Open Conversations

Executive Summary Voluntary Arts is a national organisation which works to provide a universal voice for the voluntary arts across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Like many other publicly funded arts organisations, Voluntary Arts had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the relative lack of diversity within its staffing, governance and beneficiaries. In particular Voluntary Arts had identified “an immediate and pressing challenge to reach out effectively to creative cultural activity in black, Asian and minority ethnic cultures and communities”.

Despite making a commitment to address this issue, very little action was being taken to rectify the situation because the organisation appeared to be held back by a nervousness about causing offence.

Voluntary Arts finally broke out of the cycle of inactivity with a combination of strong leadership, developing partnerships, asking questions and investing in expert support. This report describes the process undertaken

by Voluntary Arts which led to the creation of a national Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Advisory Panel, and the outcomes and learning that resulted from the work of this Panel.

Voluntary Arts recruited volunteer Advisory Panel members located geographically close to each of the organisation’s offices and staff teams so that they could coach Voluntary Arts staff in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to create country-specific action plans for BAME engagement. Panel members also worked directly with Voluntary Arts staff to interview 40 expert ‘witnesses’ from particular BAME communities.

One of the first learning points for Voluntary Arts was that the organisation had been falling into the trap of considering BAME communities as if they were all the same. The range of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK is vast and needs vary enormously. It would be foolish in the extreme to expect to be able to design a single offer to ‘BAME communities’. Rather than focussing on training staff about the nature of particular communities it is more important to enable staff to have confidence to speak to someone who is not like them – through mutual respect and exploration. And rather than attempting to categorise creative cultural activity by particular BAME communities, it may be more useful to segment by types of creative activity: aspiring professionals; social activities; preserving traditions; using art for campaigning; activity for health & wellbeing purposes etc. Voluntary Arts needs to position its support in a way that makes clear its relevance to a wider range of groups.

Looking at the needs of voluntary creative cultural activity in BAME communities, the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel identified: the need for more small grants schemes; the importance of the availability of safe, affordable, accessible local spaces for creative cultural activity; and the value of engaging in simple open conversations and building relationships rather than undertaking more formal consultation with communities.

It will now be important for Voluntary Arts to maintain strong ongoing communications with its new expanded network of contacts in BAME communities.

Voluntary Arts wishes to thank all those who gave their time and shared experiences to help with this work over the past twelve months.

Voluntary Arts has moved, in short space of time, from a position of embarrassment about its lack of ethnic diversity to a confidence that it is pioneering a new approach to developing strong, effective connections to a range of BAME communities. The organisation is clear that it is still only at the start of a journey but that first step, which allowed Voluntary Arts to break its cycle of inactivity, has been fascinating, inspiring and great fun.

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Above: Black History Month Wales 2015

Cover images: Bradford Muslim Women’s Council, Pinocchio Forum, Manchester Jewish Museum, Glasgow Mela - Dhol and Pipes, ArtsEkta.

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1. Foreword

by David Bryan, Chair of the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel

Those of us who are visibly different will be aware of discrimination – subtle, unintentional or overt – by individuals and by institutions. Since the EU referendum in June 2016, there has been an escalation of open hostility across the UK. This hostility was always present but was, for the most part, just beneath the surface.

Black and Asian communities in particular have been familiar with this experience over generations. Brexit has expanded the bile towards other minorities living and working in the UK. A consequence of this prevailing discrimination – one that even Theresa May acknowledges to be long standing and still prevalent within public sector practices – is withdrawal and disconnection. Some may say “if they [BAME communities] are not interested in what we have to offer, why should we make extra effort?” This ‘one size’ mentality sees the misfits as being the ‘wrong size’. And conversely BAME communities may ask “why should I go where I’m not wanted, to be insulted and undermined each day?” How is it possible to be one’s best in this context?

This report reflects on the success created by the determination of Voluntary Arts to persist with a challenge that they, and many other arts organisations, have been committed to for several years – namely achieving greater inclusion. Racially diverse engagement has posed distinctive challenges for those under-represented and disconnected organisations to achieve.

There is no template to building trust. Developing meaningful relations demands taking the time to identify what that means to each person – looking at the implicit value in the varied cultural expressions that communities explore and create. There are many activities taking place and being enjoyed and appreciated but not connected to a wider constituency.

This approach rejects the traditional deficit model which asks “why are they not enjoying what we have to offer?” – a view that has tended to excessively frame consideration of the contribution of BAME communities.

