Communities are at the heart of our palaces
We work closely and collaboratively with local communities to make our palaces more accessible and relevant for all visitors. Our core programmes and projects create opportunities for people to meaningfully engage with our spaces and stories, inspiring everyone to feel a sense of belonging at our six wonderful palaces.
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 group leaders to develop and deliver visits for their groups.
We have been delivering CAS since 2012, with our network growing to over 481 partners across our palaces. In 2022-2023, over 18,000 people visited our palaces through CAS.
The scheme includes:
- 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.
- Year-round networking events and socials.
- Support from the Community Partnerships team to help group leaders engage their groups with the palace's stories, collections and historic spaces.
- Entry cards 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 Spring 2025, please email communities@hrp.org.uk to register your interest.
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.
Tower of London Community Access Scheme Hampton Court Palace Community Access Scheme Kensington Palace Community Access Scheme Hillsborough Castle Community Access Scheme
Amazing Days Out
Amazing Days Out is a programme for children, young people and their families who experience multiple barriers to visiting our palaces. We work in partnership with large local and national organisations to plan and deliver memory-making experiences for their group members.
We work collaboratively with partners to meet the needs and interests of group members, helping them to better access and experience all that our palaces have to offer. This programme is open to organisations who want to bring their groups for a fun-filled day out, but for which the Community Access Scheme is not the right fit for them to do so.
Amazing Days Out offer:
- Planning session with the Community Partnerships team
- Exclusive use of one of our learning spaces for your Amazing Day out
- Facilitated activities based on a theme or story, for example arts and crafts, storytelling, games, or object handling
- Free entry to our palace and gardens on the day plus tickets for each person to make independent return visits
- Light refreshments, and more!
Some of our Amazing Days Out partners include:
- Action for Carers (Surrey)
- Kingston Carers
- ADHD Embrace
- Achieving for Children
- Kingston Churches Action on Homeless
- Jigsaw (South East)
- ELATT (ESOL provider)
- Idea Store
- Metro Charity
- Spring Community Hub
- Southwark Adult & Family Learning Services
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 of the positive impact of heritage, storytelling and creativity on participants’ mental health and wellbeing.
For 2024, we are trialling a new session format for Sensory Palaces. The aim is to create a longer, more relaxed experience for individuals, companions and groups affected by dementia.
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.’
Download Sensory Palaces evaluation summary report.
Download Sensory Palaces evaluation full report.
Learn more about Sensory PalacesDementia Friendly Heritage Network
We are committed to making Historic Royal Palaces a dementia-friendly organisation. We lead the Dementia Friendly Heritage Network, a peer network led in partnership with heritage sites from across the UK. We work together to develop and share best practice to support the growth of dementia friendly initiatives in the sector.
In 2017, we published Rethinking Heritage: A guide to help make your site more dementia friendly.
Read our Rethinking Heritage guide
Community projects
Discover more about some of our projects
The Indian Army at the Palace exhibition 2023
On 15 September 2023, a new exhibition exploring the forgotten story of Indian Army soldiers who camped at Hampton Court Palace in the early 20th century opened at Hampton Court Palace.
We worked closely with communities to shape this exhibition, supporting them to share their stories and objects as part of the display.
Read about our community projectsIndian Army Resources
Community Partner Resources
Resources to support groups explore the palaces
Kensington Palace CAS Resources
Hampton Court Palace CAS Resources
Kew Palace CAS Resources
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