At the top of the South Stand, in the far west corner, the Club’s Sensory Room offers a full view of the pitch with special glass to protect against the noise. It allows families that might not otherwise be able to come to watch The Bees have access to our matches. It is aimed at supporters who have sensory processing issues and that struggle to deal with the large crowds and the matchday atmosphere.
The aim is to slowly introduce supporters to the main bowl seating and matchday atmosphere with opportunities to go out at half time from the room or during the game. We hope that some supporters after time will be able feel comfortable enough to go into general admission seating. We are aware that this will not suit everyone, we also must stress that parents and carers are there to support our staff not just watch the game from this viewpoint.
It is open from 30 minutes before the match and accessed from entrance A on the corner of the south stand to the left of the box office. It has its own self-contained accessible toilet, and we provide opportunities for you to purchase food during the game and bring it up into the room. Also, if individuals need to bring their own refreshments or food this can be done, we just need to know in advance.
The room can be booked on match-by-match basis with priority going to season ticket holders and members. There is limited space in the room so booking is required, we will try and accommodate all requests to use the room subject to availability.
To book space in the Sensory Room, please contact us at [email protected] to complete an application form.
Once you have filled out the application form, a member of the Accessibility team will be in contact to follow up with your request and provide available dates.
If you have specific questions on the Sensory Room, please do get in touch with us. We can take small groups into the room of up to three people and on most matchdays there will be other supporters using the room at the same time. We ask all users to respect each other and be aware there will be a range of ages and group sizes using the room. Also, users will have a range of sensory processing issues so we will make sure our staff are on hand to support each group.
Visiting the room before a game:
We do offer opportunities on non-matchdays or before the room opens for supporters to visit the room along with their family to get an idea of the space, how it is accessed and the matchday journey from start to finish. We feel this helps some users feel more comfortable when coming to a live match and dealing with the busy matchday atmosphere.