Charter for Equity: Pilot Information Session
Date: Tuesday 27th January
Time: 10:30am-12:30pm
Location: HYBRID - Bruntwood, Centre City, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham B5 4UA & Online (Microsoft Teams)
We are looking for six organisations or individuals to help us test, pilot and develop the Charter for Equity in 2026. This session in January will outline the process for the Charter for Equity pilot, explain the application process and share ideas about what makes truly equitable work across the cultural sector. Each organisation or individual taking part in the pilot will receive a fee of £1000 to cover their time and contributions to shaping the charter framework.
In Collectively Strategising Culture: Our Plan – we made a commitment to creating an equitable sector for all, and have been working with organisations, artists, freelancers and stakeholders to develop a framework that ensures the West Midlands will have ‘a collective approach to equitable working practices in the regions cultural sector to ensure an accessible and inclusive sector’.
Our model for the Charter for Equity is designed around a three-stage process of self assessment, action learning and peer review; leading to an organisation or individual being awarded their status as a Charter for Equity organisation, demonstrating their commitment to making the cultural sector in the West Midlands the best place to work for all.
Our approach to delivering the Charter for Equity is guided by three overarching principles, with actions for equity being implemented across one or more themes. The delivery of the charter is guided by:
A focus on working conditions in the cultural sector
The implementation of the charter across all of the cultural ecology, from large institutions, community groups, freelancers and wider stakeholders
Purpose rooted in ownership, collective responsibility and accountability.
We have developed the themes from our research with Dr Lucy Lopez working alongside the sector, charter caretakers and our inclusive network. The themes that will form the basis of actions are:
Inequality & Opression
Anti-ablist, anti-exploitatitve and anti-racist
Material Conditions
Fair pay, flexible work, care, invisible costs
Agency & Power
Governance, voice and leadership, cultural and social capital