ARC is proud to support the statement denouncing racism, but we understand that we need to demonstrate our support through action and allow ourselves to be held accountable by our colleagues and peers across the North East by making our commitments public.
In March 2021, we agreed an action plan developed through discussions and conversations with Board members and staff: We have subsequently reviewed this annually, reflecting on progress made and agreeing a new set of actions for the following year. Actions for 2023/4 are set out below.
We recognise that we need to educate ourselves:
- We will identify a regular day twice a year when all staff and Board members are asked to choose an item from our anti-racism resource list to read, watch or listen to, and to share a short reflection with other staff, either verbally or in writing.
- We will continue to pay Global Majority people to advise on policies and procedures, including selection and recruitment processes for staff roles and artist initiatives.
- We will encourage all staff and Board members to attend sharings, works in progress and performances by Global Majority artists.
- We will continue to offer anti-racism training annually for all new staff and Board members.
We recognise that our workforce is not representative enough:
- We will continue to monitor the changes made to our recruitment practices in 2021/22, to assess whether they are leading to a more Global Majority applicants and a more representative workforce by comparing year on year data.
- We will continue to research and trial new ways of recruiting to inform our practices, drawing on experience from both the cultural sector and our local VSCE sector.
We recognise that our artistic programme must address many years of under-representation:
- We will ensure that at least 20% of our supported artists are Global Majority artists.
- We will use our Uprising takeover and ARC Getaways scheme to increase the number of Global Majority artists connected to ARC.
- We will seek to increase the number of Global Majority people that feature in our programmes, with a specific emphasis on:
- Global Majority comedians
- Global Majority practitioners within our creative learning programme
- Screening films led by Global Majority people in our cinema
- We will seek to deepen the relationships we already have with Global Majority people from our communities, by proactively visiting and connecting with groups across the borough of Stockton.
We will hold ourselves accountable:
- We will publish data on the diversity of our workforce and supported artists annually on our website.
- We will review progress against this plan at the end of March 2024 and agree new actions for the following year.
We recognise intersectionality and will continue our work to ensure that Global Majority people who are also disabled and/or LGBTQIA+ and/or working class are included in our workforce, programme and audiences.
All of the agreed actions will be implemented and completed by 31 March 2024.
Annabel Turpin
Chief Executive & Artistic Director
On behalf of ARC Board and staff members
February 2023