Overview

The Union Chapel is a music venue and working church, housed in a Victorian gothic building. There is step free access on the ground floor and an accessible toilet. Staff are super helpful, very friendly and extremely thoughtful. I went to see An Intimate Evening with Martin Fry and he was wonderful. Fabulous show, This was my first time going to a concert on my own since I became disabled 8 years ago, I will be honest I was a bit nervous but access is extremely well organised and as soon as I was seated I could just relax and enjoy it. It's a small music venue in a unique setting and I would highly recommend it both for accessibility and sheer delight. The concert was busy and lighting levels low, so for better photos of the Union Chapel, see my previous Euan's guide review when I visited them on an open day.

Transport & Parking

The nearest tube is Highbury and Islington which only the Overground platforms are accessible. The nearest accessible tube is King's Cross and from there you can take the bus number 30 going to Hackney Wick which stops on Upper Street very close to the Union Chapel.

Access

PRE-SHOW CONTACT Excellent. The website invites people to contact them if they have access requirements. I wrote to them at time of booking and got a quick reply back. Fabulous, quick service with clear instructions. ENTRANCE I was asked to arrive 10 minutes before the doors opened, and I arrived to join a separate access queue with just 2 people in front of me. Staff checked our bags while in the queue. The entrance has 3 steps with a hand rail. Last time I visited the ramps were in place, but this time they weren't. I was told ramps are available for anyone requiring them. When the doors opened, we were invited in first. Our names were checked off a list and a member of staff escorted us to our seats. INSIDE THE VENUE All the ground floor seating is step free. The aisles from the entrance through to the front of the church are reasonably wide and the floor slopes slightly down towards the front. Please note the upper balcony is only accessible by stairs. SEATING All seating is in church pews, which have back support and an arm rest if you are sitting by the aisle. Part of the front row is reserved for disabled people which is open so there is no getting into the pew to negotiate. It is just to the right (facing the stage) of the central block, with a fantastic, unobstructed, close up view of the stage. It is also very conveniently on the same side as the accessible toilet. When I arrived I saw that they had reserved two spaces for me. I was told if a wheelchair user did not turn up I could move along to the end of the row so would be even nearer to the stage. They explained that they always keep that space empty in case a wheelchair user just turns up. It is so lovely that a wheelchair user can be spontaneous at a concert and just turn up like everyone else without having to pre-book, and that the venue has had the thoughtfulness to include this into their routine practice. Without requesting it a member of staff offer to get me a couple of cushions one to sit on and one for my back. END OF THE SHOW The venue is small enough if you wait just a few minutes you can avoid the crowd exiting.

Toilets

There is one accessible toilet on the right hand side when facing the stage. The entrance to all the toilets are through double manual doors. These are quite heavy to open. This brings you to a small, square shaped foyer. The women's toilets are on the right and when I arrived there were people queuing in the space to use them. To the far left is the men's toilets. The accessible toilet is a self contained cubicle just to the left of the women's toilets. There is a manual door. It's a rectangular space, which maybe a bit tight for powerchair users. There are plenty of grab rails and right hand transfer. There is a red emergency cord that reaches to the ground and has a Euan's Guide red cord card on it. It's clean, tidy and well maintained.

Staff

Excellent. I can not thank the staff enough for all their assistance. From the reassuring correspondence before the event when I requested access to leaving at the end of the evening, it was a joy. When I arrived, there were plenty of staff outside. They were easy to identify and showed me where I needed to wait. They also checked my bag before I went in, so when the doors opened we could go straight in. At the entrance there were staff who checked the tickets. There was a list with names of people who had requested access and my name was checked off and I was allocated a member of staff who took me to my seat. Andy (I hope I've got his name right) was always close by. He came and checked on me a couple of times. He also invited me to move up when the show started if a wheelchair user didn't arrive so I could be closer to the stage. Another member of staff went and got me some cushions (anticipating my needs, rather than me having to ask for it, I love it when that happens) and in the interval she came back and asked me by name if I was ok. Huge, huge, huge thank you to staff for making the evening so accessible and fun.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The Union Chapel is an amazing and accessible, small concert venue. As a historic building, the staff have done all they can to make the venue as accessible as possible. The only thing which would be helpful for access is if before and after the show and at the interval the double doors leading to the toilet could be left open as it would make it a lot easier for disabled people accessing the accessible toilet. As a solo disabled visitor at all times I felt safe, relaxed and loved every minute of it. I would certainly go back and I will actively seek out going back next year. It's a marvellous space. Just book.

Photos