Integral to the deficit model and mindset is the idea that if BAME communities are not present then they must be deficient. The deficit model implies the arrogance of knowing best and the disbelief that there are other cultural, regional and local expressions engaged and enjoyed by BAME communities.

We must make our communities – the places we live and/or work – places where everyone can contribute, making the notion of multiculturalism a shared lived experience that is open, inclusive and cause for celebration.

David Bryan, Chair, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel.

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Voluntary Arts Across the UK and the Republic of Ireland there are approximately 63,000 voluntary arts groups, regularly involving more than 10 million people participating voluntarily in creative cultural activities: this activity is, and will continue to be, a critical part of both the bedrock and the grass roots of the cultural life of our communities and nations.

Voluntary Arts was established in 1991, in response to a need identified by government and the voluntary arts sector, to provide a universal voice for the voluntary arts across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Today Voluntary Arts has 20 staff and more than 60 volunteers working across 5 nations. We provide information and advice services, undertake lobbying and advocacy work, and deliver and support the delivery of, projects to develop participation in creative cultural activities. Voluntary Arts receives funding from all four UK arts councils. We have offices in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Derry, with flexible working across England.

Our support is particularly focused on those creative citizens who – beyond their own participation and beyond any remuneration – give their time to make such activity more available within their communities (of locality and interest) and to improve the quality and range of those opportunities and activities.

Our vision: An empowered, participative, fulfilled and healthy civil society.

Our mission: Promoting participation in creative cultural activity.

2. What was our challenge?

Voluntary Arts was founded in 1991 by a number of UK national membership organisations of amateur arts groups (including the National Federation of Music Societies, the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, the British Federation of Festivals etc) – many of which were themselves founded in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, embodying a Victorian model of ‘the federation’. Voluntary Arts was created, not as a membership organisation itself, but to be the universal voice of voluntary creative cultural activity across the UK and Ireland. The organisation seeks to champion and support all such activity, but its connections have always been naturally stronger with those local amateur arts groups that belong to one of the traditional national membership organisations. The history, structure and artform focus of those organisations means they tend not to represent much voluntary creative cultural activity within Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.

Like many other publicly funded arts organisations, Voluntary Arts has become increasingly concerned in recent years about the relative lack of diversity within its staffing, governance and beneficiaries. This absence of diversity throughout the organisation indicated that Voluntary Arts was not reaching out and conveying that it saw value in being inclusive. In particular the Voluntary Arts Board felt embarrassed about an obvious failing in relation to ethnic diversity. The Voluntary Arts Strategic Plan 2014-19 identifies the need to develop connections to the full range of communities in which creative cultural activity takes place, saying “in particular we face an immediate and pressing challenge to reach out effectively to creative cultural activity in black, Asian and minority ethnic cultures and communities”.

For many years (probably in common with many other similar organisations) the Voluntary Arts Trustees spent considerable time in Board meetings bemoaning the lack of staff or Trustees from BAME backgrounds but worrying about how to change this situation without resorting to tokenism. There was a genuine desire from Trustees and staff to diversify the organisation but Voluntary Arts seemed trapped in a cycle of concern, worry, caution and inaction. This left a void that expressed the wrong things about the organisation and in turn left the excluded experiencing further isolation.

David Bryan: We (society) have made the issues of racial difference and religious difference so charged we have created anxiety. Too many people are frightened by engagement and are therefore not engaging.

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3. How did we break out of the cycle?

Photo: Sacred Sounds Women’s Choir at Manchester Jewish Museum

Strong leadership When Peter Stark was appointed as the new Chair of Voluntary Arts in October 2011 he made it a condition of accepting the position that the organisation must make real progress in relation to its ethnic diversity.

Peter’s strong leadership helped Voluntary Arts escape the cycle of inaction in this area, though it still took another four years before significant progress was achieved.

Our first step The first step taken by Voluntary Arts was to organise two focus group discussions with cultural practitioners from different BAME communities which took place in October 2012. These roundtable events included presentations about the information, support and advice services Voluntary Arts offers and asked how these services might need to be tailored for BAME communities. The clear response from the focus groups was that the services did not need to be altered for BAME groups and would already be incredibly helpful for these communities if they knew the services existed. The focus groups stressed that voluntary arts activity in BAME communities has more similarities than differences with the rest of the voluntary arts sector and the real challenge for Voluntary Arts was how to promote itself in order to reach as many people as possible about what it offers, as a consistent marketing approach.

