A partnership project in Swansea that uses collections to improve representation of learning disabled people in the museum
Your Voice Advocacy (YVA) is a member-led organisation run by and for people with learning disabilities. The Dylan Thomas Centre (DTC), run by Swansea Council, operates the Love the Words exhibition and engagement programme. Together, we were awarded an Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund (EFCCF) grant by the Museums Association in 2025 for Trysori’r Geiriau – Treasure the Words.
The project developed through our long-term collaboration. YVA highlighted how people with learning disabilities don’t get the same opportunities within culture and museums as non-learning disabled people, either as visitors or within the workforce. As visitors, many may find the style and content of written information a barrier. In the UK workforce, people with learning disabilities are hugely underrepresented; many leave school without qualifications, meaning most museum jobs are out of their reach.
People with learning disabilities have skills and experience that museums are missing out on. As a partnership, we felt there was a way to address some of these inequalities. Members of the advocacy group were involved in all stages of our collaboratively made application to the EFCCF, including initial conversations with the funder prior to making a full application.
The project tackles barriers to engagement with the museum’s literature-based collection, and shares Dylan’s love of words, their sound and meaning. We’ve created paid roles at the DTC for adults with learning disabilities, supported by new posts at YVA and the DTC.
We have rethought and co-designed recruitment procedures to give fair access to placements. The placements will create better access to collections through translating interpretation into Easy Read text, and participants will learn photography skills to update and improve collection images.
Although only part-way through our project, we’ve already seen many benefits. Placements will create a portfolio of experience, and the increased confidence from gaining paid work will help participants explore future opportunities. The resources produced will benefit all visitors. We’ll also work with organisations who don’t utilise Easy Read, but have expressed an interest as audiences and collaborators.