Following from our statement last week, we want to talk about Create as an organisation, as well as some actions we are taking.

We are a relatively young charitable organisation. We have existed for nine years and during this time and going forward, we continually review our policies on equity and diversity across our programme and recruitment.  As well the artists we commission, we want to have a board and a team that reflect the communities with whom we work.  We recognise that we have much more to do to achieve this.

We are acutely aware that the arts workforce shows less socio-economic, ethnic and disability diversity than almost any other sector. Data from the Panic! report shows that only 2.7% of the workforce of museums, galleries and libraries are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups. The numbers are not much better in the performing arts, visual arts, film, television and radio.

Our board currently has two vacant positions, for which we are seeking to recruit from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups. We are now accelerating the process for filling these positions.  

At Create, around two thirds of our team are white, and we want to address this under-representation.  We take positive action on under-representation in our recruitment processes and will prioritise this in two new roles we are advertising this summer

We know this is just the start and see these actions as small but necessary steps towards improving who we are as an organisation.