Developing partnerships In 2013 Voluntary Arts developed a partnership with Voice 4 Change – the BAME voluntary sector umbrella body for England – and in June 2013 Voluntary Arts and Voice 4 Change organised a joint event at Resource for London in Islington. The invited audience of about 30 people included representatives of networks of artists and organisations, representing more than 200 BAME arts groups in London and the South East who were encouraged to take advantage of the information and advice available from Voluntary Arts.

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Asking questions At its annual Board/staff awayday in May 2014 Voluntary Arts organised a panel session featuring four local people with knowledge of particular BAME communities in Bristol. This allowed Voluntary Arts Trustees and staff to ask questions about how voluntary cultural activity is organised and supported in the relevant communities. It was an interesting discussion which again emphasised the similarities in key aspects of voluntary arts activities across communities. The session was also a useful learning experience for the organisation as it revealed how nervous many staff and Trustees still were about discussing issues of ethnicity in ‘public’.

After the session finished the panel members were invited to join Voluntary Arts staff and Board members for an evening meal and the discussions over dinner proved much more productive. In a more relaxed, social setting – without any formal agenda or structure – Voluntary Arts learned much more about how it might connect better with BAME communities and gained confidence in tackling this challenge.

Investing in expert support In June 2014 Voluntary Arts advertised for a freelance consultant to help the organisation start to conduct an investigation into the nature, scale and scope of creative cultural activity within BAME communities in the UK and Ireland. The consultant was to investigate the differences (and similarities) in creative cultural activity in BAME cultures and communities, to look at how local, voluntary, creative cultural activity is developed and organised in BAME communities and how Voluntary Arts might better support this activity. The consultant was also to help Voluntary Arts to establish a BAME Advisory Panel to continue and develop this work.

Voluntary Arts was surprised and delighted to receive considerable interest in this freelance contract, including applications from some very experienced and noted diversity consultants. Interviews were conducted with five candidates – and these interviews were themselves an incredibly useful part of the learning process for Voluntary Arts.

Voluntary Arts contracted Jeanette Bain-Burnett to research and write a paper on creative cultural activity within BAME communities. Jeanette is a freelance manager, producer and consultant with extensive experience working within the BAME creative community. Her projects include a mentoring programme for Black and Minority Ethnic writers in Newham, East London; and a local heritage project in Barnet, North London aimed at engaging volunteers through theatre, visual art, film and oral history. Jeanette was Director of the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD), an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, for six years (2007-2013). She is a Trustee of the Foundation for Community Dance and also serves on the advisory panel for Uchenna Dance, an Afro-contemporary dance company.

Jeanette conducted a literature review, mapped BAME cultural activity in two geographical areas (Plymouth and Liverpool), conducted in-depth interviews (in London and Birmingham) with the leaders of three strategic BAME organisations and the creative leaders of two voluntary arts groups and had conversations with Voluntary Arts staff. Jeanette’s report, ‘Dynamic and Diverse: Insights into BAME voluntary arts practice in England’, was presented to the Voluntary Arts Board in March 2015. It included a series of practical recommendations which were immediately acted upon. Jeanette also advised Voluntary Arts on the recruitment and programme for a national BAME Advisory Panel.

Jeanette Bain-Burnett: Voluntary Arts is increasingly aware that, like many other ‘mainstream’ organisations, within the context of a diverse and complex population, most of its clients and users come from a limited (primarily white) segment of the population. The Board and senior management team of Voluntary Arts have acknowledged that this is complex terrain which requires careful exploration and a nuanced approach.

As an organisation focused on supporting and recognising those who lead and sustain creative cultural activity in their communities of locality and interest, Voluntary Arts holds a unique position in the intersection of public policy; subsidised professional arts activity and creative and cultural citizenship across the UK.

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4. How did we develop a BAME Advisory Panel?

Building on Jeanette’s recommendations and conclusions, in May 2015 Voluntary Arts advertised for volunteer members to form a BAME Advisory Panel for a 12 month term to continue to develop the organisation’s understanding and approach in relation to BAME cultures and communities. David Bryan from Xtend Consulting (one of the strategic leaders Jeanette had interviewed for her report) agreed to chair the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel.

