Spinning Wheel Theatre (SWT) is an East Anglian based rural touring company, creating work with and for families in communities across the region. We are passionate about providing our audiences with the opportunity to experience and participate in high quality, vibrant and accessible theatre on their doorstep.  We are committed to promoting theatre as an activity for all, and do so by incorporating multi-rolling performances, puppetry, song, and accessible devices such as Makaton signing and relaxed performance spaces to create magical worlds which welcome young audiences to engage in shared cultural experiences. Alongside our touring work, we create bespoke community and schools’ projects, providing opportunities to explore creativity, acquire new skills, build confidence, improve well-being and meet new people.  

SWT strives to create an environment of acceptance, accessibility and enjoyment for all and, while recognising that there are many differences within the communities we work in, we strive to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion goes beyond the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. Diversity is not about them and us. It’s about including all of us. The range of perspectives and experience diversity brings is an asset to our organisation, and we strive to create an inclusive, welcoming environment for participants, creative practitioners and audiences alike, where individual differences and the contributions of all are recognised and valued.

SWT will seek to ensure that barriers to the public accessing services and/or SWT’s artistic programmes are removed.  To achieve this, SWT will:

• Keep ticket pricing constantly in review, providing a number of free tickets to food banks (or similar) and through schools to children in receipt of free school meals for as many performances as possible.

• Provide bursary places for participatory activity.

• Monitor the physical accessibility of venues we tour to, with a preference for venues with wheelchair access, automatic doors and accessible toilets.

• Continue to bring theatre into rural hubs to remove reliance on private or public transport and build trust by using familiar community spaces for performances.

• Incorporate Makaton signing into family performances and workshops with children whenever possible.

• Work with diverse cultures to explore their heritage and influence on storytelling, in order to present a reflection of their culture on stage.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy Statement

Discrimination is unacceptable and SWT has measures in place to ensure that no-one experiences direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of the following protected characteristics: race, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, religion or belief, disability, age and also national or ethnic origin (see Annex A for definitions). SWT is committed to working towards providing equality of opportunity in its employment practices, staff composition, marketing, artistic and education programmes and services offered to participants and audiences.

SWT’s Board recognises its responsibilities in developing, implementing and monitoring the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy for the charity.

We will confront and challenge discrimination where and whenever it arises, in relation to SWT’s work.

Objectives of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Policy

The objectives of the Equity, Diversity & Inclusivity Policy are based on definitions outlined in Annex A and an awareness of the following laws:

• Equality Act 2010 which from 1st October 2011 covers the following acts:

• Sex Discrimination Acts, 1975 and 1986

• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and 2007

• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 and Equality Act 2006

• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006

• Equal Pay Act, 1970

• Race Relations Act, 1976 and its amendments 2000 & 2003

• Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 and amendments 2005

• Disability Equality Duty 2006

• Sex Discrimination (gender reassignment) Regulations and Gender Recognition Act 2004

• Employment Rights Act 1996

• Employment Act 2002

• Civil Partnership Act 2004

• Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, 1974

• Work and Families Act 2006

• Part Time Workers Regulations 2000

• Fixed Term Employees Regulations 2002

The objectives of SWT in striving to be an Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive organisation are:

• To create work which enables anyone to feel welcome and able to share a cultural experience.

• Ensuring that no member of staff, Board member, volunteer, audience member / user group is subject to unfair or unlawful discrimination.

• Ensuring that staff and Board members understand the forms and effects of discrimination.

• Seeking to ensure the composition of the staff, Board and volunteers reflect the demographics of our region and the communities we serve.

• To work in a way which builds a greater insight into the participant/beneficiary demographic.

• To expand our world view and bring that to our audiences.

• Ensuring that performances and participatory activities are accessible for all, through considering the needs of all potential service users.

• Ensuring that issues of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are central to the artistic approach, marketing and audience engagement, education and outreach activity and programmes.

Implementing the Policy

The Artistic Director of SWT will be responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring the policy in conjunction with the Board. The Executive Director will assist the Artistic Director in implementing and monitoring the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. 

All staff connected to SWT will be required to advocate for the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy through the principles outlined in SWT Code of Conduct.

• All staff, Board, volunteers and participants will be encouraged to familiarise themselves with this policy, and understand the definitions listed. A copy of the policy will also be available on our website. 

• Create a culture within the organisation which empowers anyone to be able to challenge discriminatory language or actions.

• SWT’s Board and directors will receive training to support their understanding and confidence to deliver and support this policy.

• We will undertake annual protected characteristic reporting in line with GDPR regulations.

• We will actively seek to recruit staff and Board who will contribute a more diverse lived experience, and will welcome applicants with protected characteristics.

• We will develop work through co-creation with our intended audiences, in order to gain trust and understanding.

• Wherever possible, premises will be accessible for disabled people, in the ability to move around the building, use equipment (as appropriate and in line with health and safety provisions) and access services provided by the organisation.

• A private space will be provided for costume changes so individuals privacy and dignity is preserved.

• We commit to producing communications (written, visual and aural) using language which is easy to understand, and acronym and jargon free.

• We will work towards creating large print and audio versions of all of our official documents.

• We are developing a comprehensive inclusive language policy, for definitions and accepted terms. This is still a work in progress, but can be found in Annex C.

 A clear procedure for reporting issues or concerns is in Annex B

Employment Practices and Terms of Employment

The recruitment process will be tailored to reflect the role and skill set required. This process will be free from discrimination and will be designed to be as inclusive as possible. All communication will be treated confidentially.

Depending on the scope of the programme or project, roles will be advertised locally, nationally and in some instances internationally in all appropriate media.

A small selection panel will be convened to interview candidates for specific projects. This panel will invite candidates to express the need for reasonable adjustments prior to interview and these will be honoured wherever practical. All interviewed candidates not selected for the position will be informed in writing (or a more accessible method requested by the candidate). Contracts for all projects will be issued to successful candidates.

Selection for employment, promotion, training or any other benefit will be on the basis of aptitude and ability. All employees will be helped and encouraged to develop their full potential and the talents and resources of the workforce will be fully utilised to maximise the efficiency of the organisation.

Marketing & Audience Development

SWT will use language that is clear, unambiguous and direct.

Where appropriate, languages other than English, large print, audio or captioned video will be used, as resources permit, as well as making information easily available online.

We will continue to monitor our website, social media content and print to ensure is it accessible for all those with neurodivergence or sensory processing needs, including the use of appropriate fonts and text size, colour schemes, placement of images, moving elements, sounds etc. We will seek advice and accreditation on this where appropriate.

We will ensure that our current accessible facilities are well promoted to all service users and that we offer to cater for people with particular requirements.

Lastly, SWT will work to ensure that all visual representations of our activities represent diverse communities from across the region in a meaningful and non-tokenistic fashion.

Monitoring

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy will be monitored and reviewed biannually by the Board of Trustees to measure its effectiveness and relevance.

Policy Reviewed:         Jan 2024

Next Review:                Jan 2026