Uncurbed Collective
Our objectives
We work with disabled adults across Greater Manchester who want to take up space, lead creative lives, and reshape the cultural sector. Many of the people we support have been excluded from traditional routes into the arts, education, or leadership — not because of a lack of talent, but because of inaccessible systems and limited opportunities.
We offer long-term, meaningful creative development through performance-making, leadership training, mentoring, and access support. Our programmes are shaped by the goals, identities, and lived experiences of our members — placing disabled people at the centre as artists, collaborators, and decision-makers.
This approach doesn’t just support individuals — it shifts systems. Our performances challenge how disability is seen, our partnerships improve how inclusion is done, and our leadership models offer a blueprint for accessible governance.
We know we don’t have all the answers, and we’re still learning. As we grow, we’re listening, adapting, and working alongside others to build a future where disabled people lead culture on their own terms.
We believe access is a creative act. When disabled people are supported to lead, speak, and be visible, culture becomes more open, more honest, and more powerful for everyone.
Our activities
Uncurbed Collective is disability-led at its core and collectively run. Disabled people are central to the organisation’s vision, leadership, and decision-making — working with others to challenge who holds power in culture. We use accessible creativity as a tool for expression, influence, and long-term change.
Uncurbed supports disabled artists to grow as creators, leaders, and cultural change-makers. We make bold, inclusive performance and challenge assumptions about who gets to take up space in the arts. All of our work is co-designed and co-produced — grounded in lived experience, shaped through collaboration, and built on access and trust.
We deliver this through four interconnected programmes:
- Creative Programme – performance-making that challenges perceptions and shifts culture
- Ensemble – a professional disabled-led collective creating original work
- Engagement & Progression – weekly sessions and mentoring to build skills and open pathways to creative careers
- Producing & Artist Support – enabling disabled artists to develop and tour personal work at a regional and national level
We are also developing an Access Development strand, exploring new ways to work with partners to improve access and raise expectations across the cultural sector. This includes piloting access consultancy, co-designed resources, and peer-led conversations — all shaped by the lived experience of disabled artists.
Learning, access, and co-leadership are embedded throughout the organisation — creating an environment built on shared responsibility, creative risk, and ongoing growth.