

Abletogo Travel & Lifestyle - www.abletogo.biz Accessible Holidays, Travel Information, Online Shopping, Equipment, Advice and much, much more for elderly and disabled people, their families and friends.

Beds Garden Carers - If you live around Bedfordshire in the UK the Beds Garden Carers site will inform you of resources, events and projects in the area, including the Disability Awareness Day (18.6.03). If you are interested in helping with their book of stories and poems which they are publishing in June 2004 please contact them:
Beds Garden Carers (BGC), Kingsway House, 13 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ, UK.
Tel: 01234 352899/352887
Fax: 01234 357981
URL: www.bedsgardencarers.org.uk

BAMBI - Braille and Moon Book Initiative

Enable me 2 - A key site for disabled people

EuroBility.com

National Blind Children's Society

Print to Braille - Click here for details of services offered by Braille Transcription UK.

St Dunstans - Caring for blind ex-service men and women

Whizz-Kidz or phone 020 7233 6600.

Writability

Access for Deaf People

Access for deaf people to museums and galleries is a new report from Deafworks, written with a grant from the Arts Council. It gives advice on how to make art galleries and museums more 'deaf-user friendly'. It costs £5 (cheque payable to Nicholas Callow).
Deafworks, 59 Banner Street, Clerkenwell, London EC1Y 8PX, tel: 020 7689 0033, fax: 020 7689 1049, textphone: 020 7689 1048, email: general@deafworks.co.uk

NWDAF Online

North West Disability Arts Forum has launched its new website. Using accessible design, this site includes news and previews of work. www.nwdaf.co.uk

Talking Books

Sue Townsend, of Adrian Mole fame, is leading a campaign to raise money for talking books for the blind with a new anthology featuring work by fellow writers such as Louis de Bernieres and Frederick Forsythe. Sue, who was recently registered blind, wrote the foreword to Sightlines, published by Vintage. Editors P D James and Harriet Harvey Wood persuaded more than 50 writers, including Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, Ruth Rendell and Joanna Trollope, to contribute without payment. Profits go to the Royal National Institute for the Blind's £3.3m Talking Books Appeal.

Thanks to Writers' News November for this piece.

The Royal National Theatre, London

The Royal National Theatre has published its Access Guide, a comprehensive booklet detailing the full range of its facilities for disabled people. A 44-page publication, which includes detailed maps of all areas of the building, it is published in large print, as well as in Braille and audio tape formats, and is available online at www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/access

National Organization on Disability

Based in Washington DC.Web Accessibility Initiative

An organisation dedicated to making the web more usable for people with disabilities. See their website for details.

CAST

The organisation CAST intend to expand educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

HAVE YA HEARD ONLINE
www.hyhonline.com
A site for, by or featuring individuals who are uniquely-abled.

The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries

The Disability Directory of Museums and Galleries has been published by Resource, the new strategic agency working with and for museums, archives and libraries in the UK. It gives advice and best practice for making collections and services accessible to all.

Tel: Resource publications 020 7243 1444
URL: www.resource.gov.uk

Disabled Artists Database

Full Circle Arts has established the Disabled Artists Support Agency (DASA), an online searchable database of disabled artists and organisations, training courses, employment opportunities and advice.

URL: www.full-circle-arts.co.uk

Newsletters/books etc.

Thanks to the Scottish Arts Council for the last two items which were in their excellent newsletter. Contact them for more information about resources in Scotland. Their newsletter, The Information Bulletin, is available in large-print format.

Email: giulio.romano@scottisharts.org.uk
Tel: 0131 226 6051
Fax: 0131 225 9833
Giulio Romano, Information Officer, The Scottish Arts Council, 12 Manor Place, Edinburgh EH3 7DD

"A Special Child in the Family" - by Diana Kimpton
www.specialchild.co.uk

South East Arts Board Newsletter

Arts News is available in large print. It is also available on their website www.arts.org.uk/sea and, on request, in Braille or audiotape versions. Telephone 01892 507200 Fax: 0870 2421260 or email: jean.pain@seab.co.uk

The Disability Herald

A new and informative newsletter. You can subscribe online. See the website

North West Arts Board Newsletter

NW Arts newsletter, The Information Digest, is now available on tape thanks to the work of the RNIB Transcription Service. Anyone interested in accessing the Digest via this method, please contact Helen Grady at NWAB Tel 0161 827 9212. For more details email info@nwarts.co.uk or visit the website.