Sight Loss Councils Scotland has launched a pioneering new training initiative that is reshaping how cultural organisations understand and support visually impaired audiences.
In partnership with Glasgow Life and the world-renowned Celtic Connections festival, Sight Loss Council members delivered Visual Impairment Inclusion and Sighted Guiding training for the very first time to Glasgow Life staff ahead of the festival, marking a major milestone in Scotland’s journey toward truly inclusive arts and culture spaces.
Putting lived experience at the heart of training
Sight Loss Councils, delivered in Scotland by Sight Scotland, Sight Scotland Veterans and Visibility Scotland and funded by Thomas Pocklington Trust, are regional groups led by blind and partially sighted volunteers that use lived experience to tackle the things that really matter to blind and partially sighted people, every day.
The training, delivered to festival staff, placed lived experience front and centre. Instead of traditional training models, the council members shared the barriers they navigate every day and their approach for inclusive practices. This model of training ensures that accessibility isn’t just a box to tick, but rather shaped by real needs, real challenges, and real people. And by having lived experience individuals delivering and designing training we begin driving a meaningful, more authentic understanding of accessibility across Scotland’s cultural sector.
You can watch our audio described video of the day at the link below.
Putting training into action at Celtic Connections
Following the training sessions, Sight Loss Council members then carried out a “secret shopper” accessibility check at the Celtic Connections festival. This allowed members to test the festival’s accessibility, provide feedback and highlight the positives for the event.
Members also enjoyed exclusive behind-the-scenes access with award-winning piper Ross Miller and his band, an experience that highlighted how simple adjustments can create powerful moments of inclusion. The visit included a touch tour of the instruments on stage and access to the soundcheck as a pre-event preview designed with visually impairment in mind.
You can watch our audio described video chat with Ross Miller at the link below.
A blueprint for an inclusive future
Morag Faichney, a Sight Loss Council member from Dumfries, captured the importance of such experiences, noting that “people might feel excluded because there are not options for anything like this.” Her words underline why inclusive opportunities matter as they transform not just access, but going beyond into a new way of experiencing an amazing event like this.
This collaboration showcases what is possible when cultural organisations, partners, and lived experience communities work together. It is a model of how Scotland’s cultural sector can break down barriers, rethink traditional approaches, and create a new standard of making spaces accessible to everyone.
With initiatives like this, we're helping to redefine inclusion, not as an add on, but as a vibrant and exciting part of Scotland’s culture.
Find out more on our pages below
Sight Loss Councils Scotland
Learn about Scotland's Sight Loss Council (SLC) and how to join.
Accessible Venues
Accessible venues are essential to ensure people with visual impairment can enjoy events, concerts and performances.