The killing of George Floyd in May 2020, and the call to action from Black Lives Matter that ensued, was a watershed moment for change. At Bluecoat, we felt we had to take decisive action towards creating a more equal organisation and to diversifying the sector we work in. We vowed to listen and to speak out against racism in all its forms.
As a prominent, public-facing cultural organisation, we have a civic responsibility to contribute to making society more inclusive and equal. Our commitment to changes that will bring about race equality is reflected in this statement about the work we are doing. It will be followed by further updates on our website.
Last Summer, we established a Race Equality Task Force of our staff to meet fortnightly, with an overarching aim to support Bluecoat in its efforts to proactively promote equality and diversity across the organisation and to speak out against racism within and beyond the organisation.
The Task Force has developed a Race Equality Action Plan that addresses three areas: internal change, supporting artists, and speaking out. Each of these has a detailed set of actions, which are owned by a named member of staff and accompanied by a timescale. Here is a summary of what we pledge to do and the progress we are making as we strive to become an anti-racist organisation.
We welcome any ideas you may have for helping us achieve this, or any comments on the plan, which will be updated regularly on our website. There is still much work to be done in this area, and we feel like this is just a start.
Downloads
Read our Action Plan summary here.