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EDI statement

STATEMENT ON EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION 

New Adventures is committed to achieving a working environment which provides equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination, harassment and bullying. We believe that everyone is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. One of our core company values is Family and we have a long held and shared commitment to supporting, developing and investing in all members of the New Adventures company and everyone involved with our work in whatever capacity performers, creatives, crew, staff, dance artists, audiences, participants, trustees, students and partners.

We work together with partners to help us achieve these aims. Our current partners include Creative Access, Inc Arts, Tonic, PiPA (Parents and Carers in the Performing Arts) and Stage Sight.

The last 12 months have been a period of reflection and acknowledgement that there is more that we could and should be doing to help make serious and impactful change. We are committed to doing more by listening, learning and delivering on making the changes we want to see in the world we live and work in.

This is an update of our journey so far…

We have

  • Undertaken a full company attitudinal survey which will be used as a baseline to work from. We’d like to thank everyone who completed this as it has helped us identify key areas of improvement and learning
  • Appointed a trustee from the New Adventures Board to be our lead Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Champion and who will oversee the progress of the Action Plan
  • Delivered training in different areas to trustees, staff and our freelancers including unconscious bias, anti-racism and allyship
  • Developed an apprenticeship dance role to support and mentor a student in their final year of training with additional development opportunities before joining the professional company
  • Created a new leadership development role to support one of our principal dancers’ transition into a leadership position, recognising the importance of role models and representation as we aim to inspire the next generation.
  • Joined as an Ally for Change of Inc Arts which will help us to make authentic and sustainable changes across all areas of our work and in our business planning
  • Assessed and adjusted our recruitment procedures to ensure they are accessible to all, regardless of background

We will:

  • Establish an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group from across different areas of the company with representation from those with a wide range of backgrounds and lived experiences and chaired by Trustee, Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp, our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Champion
  • Create a new Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan in conjunction with an external consultant and in collaboration with the Working Group and the Leadership Team
  • Create a clear and dedicated page on our website to share this Statement and our commitments. These will be reviewed and updated as we continue our learning.
  • Where internal expertise or lived experience is lacking, bring in external expertise to inform and support the company.
  • Provide regular training sessions for everyone in the company in different areas including but not limited to anti-racism, inclusion, recognising biases and inclusive language.
  • Continue to develop and review and update our Dignity at Work Cultural Statement and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion section of our Business Plan
  • Provide mandatory EDI/anti-racism training to everyone on joining the company or starting a new contract. All staff and freelancers working for New Adventures will be required to undertake this training on a regular basis
  • Set up a one-to-one session for all dancers at the start of each contract with the costume and wig departments and company management to discuss their individual needs
  • Sign up to and work through the IncArts Anti-Racism Toolkit
  • Adopt the Anti-Racism touring rider for future tours
  • Utilise the results of the 2020 survey to effect positive change
  • Continue to invest in providing pathways into the industry for people of all backgrounds, including providing free and subsidised places on talent development and engagement programmes and through apprenticeships.
  • Continue to further explore how we can remove barriers and provide greater access across all of our work
  • Commit to ensuring our work online and onstage is accessible for all audiences
  • Never ask people to work for free. Any training undertaken will either be paid or done as part of an education programme.
  • Continue our commitment to diverse casting – all dancers of colour with the appropriate level of training are seen at our annual open audition.
  • Continue to pay our freelancers fair rates and pay them on time.

This is intended to be a statement of intent, to signal our aspirations for best practice and making genuine change. We will regularly review and adjust this statement in response to feedback and input from our working group and our partners.

June 2021