6 days ago
Broken lift bars disabled visitors from Wimbledon theatre
"They are ignoring us. It is like we are invisible," says campaigner Gina Vettese outside New Wimbledon Theatre as crowds arrived for War of the Merton Centre for Independent Living (CIL) gathered in front of the venue to call for action over the theatre's only accessible lift, which had been temperamental before it finally stopped working in March this then, wheelchair users and people with mobility issues have been turned away from performances because they are unable to get inside the south-west London theatre.A spokesperson from New Wimbledon Theatre said they were sorry the lift was not working, and "for the frustration and inconvenience this may have caused".
Merton CIL access champion Sarah Henley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the broken lift stopped her from watching a Rock Choir show last November. "I travelled two hours to come and see a show here, and they told me to go home," she said."I had to miss out because the lift was not working," she said. "They said I could go to another theatre in Woking or wait until the lift is fixed, and that was in November last year."The theatre confirmed that it fixed the lift following that incident, before it broke again in March.
'Frankly insulting'
Chris Bull said he was also turned away earlier this year, when he visited the theatre to watch Riverdance. "They said it would be fixed sometime in August," he said. "It is no good. [The lift is] about four steps long, but people still get turned away."The campaigners said they have had no reply from the theatre despite regular attempts to contact its staff. Pippa Maslin, from Merton CIL, said their campaign began after Ms Henley's experiences in November last year. "The fact that no one told her the lift was not working in advance is quite frankly insulting," she said."This is a business that is losing our custom because they could not get a basic bit of equipment fixed in 2025."A spokesperson from New Wimbledon Theatre said they had been working with engineers "from a wide range of specialist companies" to fix the lift."The complexity of the fault has meant that this process has taken longer than anyone would have liked and has been frustrating for all involved," they said."We would like to reiterate that New Wimbledon Theatre is committed to being an accessible venue for all. "Installation of a new passenger lift will begin at the end of September, and we expect it to be fully operational by mid to late October. The new lift will have a greater capacity than the previous equipment, both in terms of weight carried and dimensions of wheelchair accommodated."We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused."
