Theatre Company Hijinx, Launch New Inclusive Online Training Course for the Events Sector

Inclusive theatre company, Hijinx is delighted to announce they are launching a new online interactive training programme Beyond Words designed to enhance communication and accessibility at events and venues with support from Welsh Government through Event Wales’ Sector Development Fund.

As an affordable online resource, organisations across the events sector will be able to easily access the Hijinx programme wherever they are based. For a small cost, it will allow a wider number of people the opportunity to learn first-hand how to make their events and venues more inclusive and enjoyable for visitors.

Hijinx has collaborated with Learning Disability Wales, Gig Buddies Cymru and Creu Cymru to develop the new online course designed to help managers and event teams make inclusion a part of both event planning and delivery.  The course offers invaluable information on ways to break down barriers experienced by people with learning disabilities, with only 12% of disabled learning-disabled adults regularly attend cultural events, compared to over 70% of the general population (Mencap, 2019).

The Beyond Words online training course builds on the success of previous in-person sessions, where participants engaged directly with Hijinx actors with learning disabilities and/or autism through fun and engaging drama-based learning activities.   The online course has been built to replicate this in-person experience, through a series of interactive, drama-based scenarios performed by the actors in short films alongside interactive activities and quizzes. Downloadable resources and guides are also available as well as practical tools to support learning.

The training is easily accessible via the Hijinx website, where individuals can take the course themselves or organisations can enrol multiple event team members at a discounted rate.

The course is in English with English and Welsh subtitles and BSL translation available. 

Co-CEO and Executive Director of Hijinx Eloise Tong said ”Whilst we are often known for our performances and actor Academies, Hijinx has won numerous awards for its training and has helped many teams across the public, private, and third sectors improve their confidence. Through taking this course participants will be able to reshape their thinking around the barriers that exist within events delivery and we hope as a result it will prompt them to reflect on their own practices and help them to create a plan for the future.

We would particularly like to thank  Welsh Government for supporting us and making Beyond Words possible, our collaborators Learning Disability Wales and Gig Buddies who enabled us to make the course as insightful and practical as possible and Creu Cymru for their support in helping us roll this training out across the sector”.