News

Research by the social enterprise Creative Access has found that 85% of trainees are either not being kept on after their internship or fear there will be no full-time work at the end. This compares with a pre Covid-19 rate of over 90% of trainees moving into permanent roles. More than 40% of those who responded to the survey had been furloughed, made redundant or had work cancelled or postponed, and for 80% the priority is to find a new job or freelance work. Of more than 250 BAME respondents to a survey, 40% said they have run out of money already or are about to do so.

To coincide with the survey, Creative Access has also launched #MoreThanWords, a call to action for businesses to make a whole-hearted commitment to bringing in and uplifting under-represented talent within the creative industries. The #MoreThanWords pledge involves committing to hiring diverse candidates; supporting staff from under-represented groups to progress to senior positions; and creating an inclusive workplace where new and existing diverse staff feel valued.

The Creative Access research chimes with preliminary research findings from arts advocacy collective Inc Arts, which shows that Black, Asian and ethnically diverse people are not only over-represented in the freelance sector, but when compared to their white counterparts in both freelance and staff roles, they are already experiencing higher rates of redundancy as a result of the pandemic.

Survey responses found that, while 44% of the wider sector is freelance, this figure rises to 51% for ethnically diverse people in the arts. Despite Black people being more at risk of death from coronavirus, the biggest concern of most respondents was not for their health, but fear of redundancy and job loss.

Their concerns are borne out by the research: not only are job losses falling most heavily on freelancers, but they are falling disproportionately on Black, Asian and ethnically diverse workers – regardless of contractual status.
 
Research into career progression will be published later in the summer.

15 up-and-coming leaders will be joining the City of Culture Leadership Programme that will run across the next two years as part of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture.

The aim of the programme is to strengthen and diversify the next generation of leadership for Coventry’s creative sector to reflect the diversity and cultural strengths of the city.

The successful applicants include filmmakers, entrepreneurs, artists, DJs and writers, as well as dancers, event organisers, community group leaders and clothing company creators, who will all receive support and funding to continue their work within Coventry’s creative community. As well as receiving mentoring and access to training, the programme will provide the leaders with a digital space which will enable them to continue networking and sharing ideas and updates.

Applicants who did not make it onto the programme will be supported from the Coventry City of Culture Trust with microgrants to fund their cultural and artistic business ideas, and support their professional and personal development.

A group of leading theatre designers have joined forces to form #scenechange, a community that brings designers together to tackle the challenge of navigating a way out of the Covid-19 crisis. What began as a small email exchange between a group of set and costume designers has grown into a community of over 700 members in all disciplines and at all levels in the theatre design profession. The group will  provide a platform for, and raise the voice of, those involved in theatre design, including freelance creatives from all theatre disciplines. Zoom meetings are being held to discuss and share experiences. 

As many as 40 areas of the theatre industry depend on design work, and #scenechange will advocate for workers in these areas to ensure their roles within the industry are recognised as plans for the future are drawn up. The group will engage with buildings, directors and producers nationwide, to support and inform the process back to production. A spokesperson said “This is a moment of reset in our industry and we believe the design community can be an essential part of the transformation that will see theatre buildings being reopened and the ways in which theatre can be reimagined. As shapers of theatrical space through the use of people and place, our work is pivotal in connecting an entire ecosystem within the theatre industry. We are ideally positioned to be at the heart of any discussions about how theatre operates in the future.”

A Skills Bank that will match theatres with experts willing to offer pro bono advice on preparing to reopen is being created by the Theatres Trust, and leading theatre consultants and suppliers to the industry are already signing up. The national public advisory body for theatres believes 136 small local theatre operators are at risk of closing in the next three months, and is also repurposing its small grants programme to help them cover the additional costs of reopening and make the necessary adaptations for increased hygiene and social distancing.

The Trust has appointed an additional adviser to help the venues with business planning, budgeting and cashflow, fundraising and building maintenance. Around half are run by small charities serving their local communities and have spent the lockdown supporting them, including delivering shopping and prescriptions, and making PPE.

An open letter is aiming to "give voice to the millions of people who sing in choirs in this country", calling for church leaders to have the courage to speak out on the importance of singing together in churches. Signed by prominent music directors, conductors and composers including Sarah Connolly, John Rutter and Simon Halsey, it says the government needs to show how choirs can be restarted on an equal footing with theme parks, shopping and football.

Brighton-based Marlborough Productions, the company behind the Marlborough Pub & Theatre’s cultural programme, have left their historic LGBTQ+ venue and are looking for a new home in another accessible community space in the city. In the meanwhile they will present performances, parties and community gatherings at other venues and spaces in Brighton & Hove and continue to develop onnline, local and touring projects. Co-Artistic Directors Tarik Elmoutawakil and David Sheppeard said they have “done all we can to influence The Marlborough’s leaseholders, Laine Pub Co, to improve access and look after this historic building which dates back to 1784. We have come to the difficult conclusion that the building is no longer fit for purpose for the communities we serve.”