By Laura Horn, Engagement Coordinator, MacIntrye Hertfordshire
From Homes Not Hospitals to Our Voices: Celebrating 60 Years of MacIntyre
UK Disability History Month 2026
What does it mean to have a home, make your own choices and have your voice heard? For many people with learning disabilities, these everyday freedoms have not always been a given. The history of disability care nationally includes a long period when people were placed in institutional settings, often separated from their communities and with limited control over their daily lives.
As MacIntyre celebrates its 60th anniversary, UK Disability History Month offers an opportunity to reflect on how attitudes, opportunities and approaches to support have changed, and why people's voices remain so important.
From institutions to homes
Founded in 1966 by Kenneth and Marjorie Newton Wright, MacIntyre began with a belief that people with learning disabilities should have opportunities to be educated and lead fulfilling lives. This commitment continues through MacIntyre's ‘Homes Not Hospitals’ approach, which recognises the importance of supporting people to live and thrive in homes within their communities, rather than remaining in institutional settings unnecessarily.
In St Albans, the history of Cell Barnes Hospital offers a powerful reminder of how approaches to supporting people with learning disabilities have changed. Once a large hospital, Cell Barnes was home to hundreds of people, many of whom spent years living away from wider community. This has since changed, with MacIntyre’s Crosby Close now providing homes where people are supported to lives with choice and purpose.
Behind this history are personal stories of change, resilience and individuality. They remind us that a home is more than a building. It is somewhere people can develop relationships, express their personalities, enjoy familiar routines and make choices about the things that matter to them.
Today MacIntyre in St Albans City and District supports people living at Crosby Close and Station Road, reflecting the importance of creating homes where choice and personal relationships and connections with wider community are valued.
Our voices, our choices
Today, MacIntyre continues to champion choice and representation through projects such as ‘MacIntyre Our Voice’ .Commissioned by HCC Adult Care Services , Our Voice creates opportunities for adults who have a learning disability and or Autism to share their experiences, get together in creative spaces, enrich community life and express their views to influence decisions.
This commitment to listening and valuing individual voices has also shaped MacIntyre's collaboration with St Albans Museums through its Communities in Residence programme.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, people who draw on and provide support at Crosby Close and Station Road have explored and expressed their interests, memories and experiences through the residency. Together, they have experimented with painting, collage, mark-making and sensory materials, contributing to a collaborative M sculpture celebrating MacIntyre's 60 years.
Music has also played an important role. Through songwriting and song production, people have had opportunities to explore their ideas, express themselves and contribute to something meaningful through their own voices.
Through it’s ‘Our Voices’ photography exhibition, MacIntyre has also celebrated the individuality, interests and personal stories of people who draw on support, The photographs offer a glimpse into their lives, highlighting the importance of being seen, heard, and represented in a way which is meaningful to the people of MacIntyre Hertfordshire.
These creative experiences demonstrate that expression takes many forms. Whether through words, music, colour, movement or making, every contribution has value.
Celebrating 60 Years
The collaboration will be celebrated in the Community Space at St Albans Museum + Gallery from 9th November 2026, bringing together the M sculpture, photographs, music and other creative contributions. The display offers an opportunity to recognise the individuality and creativity of people who draw on and provide support at MacIntyre, while sharing their stories with the wider community.
This year's Disability History Month theme of Disability, Politics, Democracy and Equality provides an important context for reflecting on the relationship between historical experiences and the choices available to people today.
From the history of institutional care to contemporary projects such as and Communities in Residence at St Albans Museums, the stories captured through these initiatives reflect the continuing importance of equality, representation and belonging.
As MacIntyre marks six decades of supporting people, the anniversary is not simply a celebration of the past. It is also an opportunity to recognise how far we have come, to listen to the people shaping its present and consider how their voices can continue to influence the future.