As we make progress and take action, this webpage will be updated. Please scroll down to read our previous updates.

In June 2020, FACT issued a statement expressing its solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We committed to critically examine our structures, systems and programmes with the promise to share:

• An updated EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY that clarifies and upholds our organisational values, and promotes equality and diversity in our workplace and public spaces.

• An ACTION PLAN with transparent and measurable goals that will enable us to challenge inequality and become a more representative organisation.

From July to November 2020, a working group of staff members from each department, a member of our Executive team, and one of our Trustees, guided by consultant, Rachel Gnagniko, wrote a new EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY with 4 aims:

1. PROVIDE equality, fairness and respect for all in our employment, whether temporary, voluntary, part-time or full-time.

2. OPPOSE and avoid all forms of unlawful discrimination. This is in line with the Equality Act 2010, and includes pay and benefits, terms and conditions of employment, dealing with grievances and discipline, dismissal, redundancy, leave for parents, requests for flexible working, and selection for employment, promotion, training or other developmental opportunities.

3. RECOGNISE the value and diversity of lived experiences and similarly apply the principles of this policy to those who have historically been marginalised.

4. SUPPORT staff in demonstrating inclusive values and behaviours, as well as inform new staff, contractors, volunteers or any other person working with or for FACT of the support available and the behaviour expected in representing FACT.

ACTION PLAN

Alongside the EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY, we are developing an ACTION PLAN. These actions respond to the priorities identified by our working group in relation to FACT, although not necessarily in direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement. In this first year, we commit to 7 key actions as we strive for greater equality, diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our organisation - the audiences we reach, our artistic programme, and our staffing and governance:

1. SHARED LANGUAGE

The language we use is essential in helping us to create a safe and inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome and included. We will agree on a shared language that is inclusive, reduces bias and demonstrates a respect for people of all backgrounds.

2. TRAINING & IMPLEMENTATION

All staff will receive training to help gain confidence in speaking on protected characteristics and additional attributes, and to create a safe and open forum for informal conversations on concerns, how to address different perspectives and experiences, and to ask questions and learn without fear or embarrassment.

3. RECRUITMENT

From job descriptions to interviews, every step of our recruitment process will be reviewed to ensure the diversity of our staff reflects national working-age demographics.

4. MONITORING & DATA COLLETION

Collecting demographic monitoring data is a vital tool in understanding who we currently reach and engage, and in monitoring our progress towards greater inclusion of those currently under-represented in our sector. However, not all the data we collect is useful and this process can become alienating and dehumanising. We will set clear objectives of what data we need and why.

5. BOARD RECRUITMENT

FACT’s Board of Trustees does not adequately reflect national demographics with regards to race and disability. We are committed to having a Board of Trustees that brings diverse experiences and expertise to our governance.

6. PROGRAMME ADVISORY PANEL

The introduction of a Programme Advisory Group will help us to understand how relevant our programme is to:

• Diverse local, national and international audiences.

• Current discourse around race, sexual and gender identity, and class.

• Current artistic practices in relation to science and technology.

• Developing opportunities for young people.

7. PROCUREMENT

In order to deliver our programmes and maintain our premises, FACT purchases goods from or enters into agreements with a variety of suppliers. We will conduct a review of those suppliers with an aim to expand our networks so we can identify and invite minority or women-led businesses to tender for future opportunities.

UPDATE ON ACTION TAKEN

Our ACTION PLAN is due to be completed by 30 April 2021, when we will update this webpage with our complete list of actions. For now, we wanted to share the action we have taken so far, since our initial statement published in June 2020:

BOARD RECRUITMENT

• From 2021, an artist-in-residence will be invited to sit on our Board of Trustees to help lead artistic intervention and institutional critique into governance functions, which can often feel exclusive due to their bureaucratic nature. This residency will be annual.

PROGRAMME ADVISORY PANEL

• We have invited a paid panel of artists, community group representatives, and art sector peers to give feedback on our programme plans to help improve how we reach and are inclusive of under-represented groups in our audiences. The panel will meet every six months to evaluate and discuss future programmes.

SHARED LANGUAGE

• An internal working group has been created to write and agree, across the organisation, a glossary of terms and explanations of how we use them in order to develop a shared language around EDI for internal and external communications. This group will be supported by staff training, consultation and external focus groups.

Once completed, both our EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY and ACTION PLAN will be reviewed annually. If you have any questions about the progress of our policy or action plan, please get in touch by emailing info@fact.co.uk

FACT

The ongoing fight against racial injustice requires everyone’s support. In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, FACT will use its gallery and online platforms to amplify Black voices, use its resources to address inequity and confront racism in the sector, and strive towards a more just future.

Culture, and the galleries, museums, theatres, concert halls, cinemas and libraries that present it, is a continuous reflection of who we are as a society. It gives us the possibility to imagine who we want to become in the future. While many cultural institutions and funding bodies insist on measures of diversity, too many people in our society do not see themselves reflected, adequately or accurately, in the culture that our institutions present.

The events of the last few weeks, triggered by the brutal killing of George Floyd, have shown us that it is not enough to say that we are anti-racist. We have to do more. In our programmes, in our staffing and governance, and with our audiences and collaborators.

At FACT, we had started to take steps both in our programme and by working towards a new Equality and Diversity Policy and Action Plan. This action plan will be more than just a ‘box-ticking’ exercise but will be embedded within the culture of our organisation at every level. Since January this year, we have committed to developing this policy with our staff and Board of Trustees, running training sessions with staff on unconscious bias and how to address racism where we see it. We will share this document on our website in November 2020.

This inclusive process will allow us to continue to educate ourselves, learning from activists, stakeholders, communities and audiences, as we work together to set transparent, measurable goals. It also requires each of us in the institution to be accountable in how we challenge inequality. We are committed to fairly paying for and valuing the expertise, time and emotional labour of all those who collaborate with us in this work.

Over the coming months we will critically examine:

• How we recruit and appoint both permanent and freelance, temporary and voluntary staff.
• How to appoint more people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds as Trustees to increase the representation on FACT’s Board of Trustees.
• How we can make long-lasting, sustainable commitments of time, space, institutional reputation and money to commission more Black, Asian and minority ethnic artists, curators, academics and researchers within our physical and online programmes.
• How we support existing platforms and networks led by people of colour, to amplify their work and extend its context and reach.
• How to ensure that we are inclusive of artists from under-represented backgrounds in our main exhibitions as well as our events and learning programmes.
• How we can develop new opportunities for young people from marginalised groups to overcome the systemic lack of training that underpins the inequalities in the arts sector.
• How we can use our platform and networks to effect real change in our city and the sector.
• How we can centre ethics and equity in our choice of those suppliers who provide us with services and products.
• How FACT can raise and discuss equality and diversity issues with Picturehouse at FACT (bought by Cineworld PLC in 2014), which operates the cinema and bar at FACT.

Only by addressing these questions will we be able to take meaningful actions that challenge existing structures and biases, and enable us to become a more representative organisation. We know that we can do more. This is the first step in a continuous process of reviewing and improving the work we do and the way that we do it. We are committed to this process and to addressing inequity within FACT and we are open to the fact that this may lead to fundamental and radical shifts in the nature of our programmes.

Nicola Triscott

CEO/Director