Sheffield IVFDF 2022 aims to be as inclusive and accessible as possible. We'll have gender-free calling at all of our events (which has been the standard for IVFDF since 2018), and we are working on an accessibility statement. All the dancing/workshop venues and many of the sleeping venues so far are wheelchair accessible and we plan to publish detailed accessibility information for all of them. If you have any questions or concerns about accessibility or inclusivity, or have any particular requirements, we'd love to hear from you - please get in touch with us.

This statement will be updated as we have more information, and we will do our best to publish updates on social media and through our newsletter. Latest update: October 2021

To download this statement in .doc format, click here. Please contact us to request any other formats.

Welcome to Sheffield IVFDF 2022! We are doing our best to ensure that this IVFDF is as accessible and inclusive as possible, and that we provide as much accessibility information in advance as possible.

If you have any queries or suggestions, please email the Accessibility Officer, Sol, at accessibility@sheffield-ivfdf.org.uk . If you want to call Sol, please email for a telephone number. A telephone number will be printed in the event programme.

Please note: We are a budget festival run by a committee of volunteers, and the Accessibility Officer works full-time. We aim to respond to emails within three working days. To help us help you, please contact us with any requirements or accommodations as far in advance of IVFDF as possible. If you contact us the day before the festival we may not be able to help you as well as we'd like to!

URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT (18:50 2022-02-26): Unfortunately the level accesss to St. Andrews URC is currently unavailable. The committee is working to get this issue resolved, however until then please keep this in mind before making your way to the venue. We apologise profusely for any inconvenience!

All our dance and workshop venues have level access and disabled accessible toilets. Not all of our sleeping venues are wheelchair accessible; this will be made clear when choosing a sleeping venue. There are unfortunately no Changing Places toilets within the SU.

Most of our venues are within the Sheffield Student's Union building and the Octagon Centre next door. You can view detailed accessibility information for the SU here and for the Octagon Centre here.

The Gallery Rooms in the SU, where some workshops will be held, are only accessible via stairs or a lift with a door width of 80 cm and internal dimensions of 122 x 134 cm. We think this will be wide enough for most standard wheelchairs but may not be for all mobility scooters. If you have a mobility scooter and want to arrange assistance transporting it between floor levels, please contact us in advance of the event.

Bar One, on the lowest level of the SU, which is sometimes used for workshops, is accessible either by lift or directly from Glossop Road. The Glossop Road entrance has a short (about 5) flight of steps and a wheelchair lift which measures 78 x 132 cm. The accessible toilet in Bar One has a door width of 86 cm.

Our other venues are:

• St Mark's Church Broomhill (sleeping venue) - Accessibility Info [PDF]
• The Broomhall Centre (sleeping venue)
• St Andrew's United Reform Church (sleeping venue and evening dance venue)

All of these are within 20 minutes' walk, and have either on-site or nearby parking.

We are working on detailed venue information with maps, photos and accessibility info for each venue - watch this space. For now we have linked to venues' own accessibility information, where it exists.

All evening dance venues, and most workshop venues, will have some seating. We will mark at least 4 seats in each venue as "priority seats" for those who are disabled, pregnant or less able to stand. If you need assistance finding seating, please speak to a steward.

The late night dancing venues and the building must be vacated by 2am. Please ensure you are out of the building by this time.

Accommodation at IVFDF is indoor camping - bring a sleeping bag and sleeping mat and sleep in a hall with other festival-goers! This is a small extra cost (usually £2-3) on top of tickets.

The sleeping venues are usually not completely dark at night - it is recommended to bring a sleeping mask and earplugs.

It is usually required to vacate sleeping venues by 7 or 8 am. Detailed information on this will be published nearer the time, but we will have at least one venue with a later kickout time, and have an option to request this as an accommodation when booking tickets.

If you need to be in a sleeping venue with a later kickout time, please ensure you select this option when booking your tickets, or if you've not done this, email us before the festival; unreserved sleeping venue spaces are "first come first served" and if you inform us of this access need on the door, we cannot guarantee you a space.

We are working on confirming the luggage policy, but please note that it is not normally possible to keep your luggage in a sleeping venue during the daytime; the usual procedure is that you have to get all of your things out of the venue by the kickout time, and take any heavy bags that you don't want to carry with you to the bag storage room. It is often not possible to access this room during the day, so please plan accordingly. Any luggage left in the bag storage room is at your own risk.

If you are unable to use indoor camping for accessibility reasons, and cannot afford a hotel, please contact us to see if we can help. We cannot promise to be able to arrange other accommodation, but we'll try our best!

The SU building is where you will need to check in. The nearest bus stop is on Western Bank and is served by bus numbers 7a, 51, 52, 52a, 257, 751a, H1, X57. There is also a bus stop below the SU on Glossop Road which is served by bus numbers 6, 30a, 120, 181, 271, 779, 781, 30, X30 and X55; however, this entrance to the SU is on a steeper slope. We would advise using Google Street View to check which entrance is most suitable.

The University of Sheffield tram stop is about a 5 minute walk; this is probably the easiest access route from Sheffield train station as there is a tram stop at the back of the train station. If you are coming by bus, the 51, 52/52a and the 120 pass closest to the coach and train station and step-free access on and off all trams and platforms.

See Travel South Yorkshire for detailed public transport information. Google Maps is also useful, but be aware that it is not always reliable at weekends.

Walking to the SU from the train/coach station takes about 30 minutes and includes steep hills.

If you need a lift to IVFDF, we encourage you to post in the IVFDF Facebook group.

If you need help arranging accessible transport from the train or coach station, please contact us.

