what we learned from sendiverse
creativity, belonging and the power of inclusive arts
At The Leap, we’ve spent the last few years co-creating dozens of community festivals and cultural events across Bradford district — working with artists, neighbourhood groups, schools, and families. Through that work we noticed a pattern. While these spaces often brimmed with creativity, they were not always inclusive for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Families told us they wanted to take part but found many events overwhelming, inaccessible, or simply not designed with their needs in mind.
It was from this learning that SENDiVERSE was imagined — a festival built from the ground up to be joyful, inclusive, sensory-friendly and co-created by children, young people and families. A space where creativity and belonging could thrive together.
Listening First: Creativity Begins with Care
SENDiVERSE was not about putting on a series of activities and hoping families would come. It began with listening. We worked alongside families, community organisations, and parent networks to understand what inclusion really means in practice.
A vital partner in this process were families and children (via the parents forums (PFBA, Play and Thrive Academy, Bradford Stronger Together), and Bradford and Craven Health Partnership whose team were instrumental in helping design and promote the festival. Their insight into the needs of SEND families — and their trusted relationships with parents, carers and practitioners— helped ensure that every element of SENDiVERSE was shaped with accessibility and care in mind. In addition, The Local Offer supported everything from consultation and communication to signposting families to activities that suited their needs. Their involvement ensured the festival reached those who are too often excluded from cultural opportunities.
Across the week-long festival, over 60 free events took place in libraries, museums, community centres, public spaces and online. Each one was designed around accessibility, curiosity and care. Over 3,500 people attended SENDiVERSE events and 160 local people got involved as volunteers across Bradford and Keighley.
For example:
- “Accessible Inclusive Music Online Choir Taster Session” invited children, young people and families to sing, sign, move or simply listen in a joyful, online space — showing how digital creativity can overcome barriers of travel, anxiety or sensory overload.
- “Print & Belong: Monochrome Heritage Making” at Bradford Industrial Museum turned traditional printing into an inclusive, sensory-rich experience, where families explored textures, fabrics, and photography to make keepsakes celebrating their stories.
- At Shipley Library, “Building Imaginary Worlds” used props, soundscapes and textures to help children shape their own stories.
- The Big Bang finale at The Life Centre included quiet hours, live music, hands-on workshops, and adapted bikes — showing that celebration can be energetic and calming, playful and accessible all at once.
Each of these moments reflected what we’ve always believed: arts accessibility is not a checklist — it’s a culture of care.
Beyond Inclusion: Towards Co-Creation
SENDiVERSE wasn’t simply about welcoming SEND families into existing arts activities. It was about creating a festival with them — shaped by their insights, interests and imaginations. – 11 consultation events held, 52 Families and children consulted across a widespread geography, ethnicities and gender.
In many sessions, young people led the way. In the choir workshop, participants set the pace, rhythm and energy themselves. In the printmaking session, children and parents co-designed artworks inspired by their own heritage. At sensory play sessions in Eccleshill and storytelling workshops in libraries, facilitators followed the children’s cues rather than a rigid plan.
We learned that true co-creation means letting go of control — giving participants permission to adapt, reshape, and even redefine what the activity becomes. It’s slower, more unpredictable, but infinitely more rewarding.
Building a lasting movement for impact at scale
SENDiVERSE also achieved something remarkable that we could never have anticipated at the start: it helped to create a cultural network of more than 60 partner organisations across Bradford district — each now with greater experience and confidence in connecting arts opportunities to SEND communities.
From libraries and museums to grassroots groups, dance companies, health organisations and local charities, this network has become a shared space for learning, collaboration and innovation. Partners have exchanged training, resources and best practice, and many are already planning new projects inspired by SENDiVERSE.
This emerging network is now one of the festival’s most powerful legacies — a foundation for long-term, inclusive cultural growth in the district.
Creativity as Connection
Families told us that SENDiVERSE offered more than creative experiences — it gave them a sense of connection and belonging. Parents who previously rarely attended arts events found a place where their children could thrive and be themselves. Artists discovered new ways of working. Venues saw familiar spaces transformed into environments that genuinely welcomed everyone.
Events like “Bollywood Beats: Stories, Sticks & Dance” brought rhythm, narrative and cultural pride together; “Sensory Play” sessions in libraries became soft spaces for discovery and calm; and online activities connected those unable to attend in person. Across every corner of the district, creative participation became a bridge — linking families, the 114 artists that were involved in delivery and communities across Bradford District through shared joy.
This confirmed for us that culture is strongest when rooted in relationships. It isn’t confined to galleries or theatres — it lives in libraries, community halls and family homes, wherever people feel seen and valued.
What’s Next
SENDiVERSE has reinforced how we think about arts engagement. It reminded us that innovation begins with empathy, and that inclusion is the foundation of creativity, not an optional extra.
Looking ahead, The Leap with our communities and partners will:
- Build on the creative confidence families gained through SENDiVERSE, offering artist development and inclusive-practice training so that children and young people with SEND can continue to lead.
- Embed what worked — quiet starts, sensory-friendly settings, adaptable activities, and multiple ways to join in — into all our future programming for SENDiVERSE 2026.
- Grow our partnerships with schools, venues and community groups, working again with Bradford’s Local Offer, NHS and the new network of 60+ partners to ensure inclusive practice becomes standard across the district’s cultural offer.
- Continue capturing and sharing the stories of impact from SENDiVERSE so they can inspire others to make inclusion the heart of cultural life.
SENDiVERSE wasn’t just a festival. It was a glimpse of what a truly inclusive cultural future could look like — one where every child and family can find their creative voice and be celebrated for it.
About The Leap
The Leap is Bradford district’s community-led cultural development programme, working to ensure that everyone — regardless of background, ability or postcode — can shape and enjoy the arts. Through projects like SENDiVERSE, The Leap is helping communities build a more creative, connected and confident Bradford.
SENDiVERSE Festival 2025 has only been possible thanks to support from Arts Council England (as part of The Bradford Way programme), Big Lottery Fund, Give Bradford and Joseph Levi Foundation.
Zulf Ahmed, Executive Director