Voluntary Arts then recruited volunteer Panel members located geographically close to each of the organisation’s offices and staff teams so that they could coach Voluntary Arts staff in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to create country-specific action plans for BAME engagement. Panel members were also asked to work with Voluntary Arts staff to interview a series of expert ‘witnesses’ from particular BAME communities.

With seven volunteer Panel members, who brought their own experience of certain communities, each interviewing at least four witnesses from different BAME communities, Voluntary Arts hoped to build a collective picture of voluntary creative cultural activity in more than 30 BAME cultures.

The programme for the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel was deliberately limited to twelve months (July 2015 – July 2016). Voluntary Arts felt that, while the Panel was the way to put the organisation on a path to greater diversity, it would be important to integrate this approach into the mainstream governance and staff structures as soon as possible. There might otherwise be a risk of the rest of the organisation assuming that BAME issues could be left to the Panel. Linking individual Panel members to particular Voluntary Arts staff teams from the start was also intended to integrate the Panel’s work into the day-to-day activities of the organisation, rather than have the Panel only operating through its five meetings.

Voluntary Arts was clear from the outset that it did not want a permanent BAME Advisory Panel. It wanted the impact of this initiative to affect all aspects of the organisation’s structure and work. Doing otherwise would restrict the contribution of this highly skilled and knowledgeable group to just one aspect of their expertise.

Members of the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel: • • • • • • • •

David Bryan, Chair (London) Jerri Daboo (Exeter) Bobsie Robinson (Bradford) Catherine Mugonyi (Blackpool) Nisha Tandon (Belfast) Maryam Imran (Glasgow) Leanne Rahman (Cardiff) Peter Stark (Gateshead)

[See APPENDIX 1, below, for more details about the Panel members.]

The BAME Panel meetings David Bryan: Initially the idea for the BAME Advisory Panel was to work with the staff as a kind of scrutiny panel, presumably less inquisition and more critical friend. However that approach was discarded, as it would have failed to generate a constructive learning dialogue. There would have been a flow of questions in one direction.

Additionally the value of bringing together this disparate group from across the UK would have been wasted.

Voluntary Arts Chief Executive, Robin Simpson, and I agreed a different approach that would enable the panel members to share their experiences; knowledge of the developments in their countries and regions; and through the open dialogue with colleagues develop insights. We had no way of knowing what would emerge from the Advisory Panel in advance but what was evident was that we had a collection of people who had been actively engaged over a number of years. This breath and depth of knowledge enabled the group to have discussions that were specific to a country and community – yet find similarities elsewhere.

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The Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel held five meetings between July 2015 and July 2016. The meetings took place in London, Cardiff and Glasgow. On each occasion Panel members arrived in time for an informal discussion over a shared evening meal before the formal Panel meeting the following morning.

Both the dinner conversations and the formal meetings were free-flowing and wide-ranging with a very loose agenda. An emphasis was placed on learning from each other and comparing experiences from the different parts of the UK and Ireland. It soon became clear that this gathering of experts in BAME cultural activity from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland was providing a unique perspective on creativity in BAME communities. The Panel meetings were all incredibly enjoyable, though-provoking and inspiring.

David Bryan: The process of meeting the evening beforehand and engaging in updates and broad discussion set the tempo for the actual meetings as the panel members recalibrated the quality of sharing that they felt was acceptable and possible. We built trust quickly, given that the panel members did not know each other. In part the trust was quickly established because of the explicit mutual empathy, the subtle leadership and the light touch agenda of Voluntary Arts. If Voluntary Arts had insisted on a tight schedule and a pre-planned format the scope for the panel members to stretch their thinking and make connections with their own experiences would have been straight-jacketed. The fact that the majority of the panel from the very outset are women also gave the panel a mutual affirmation. This was a space unlike others, where women’s voices will be heard.

Nisha Tandon: The meetings went very well: fantastic experience. The experience and knowledge which the panel has is vast and there are so many good practice models that we should learn from.

Photo: Fylde Coast Hindu Society

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5. How did the BAME Advisory Panel help us expand our connections with, and understanding of, BAME communities?

Panel members conducted interviews with experts, practitioners and organisers involved in BAME creative cultural activity in a variety of communities across the UK. Working with Voluntary Arts staff, these interviews took place in informal settings and were deliberately unstructured conversations. The interviews helped to build Voluntary Arts’ knowledge and understanding of creative cultural activity in different communities but also practically increased the organisation’s network of contacts in these communities.

