With the launch of our brand-new Relaxed Events Programme at Historic Royal Palaces, I’m thrilled to be sharing this blog with Autism in Museums. Thank you so much for having me!
As an autistic person myself, this feels very personal. Growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I often missed out on visiting heritage and cultural spaces. School trips were out of reach, family visits were really tough, and most of the preparation fell to my parents. Back then, the idea of closing or adapting a public attraction so autistic children could visit would have felt radical.
Fast forward to 2025, and things look very different. More and more heritage sites are finding ways to welcome neurodivergent children and their families. To be part of that change now—both as a visitor and as someone creating these opportunities—means a lot to me.
So, what’s happening?
A new Relaxed Events Programme
In my role as Accessible Programming Producer at Historic Royal Palaces (the charity that cares for the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, Banqueting House and Hillsborough Castle & Gardens), I’ve been working with colleagues across our sites to launch two exciting new programmes for neurodivergent people:
- Relaxed Events for children and families [ages 5–16] at The Tower of London
Next event: Sunday 28 September - Relaxed Events for young people and adults [16+] at Kensington Palace
Next event: Sunday 16 November - And more palaces are on the horizon…
At each event, our palaces will be fully open just for you, with access to exhibitions, shops, cafés and Palace routes. We’ve made small but important changes—like adjusting lighting and sound levels—and created activities designed for each audience. Before your visit you’ll also receive a clear visual story in “easy read” English, so you and your family know what to expect from us on the day.
What to look forward to at The Tower of London
Our second Relaxed Event is coming up soon, and it’s packed with things to enjoy:
- Meet our Yeoman Warders and hear about life at the Tower. The Chief Yeoman Warder and Gaoler (pronounced jailer) will even be in their striking State Dress, ready for photos.
- Take part in an “I Spy” raven challenge and see if you can spot the Tower’s animal statues.
- Explore our powerful display of ceramic poppies, The Tower Remembers, a tribute to those who gave their lives in service.
- Step back in time with a Tudor Lord and Lady, who will share what daily life was like here hundreds of years ago.
- See the Crown Jewels in a brighter, calmed environment.
- Explore the Tower and its battlements in a low crowd, casual way.
Why this matters to us:
For me, this programme closes a circle. As a child, I rarely had access to spaces like this at all. When I was nine my family went to London and my closest view of the Tower was from a hotel nearby. I never made it out the door. Now, I get to help the wonderful teams at our sites shape them into places where families and people with additional needs can feel welcomed, supported, and able to enjoy the magic of history together. More than that however, I also get to feel supported and welcomed as a valued staff member. Though I try my best to not show it to my colleagues, it is an emotional experience!
Our staff have been training and preparing to make these events as inclusive and welcoming as possible. We’re learning all the time, and our goal is to keep accessibility at the heart of what we do, especially when our sites present some physical barriers.
At our first pilot event we had very strong feedback and even saw visitors come from the United States of America especially to visit us. This inspired us to create a Relaxed Event and Accessible Programme Mailing List so we can keep visitors up to date with our other programming and future dates. We recognise how important access to these spaces is for people and believe that history should be for everyone.
What comes next?
We are working towards new access guides and an access video for each of our sites. Hampton Court Palace was the first to launch these followed by Kensington Palace. We are also working towards more inclusive offers that centre Neurodivergent and Disabled communities such as Deaf-led tours and co-created audio-described tours with Blind and partially lind people. These offers will be rolling out in addition to our current BSL tours and other disability friendly programming.
What barriers are there to creating accessible programming?
Having access to culture and heritage sites for many Neurodivergent and Disabled people is new and so the visitor journey must look a bit different. Speaking from personal experience, I cannot see an advert on the side of a bus and automatically know this is a space I can accessibly visit, and I know that goes for lots of disabled people. A barrier is reaching communities with the work we’re doing and brining them on this journey with us. Accessibility isn’t just the events we’re hosting but also the booking process, how we market, how we speak, how we lay out our website, and how we can let people know that behind the castle walls there is a place for them!
Do you have tips for creating accessible events?
Be honest. Heritage sites can be very tricky to make fully accessible for everyone. There are spiral staircases, tight passages, low ceilings and huge shifts in light and dark. Being honest about those things is important. It gives visitors the agency to decide if this is something for them. The same goes for content. The Tower of London has an amazing but often dark history. We cannot avoid that and still be honest about history at the same time, instead of automatically assuming that those elements aren’t suitable it’s better to just be honest in pre-visit information and give visitors the choice.
You can find out more about HRP and the sites we look after here: https://www.hrp.org.uk/. I hope to see you here one day soon.
Thanks,
JJ