Communities

Community Access Scheme

The Community Access Scheme (CAS) offers free entry and support for community groups to visit and explore the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. We do this by training up group leaders to develop and deliver visits for their groups.

We have been delivering CAS since 2012, with our network growing to over 350 partners across our palaces. In 2022, over 7,000 people have visited our palaces through CAS.

The scheme includes:

• A compulsory Group Leader Training designed to inspire and support group leaders to plan and lead visits for their groups to the palaces.
• Free tickets for community groups to the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens for up to one year.
• Support from the Community Partnerships team to help group leaders engage their groups with the palace's stories, collections and historic spaces.
• Discounted entry tickets for group members to return to the palace independently after their initial group visit.

How can I join CAS?

CAS membership is open to local community groups who would not normally visit our palaces or see it as a place of interest for them. They often experience real or perceived barriers to visiting our sites.

Groups join CAS at their local palace:

• CAS Tower of London: Tower Hamlets, City of London, Southwark, Newham, and Enfield
• CAS Hampton Court Palace: Surrey, Kingston, Richmond, Hounslow, Merton, Wandsworth, Sutton, and Lambeth
• CAS Kensington Palace: Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Brent, and Ealing
• CAS Hillsborough Castle and Gardens: local community

Group leaders must attend a training session and sign a service level agreement.
Our next training sessions will be in 2024, please email communities@hrp.org.uk to register your interest.

How do I visit and book with my group?

CAS group leaders should email us to arrange a group visit. We ask for a minimum of three-weeks notice to book your visit and is dependent on ticket availability, staff capacity and opening hours. Email communities@hrp.org.uk.

What do I need to plan for my visit?

Information on getting to our palaces and access needs can be found below. 

Tower of London
Hampton Court Palace
Kensington Palace
Hillsborough Castle and Gardens

Resource guides to help plan and make the most of your visit can be found below. 

Further information on our Community Access Scheme at the palaces can be found at the links below. 

Sensory Palaces

For nearly a decade, our Sensory Palaces programme has enabled people living with dementia and their companions to explore our palaces’ stories and spaces using their senses. Together, we have evidence the positive impact of heritage, storytelling and creativity on participants’ mental health and wellbeing.

Sensory Palaces will be on a short break from January 2024. Our team plans to launch a refreshed programme that will enable more people to access our stories and spaces, more independently in spring 2024.

Benefits of Sensory Palaces

In 2017/18, the University of Salford Institute for Dementia evaluated the benefits of Sensory Palaces on people living with dementia and companions and the impact of heritage setting on their experience.

‘The impact on well-being for care supporters and the person living with dementia was considerable… participants experienced high levels of enjoyment and attending the sessions impacted positively on individual well-being.’ (link) Download Sensory Palaces evaluation summary report. (link)

Download Sensory Palaces evaluation summary report.

Download Sensory Palaces evaluation full report.

Contact the Communities team

If you wish to speak to us about becoming a partner or want to find out more about how we can work with your community group, please contact the team at communities@hrp.org.uk