Building Disability-Centred Creative Futures in East London, a participatory research with disabled creative practitioners.

This report began as academic research. A dissertation completed as part of my MSc in Disability Design & Innovation at UCL. 78 disabled creative practitioners across Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Waltham Forest gave their time, experience, and insight to this work, therefore the knowledge it generated belonged to the community that shaped it. The goal is to share what disabled creative communities have to say and to help shape a more inclusive and accessible creative sector, starting in East London.

What the research found

East London carries the Paralympic legacy. The infrastructure was built. The inclusion missions were written. But when disabled creative practitioners were asked about their experiences, the gap between promise and reality was significant.

• 81% found support services inaccessible.
  
• 74% found the cost of studios inaccessible.
  
• 41% felt isolated from creative communities.
  
• 38% reported people don’t understand access needs.

The report documents these findings, analyses why current inclusion efforts aren’t working, and introduces four Building Blocks for Disability-Centred Futures: a practical framework for organisations ready to move from intentions to actual change.

Download the report

The report is available in 2 formats: in colour with graphs and charts, and in black and white with a large font. If you prefer a different format, please reach out to me, and I will be happy to tailor it to your needs.

I welcome your response

This report is a tool for the sector: organisations, funders, policymakers, and disabled creative practitioners. If it’s useful to your work, or if you want to push back on what it says, I want to hear from you.

hello@aksana.work

CREDITS:

University: UCL (2025)
My role: Research design, community outreach, participatory design facilitation, data analysis, report writing, visual design & layout, accessible format production