Catherine Mugonyi: It was great to see that interviewees felt reassured because someone was listening to them. This is so important in a time when small BAME arts groups are in competition with large voluntary organisations and arts professionals for a shrinking pool of resources.

The interviewees and the communities they represent were not intended to reflect a comprehensive picture of BAME creative cultural activity. Rather, they were deliberately focussed on locations in which Voluntary Arts staff are based, in order to help staff develop practical networks through which to develop their understanding and connections.

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The interviews took place across the UK between October 2015 and May 2016 and involved 40 people, representing communities including: • • • • • •

Afro-Caribbean Filipino Jewish Hindu Indian Muslim

• • • • • •

Pakistani Polish Portuguese-speaking Romani, Gypsy and Traveller South East Asian Spanish

[See APPENDIX 2, below, for a full list of the interviewees.]

The open conversational approach to the interviews was intended to develop understanding and relationships between the relevant local groups and Voluntary Arts staff, rather than to represent a systematic survey of BAME creative cultural activity. The following sample of comments from some of the interviews provides a flavour of the tone and content of the interviews and identifies some of the key points that emerged.

• One of the big issues is a sense of having a voice, of being listened to – especially at a policy level.

• The focus on integration as opposed to celebrating diversity (and that being a strength) is perhaps underplayed in the policy arena • Leadership needs to be shown to help recognise the positive value diverse communities bring to local society and also the value the arts (including traditional cultures) bring.

• Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups often come together in the first instance to provide coordination for themselves and preserve cultural traditions amongst children and the family, as opposed to becoming a part of a new society.

• It is important to recognise that although people from these communities have a distinct common identity they are not necessarily connected. Perhaps the first step towards creating stronger bonds with the ‘host’ community is to focus on bringing people with common cultural identity together to organise things for themselves and build confidence and capacity.

• There is a sense too that different minority ethnic groups can be working in isolation and more could be done to bring them together in order to share learning, experiences and build collaborative relationships: festivals and creative cultural programmes in general are seen as a powerful way to do this.

• Common interest is something that brings people together across diverse communities. This often is a common creative interest (e.g. dance, craft, painting, music etc).

• Creative cultural activity in general is a good way for people and cultures to get introduced - especially creative cultural activity involving food, celebrations and craft.

• The religious/cultural calendar is also important (e.g. Diwali in Indian culture) - one of the simple ways to develop more connections would be to incorporate these various calendars into public life.

• With inspiring leaders and by including anyone who wanted to take part, carnival gave order in a wider society where racism was rife. Carnival is the focal point of the community, it’s not just a black thing.

Carnival is a way for people to come together. It’s not just about the finished dancing and costumes. The process is the glue • Lack of funding is not necessarily a bad thing. Not too long ago, people were denied bank accounts, loans and grants, so we just helped each other out. We can take it back to communities coming together and sourcing things for themselves.

• We need event advice, help with communications to get us started; once people are empowered, they’ll do the right thing.

• Festivals can be a way to get people to participate in other parts of civic life.

• We celebrate our festivals, such as Diwali, Holi etc. but we want to expand our celebrations to include those of other faiths and those without.

• We have food at a lot of our events. Food is a great way of bringing people together, it shows care, compassion and kindness.

• Health and wellbeing is very important to us. Since 2010, we’ve organised dance classes for people of all ages. In the longer term, we would like to accept referrals from heath services – arts on prescription if you like.

• The voluntary sector has great potential, we can offer real value for money as we do not have the bureaucracy of public sector organisations. We are flexible and much quicker to respond to issues.

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Voluntary Arts staff and Panel members have maintained contact with all the individuals who took part in the interviews, and everyone was invited to comment on the draft text of this report. Over the coming years, Voluntary Arts will continue an ongoing dialogue with this growing network of contacts involved in BAME creative cultural activity across the UK to further develop the organisation’s understanding and connections.

Gareth Coles, Director, Voluntary Arts Wales: There was such interest in the project that many recommendations and referrals were made, and participants contributed their time and expertise with such generosity. We have built numerous links which I hope we can build on.

Kevin Murphy, Chief Officer, Voluntary Arts Ireland: The conversational events were excellent: I learned a lot at them and built good relationships.

Jemma Neville, Director, Voluntary Arts Scotland: I am surprised that other, much larger arts organisations, have not done something similar.

