About Friday Friends

Our Friday Friends programme offers a welcoming space for visually impaired and D/deaf children and their families.

About Friday Friends

Since 2018, in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council Additional Support for Learning Service, our monthly Friday Friends sessions have welcomed two groups to the museum:

D/deaf children and their families
Visually impaired children and their families.

All children attend mainstream schools.

The groups meet monthly and rotate around three venues:

Edinburgh Zoo
The National Museum of Scotland
The Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Friday Friends sessions take place in the Learning Centre on Level 4 when hosted at the National Museum of Scotland. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, please contact us: 

Email: communities@nms.ac.uk
Phone: 0131 247 4313 (please note this phone number is not staffed every day but please leave a message).

Upcoming sessions

Date	Time	Location	Theme
Friday 27 September	14:00 - 16:00	National Museum of Scotland	D/deaf group session: Robots
Friday 4 October	14:00 - 16:00	Palace of Holyroodhouse	Visually impaired group session: Royal Past Times
Friday 11 October	14:00 - 16:00	Palace of Holyroodhouse	D/deaf group session: Royal Past Times
Friday 8 November	14:00 - 16:00	Edinburgh Zoo	Visually impaired group session: Weird and Wonderful invertebrates
Friday 22 November	14:00 - 16:00	Edinburgh Zoo	D/deaf group session: Weird and Wonderful invertebrates
Friday 6 December	14:00 - 16:00	National Museum of Scotland	Visually impaired group session: Vikings
Friday 13 December	14:00 - 16:00	National Museum of Scotland	D/deaf group session: Vikings

Accessibility and facilities

We want everyone who comes to our museums to enjoy their time with us and make the most of their visit.

Museum entrances

There is level access to the museum via the main doors to the Entrance Hall on Chambers Street and the Tower entrance at the corner of Chambers Street and George IV Bridge.

Lifts

Lifts are available to all floors of the museum.

Terrace Lift access

The Terrace Lift is out of service from 4 November to 6 December for essential maintenance.

The Roof Terrace is still open and can be accessed using alternative lifts to level 5 and then a staircase to level 7, Roof Terrace. We are unable to provide un-stepped access to the Roof Terrace, and levels 0, 2 and 4 of the Scottish Galleries during this period.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please speak to the Visitor Experience team for further guidance.

Toilets

There are toilets on most levels of the museum, including accessible toilets and baby changing facilities. There is a Changing Places (U) toilet in the Entrance Hall on Level 0. 

Hearing induction loops

There is an induction loop in the Auditorium.

Assistance dogs

Guide dogs, hearing dogs and other recognised assistance dogs are admitted.

Find out more about our access information.