We can offer up to 2 free tickets for PAs/carers, support workers, sign language interpreters, or anyone else who is reasonably required to provide constant support. This will be an option on our ticket booking form when it opens.

To access many of the disabled toilets you will need a Radar Key. If you do not have one, please contact us and we will arrange for you to be able to collect one.

More information to follow.

Arrival is from 4pm til 2am on Friday 25th of February. If you arrive after 2am, you will not be able to check in until Saturday morning. If you will be arriving after 2am and need sleeping venue access, please contact us.

On arrival, you will need to go to the front desk, which is at the entrance to the Octagon Centre. There, a steward will ask to see your ticket booking reference and confirm your name. You will only need your booking reference - you won't need photo ID.

You will then exchange your tickets for wristbands. Your wristband is your ticket, and will ensure access to dances and workshops, so please do not lose it. Separate wristbands will be issued for sleeping venues.

The evening dance venue on Friday will open at 7:30pm and the sleeping venue will open from 10pm. You will not be able to gain access before these times. There will be a bag storage area open from 4pm where you can store your bags until the sleeping venue opens. Any items left here are at your own risk.

The check-in desk can get very busy. If you need to arrive earlier for a quiet check-in, this is possible by arrangement only - please contact us. Please do not turn up before 4pm except by prior arrangement. If you turn up without prior arrangement and confirmation from us, you will be asked to come back later.

If you need to arrange a quiet check-in and cannot arrive before 4pm on the Friday, please contact us so we can arrange something. This may take the form of a steward meeting you outside the venue to check you in.

If you need help at IVFDF, please speak to a steward. Stewards will be identifiable by their yellow t-shirts, and there will be at least one steward at the entrance of each venue. You can also ask an on-duty committee member - we will be identifiable by lanyards.

The Students Union will also have security and first aiders who you can speak to if you have an urgent issue.

There will be a phone number in the programme to call if you need to identify the venue steward or a committee member and cannot do so visually.

The phone number of the Accessibility Officer, Sol, will be in the programme.
(accessibility@sheffield-ivfdf.org.uk)

Most of the evening dances will be well lit, with no strobe or flashing lighting. The evening dances in Uni Central and St. Mark's will be fairly brightly lit. The evening dances in the Octagon may be slightly dimmer and have gently colour-changing lighting; the Saturday evening ceilidh in particular will probably have slightly lower lighting. We hope to have a meeting with the tech team to provide more information about lighting in due course.

The Friday evening Techno Playford will have strobe, flashing and colour-changing lighting; we would advise anyone who is prone to lighting-induced seizures or sensory overload to proceed with caution. We will be running a daytime Playford workshop to ensure there are other opportunities to do this style of dance.

The Techno Playford will also have loud electronic music.

The evening dances will not have BSL interpreters, as we have consulted with people and deemed this to be of little value given that dancers are always moving. However, we may be able to provide some volunteers to interpret in-dance. If you would benefit from an in-dance interpreter, please indicate this on your accessibility needs when you purchase your ticket, or contact us. We cannot guarantee we can provide this, but we'll try! Equally, if this is something you feel able to volunteer for, please contact us.

Stewards will be equipped with pens and paper for communication, and any stewards who are fluent in BSL will wear a badge to indicate such. Stewards who choose to wear masks will be made aware that they may need to remove them to facilitate lip-reading, and where possible, anyone who cannot remove a mask will be paired with a steward who can.

We have confirmed with the SU that it will be possible to link the caller's mics to the hearing loop system in the Octagon. We are investigating whether this is possible in the other evening dance venues.

All dances and workshops are relaxed about entrance and exit times; you can come for as little or as much as you like. Please note that in our smaller venue, Uni Central, there is a small possibility that the venue will reach capacity, so you are advised to arrive on time if you wish to guarantee entrance to the dances there.

We welcome attendees who need to bring medicine, equipment or anything else to manage a medical condition, and our stewards will be briefed on this to ensure you are always allowed to bring what you need into a venue. Please contact us if you have any concerns. Please also contact us if you need to arrange regular charging for equipment, or if you need to bring in any item to manage your medical condition that might be treated suspiciously by security!

We welcome assistance dogs; information about facilities/provision to follow.

The Student's Union and Octagon Centre buildings are fitted with a Deaf Messaging System (DMS). You can find more information about this here: www.sheffield.ac.uk/efm/accessibility

To Connect

To connect to any of these devices, simply send a text message with the relevant location code to 07797 870 999

For example, To connect to DMS at the Student Union Building, simply open a new text message and type the location code 'shef11'. Send the message to 07797 870 999.

You will then get a reply confirming the connection.

To Disconnect

To disconnect from an individual building simply text STOP followed by the location code.

For example, STOP sheff11 will stop Student Union Building notifications but keep any others you are currently signed into.

To disconnect from all DMS notifications at any time, just send the word Stop and you will be removed from the whole service. Please note this will stop all notifications.

Costs

Text messages to DMS are charged at your network's standard rates and are included in 'free' text message bundles.

The two locations we are using are the Octagon sheff15 and Student Union sheff11.

We are working on further emergency evacuation information for the SU, Octagon Centre and the sleeping venues - watch this space.

There will be a quiet room available throughout IVFDF. We hope to also have a "rest room" for anyone who needs to rest during the day.

If you require an audio, large print or digital rather than print version of the programme, please contact us. We hope to also be able to offer these on the door, but please ask in advance to be safe.

It's generally fine to bring food into the venues. We are in the process of confirming if there is any food that is disallowed, but in general it's preferable not to bring in messy/smelly takeaways if you can avoid it! Please do not bring your own alcohol into the evening dance venues.