Photo: BAME interview meeting in Wales

During the Panel’s twelve-month programme (July 2015 – July 2016) several key Voluntary Arts initiatives started to demonstrate an increased ethnic diversity of participants – without any specific new interventions.

For example, Epic Awards – Voluntary Arts’ annual scheme to showcase excellence and innovation in local voluntary arts groups – featured a noticeably higher proportion of BAME groups shortlisted for awards in 2016 compared to the previous year. Analysis of entries to Epic Awards has shown a significant correlation with those parts of the country where Voluntary Arts staff are based, suggesting that personal encouragement from staff is an important factor in persuading groups to apply. The increased diversity of entries in 2016 therefore suggests that the effect of the network of new contacts staff have developed through the Panel interviews and meetings is already being seen. It will now be important for Voluntary Arts to maintain strong ongoing communications with its new expanded network of contacts in BAME communities.

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6. What did we learn from the work of the BAME Advisory Panel?

6.1 Understanding BAME creative cultural activity One of the original objectives for the BAME Advisory Panel was to help Voluntary Arts to build a picture of the nature of creative cultural activity in BAME communities across the UK and Ireland. The intention was to scope the voluntary arts activity in these communities in order to understand how it is organised and how Voluntary Arts could represent and support this activity.

One of the first learning points for Voluntary Arts was that the organisation had been falling into the trap of considering BAME communities as if they were all the same. The range of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK is vast and needs vary enormously. It would be foolish in the extreme to expect to be able to design a single offer to ‘BAME communities’.

The Panel looked at a wide range of BAME cultural activity. It considered the components of the Mela – Sufi poetry, qawwali, classical Indian dance etc. The Panel concluded that African Caribbean communities have strong spoken word and music practice. The Panel also looked at ‘bedroom creativity’ and online creative activity. The heritage of storytelling was discussed, including the gap between generations and the lack of contemporary stories. The Panel identified significant BAME involvement in dance and literature.

The overall conclusion of this aspect of the Panel’s work, however, was that a comprehensive survey of UK BAME creative cultural activity was beyond the scope of its twelve month programme and would require substantially more capacity. The Panel also felt that it was not necessary for Voluntary Arts to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all BAME cultural activity and seeking this could actually prove counter-productive as it would feed the desire for absolute knowledge, the desire to get each step right, if not perfect, before taking action.

The Panel discussed the danger of stereotyping communities. There is no such thing as a typical member of a particular community: every constituency of people is varied. Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) – a term first coined in 1989 by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw – proposes thinking of each element or trait of a person as inextricably linked with all the other elements in order to fully understand someone’s identity. The Panel emphasised that it is important to acknowledge people’s economic and social differences as well as ethnicity and geography. It is more important to enable staff to have confidence to speak to someone who is not like them – through mutual respect and exploration. Training about the nature of particular communities can be a substitute for action. Rather we need to cultivate the ability to be curious without feeling superior.

Jemma Neville, Director, Voluntary Arts Scotland: We’ve been introduced to some fascinating examples of creative cultural activity. The consistent message is that we don’t need to have different engagement and developmental support to BAME voluntary arts – we just need to expand our networks and connections.

Sarah Breen, Midlands Development Officer, Voluntary Arts England: Time is needed for this development: dialogues take time. BAME shouldn’t be seen as separate from other areas: we need to look at inclusivity rather than diversity.

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David Bryan: The elevation of identity, religion, language differences and faith has given some the licence to pull away from people-to-people conversations. The Panel’s ease is because none of them allow the issue of distinctiveness to block engagement. Knowing how to deal with a segment within a community will not assist with dealing with everyone. As someone who has delivered Equality and Diversity Training, I’ve never done it with an exploration of differences, but an examination of mindsets that block and the formulating a vision of what good can look like, for the organisation and society.

Taking the time to share reflections and examples of what is happening in different cultures and countries was enriching. This became all the more so as the layers of politics and localised discrimination indicated common ground in the propensity of groups to stay below the radar and seek out premises, performance places and people with which to trust.

6.2 Disconnection rather than deficit The starting point for much discussion of diversity in the arts is a deficit model that suggests the need to get more under-represented communities participating in ‘mainstream’ cultural activity.

