The Standard

What a venue has to do, show and pass.

Five commitments. Eighteen criteria, twelve of them mandatory. Every one is something a guest can feel, or something a hate incident would expose. This is the whole standard; there is no hidden workbook.

The base: Best Bar None

Before the Standard looks at inclusion, the safety basics have to be in place. We do not assess them ourselves, because Best Bar None already does.

If you hold Best Bar None

Your accreditation is recognised in full. Nothing in the BBN workbook is looked at again.

If there is no scheme where you are

You adopt Best Bar None's free policy templates: discrimination, incident and refusal log, Ask for Angela, drink spiking, safeguarding and vulnerable persons, dispersal, door staff induction and training records. It takes an afternoon and we confirm it at onboarding.

The eighteen criteria

Marked must means the criterion has to be fully met whatever the score. Everything else is scored 0, 1 or 2.

Welcome: the space (35%)

Ref	What the venue does	What we test
G1must	Its discrimination policy names all nine protected characteristics, defines hate incidents and names a senior person who is accountable.	We ask a staff member who is responsible for inclusion here.
G2must	A written, lawful facilities policy that staff can explain courteously.	We ask where we can use a toilet privately. Challenge, questioning or humiliation is a dignity fail.
G3must	Wherever physically possible, at least one self-contained, lockable facility available to anyone, clearly signed. An accessible toilet meets this.	We find it without asking.
G4must	Nobody is refused or removed for how they look, what they wear or who they are with. Refusal reasons are recorded and door staff are briefed.	We watch the door for ten minutes before we go in.
G5must	The needs-led rule: no guest is asked for proof of a diagnosis, disability, condition or identity before an adjustment or a courtesy. A short list of adjustments the venue can always offer is in staff areas.	We make a small reasonable request with no explanation.
G6	Non-drinking guests are welcome: adult alcohol-free options, tap water without hesitation, no pressure and no rule that penalises them.	We order a soft drink and a tap water.
G7	Guests can find out before they arrive: noise and lighting, a quieter space or time, Sunflower recognised, a current Euan's Guide listing.	One of us wears a Sunflower lanyard.
G8	The signposting poster (Galop, Switchboard, Report It, Stop Hate UK, Samaritans) where guests will see it, including inside the private facility.	We find it.

Understanding: the people (25%)

Ref	What the venue does	What we test
G9must	Every customer-facing person completes the 45-minute core inclusion module within three months of starting and refreshes it every year.	We ask a staff member whether they have done inclusion training, and what they would do if a guest was abused for being gay.
G10must	The team has met lived experience: a live session with our facilitators, or the estate's area manager has taken the Area Champion course and cascaded it. The welfare lead has done the managers' module.	It shows in everything else.
G11must	Harassment on any protected characteristic is recognised and acted on, and the codeword works. Best Bar None, WAVE or Good Night Out training is recognised in full.	In one venue in three, at random, we use the codeword.

Action: when it goes wrong (15%)

Ref	What the venue does	What we test
G12must	A hate incident response staff can describe: the person targeted supported first, the person responsible dealt with, the incident logged by category, reported to police with the consent of the person targeted.	Tested through G9.
G13must	A third-party reporting route displayed and explained, alongside the venue's own complaints route and ours.	We ask how we would report something that happened tonight.

Voice: listening (15%)

Ref	What the venue does	What we test
G14must	The belonging question is live: "I feel like I belong here", anonymous, with voluntary group identifiers, at least 50 responses a quarter (25 for small venues).	We find the QR card.
G15	Feedback reviewed quarterly with at least one dated action, and staff have a route to raise inclusion concerns other than their line manager.	We ask a staff member whether they could raise a concern.
G16	A live relationship with a local LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disability or minority ethnic group or SU society in the last year.	Not tested.

Renewal: keeping it true (10%)

Ref	What the venue does	What we test
G17	Findings from any test are actioned within the improvement window.	Re-tested on the next testing night.
G18must	The accountable person signs an annual declaration that the evidence is true and makes an anonymised data return. A false declaration delists the venue.	Not tested.

Passing, failing and losing the badge

To be Glittered

Every mandatory criterion fully met. 75% overall. No commitment below 60%. One level, and one word for having earned it.

If you fall short

A 60-day supported improvement window and one re-check, included in the fee. Nobody pays to fail.

If it slips

A dignity fail or an intervention fail on a test opens an improvement window. A second within twelve months delists. Delisted venues come off the map within seven days and the fact is published.

The test, in the order it happens

Two trained testers, visiting as guests, twenty minutes. Venues know exactly what is checked and nothing else.

The door
Ten minutes watching before we go in. Any refusal, and the reason given.
The lanyard
One of us wears a Sunflower. Does anyone acknowledge it?
The walls
The signposting poster and the belonging QR card.
The bar
A soft drink and a tap water, and a small request with no explanation.
The toilet
Where can I go privately? Then we find the self-contained facility.
The questions
Who is responsible for inclusion? Have you done the training? What if a guest was abused for being gay?
The codeword
In one venue in three, at random.
The route
How would I report something that happened tonight?
The report
Submitted from the venue before we leave. Both testers sign.
Never again
We never test the same venue twice in a year and never say who we were.

Two rules we will be asked about first

Toilets and facilities

The Standard does not tell a venue how to designate its toilets. That is the venue's lawful decision under the Equality Act and the EHRC Code of Practice. What the Standard requires is a written, lawful policy staff can explain; wherever physically possible a self-contained, lockable facility anyone can use; and that no guest is ever challenged, questioned about their body, asked for documents or humiliated at a toilet door. Concerns go to a manager, in private, with dignity. This wording is reviewed by our licensing solicitors on every change in the law and carries the date of the last review.

The needs-led rule

No accredited venue may ever require proof of a diagnosis, disability, condition or identity before making an adjustment or extending a courtesy. Sunflower lanyards and Access Cards are recognised and welcomed, never required. Hundreds of thousands of people are waiting years for an assessment; a venue should not make them wait too.

What we recognise so you never train twice

Best Bar None: the base, in full.
Good Night Out accreditation or training: harassment response, in full.
Ask for Angela training (WAVE or equivalent): the intervention element.
Attitude is Everything Access Charter and Euan's Guide: the disability information criterion.
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower membership: the Sunflower element.

Talk to us

Twenty minutes, no cost, no commitment. Tell us who you are and where you are and we will tell you what the route looks like.

hello@theglitterstandard.co.uk

Accreditation, partnerships and press: Matthew Jones-Roberts. Events and the Glitterbomb tour: Stephen Sullivan.