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Oliver Tipper is the manager of Club Soda, who I interviewed recently to find out more about the club, their aims and his views on how inclusive Croydon is.
Club Soda is, as he described “a small arts organisation run by people with learning disabilities.” Their committee is made up of six adults, five of whom have a learning disability. They help to organise events, one of which is a night club event. Their team of 12 DJs, all with learning disabilities play the music on the night of different genres from easy pop, to grime and everything else in between. As well as that, they run a live music event called Soda Beat which is “London’s only regular night for musicians with learning disabilities.” He also said that “they are inclusive events and well-integrated and which is what Club Soda aims for. We want our events to be attended by a wide variety of people and so they’re open to anybody.”
Their main aim is to get more people with learning disabilities both participating in the arts, as well as attending arts events, hence increasing opportunities for them. “Events are attended predominantly by people with learning disabilities. They’re our target audience with 70-80% of the audience having a learning disability,” he said. “The group also highlights the importance of raising awareness in Croydon and elsewhere, amongst people who don’t have disabilities. [By] raising the awareness of the skills of those with learning disabilities and just raising awareness of disabilities in general, people can have a better understanding.” Other than that, they also actively try to improve accessibility in Croydon. They “support artists with learning disabilities, as well as venues in Croydon. This is so that mainstream venues become more accessible to people with disabilities and more welcoming and friendly.”