For example, the report of the Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value (Enriching Britain: Culture, Creativity and Growth, February 2015) repeated the assertion that “in the amateur arts sector, only 2% of participants are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background”. This is a very misleading statistic. It comes from a 2008 report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (‘Our Creative Talent’) which only looked at a very particular model of formally constituted amateur arts groups and completely overlooked the scale, wealth and diversity of creative cultural activity taking place in more informal settings in BAME communities.

Voluntary Arts is clear in its Strategic Plan 2014-19 that “For us, this is not about how we get more BAME individuals involved in voluntary arts activity: it is about clarifying the form of creative citizenship within BAME cultures and communities, how these communities self-organise their creative, cultural activity, and how Voluntary Arts can support them (if such support would be welcome).”

The challenge for Voluntary Arts is not that BAME communities do not participate in creative cultural activity but rather that the activity that takes place in these communities is not recognised or valued more widely and is not connected to mainstream support such as that provided by Voluntary Arts. The BAME Advisory Panel concluded that the organisers of much BAME creative cultural activity would not identify themselves as undertaking ‘voluntary arts’. Many communities don’t see cultural religious activity as ‘arts’, Asian communities tend to see arts as a hobby and African Caribbean communities don’t see the arts as a profession. There is also an emerging group of young people undertaking creative cultural activity on their own – untrained – and developing YouTube careers or similar, who would not describe what they do as ‘arts’.

Voluntary Arts broadened its definition of creative cultural activity (in its Strategic Plan 2014-19) to encompass the activities of traditional amateur arts and crafts groups as well as wider (and emerging) definitions of the arts within differing cultures, new forms of digital creativity and other areas of cultural creativity, such as those practised in gardens, kitchens and workshops.

Rather than expanding this list further to try to create a definitive set of artforms, or attempting to categorise creative cultural activity by particular BAME communities, it might be more useful to segment by types of creative activity: aspiring professionals; social activities; preserving traditions; using art for campaigning; activity for health & wellbeing purposes etc.

For many of the groups and individuals interviewed by the Panel, their focus was not just about the artform: there often seems to be something else that drives the cultural activity. Interviewees spoke about factors including tackling social issues, cohesion, health and wellbeing being equally valuable to the art itself. Much of their work came out of community development, with creativity being used as a tool to social justice, social change etc.

These groups speak the language of the social issues but do not necessarily understand the language of the arts sector. Resources intended for the arts are often not accessible to them – including Voluntary Arts’ information services – because of the way these are described. Voluntary Arts needs to position its support in a way that makes clear its relevance to a wider range of groups.

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Photo: Black History Month Wales 2015 event

Laraine Winning, Development Officers Co-ordinator, Voluntary Arts England: The hidden aspect of people living in disconnected or disenfranchised communities, needs to be on our agenda and underpinning all our arts development planning. We should be reflecting on the ‘arts’ as a unifying force for good community relations.

David Bryan: I’m struck by the desire for communities to express that they exist, and the arts or cultural mode is a mechanism not an end in itself. All the insecurities about being employed make the arts too high risk for communities that have known prolonged instability. So finding ‘role models’ who can navigate from a place of security is extremely difficult. These are some of the people we have in the room.

6.3 Funding The Panel found that many of the BAME groups it interviewed were struggling to secure funding for their activities and identified the need for more small grants schemes. Arts Council funding schemes often use a different set of terminology – with an emphasis on artistic excellence – than that understood by these groups.

Many groups need even smaller grants than those provided by Awards 4 All. Many would welcome grants between £500 and £1000 with an easier application process (including video submissions etc).

Small amounts of money for many groups are all that is regularly required. Over time as some groups want to expand and do bigger events the requirements for resources increases. Unfortunately there has been a long history of BAME groups not securing funding and this has led to a lack of knowledge, networks and confidence in the fairness of the funding structures and therefore further disconnection ensues.

6.4 Spaces The Panel emphasised the importance of the availability of safe, affordable, accessible local spaces for creative cultural activity. Many groups used to be able to use rooms in libraries free of charge but this is no longer the case. From a general BAME perspective, libraries are really important as secular, generalist, welcoming spaces – and are still a statutory responsibility of local government. Many rural libraries are being shut, with provision increasingly focussed in urban centres.

The Panel stressed the importance of the availability of non-judgemental spaces for people to ‘have a go’ (‘I could do that’). People need a safe cultural space to explore their own being.

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6.5 Open conversations The Panel noted that BAME communities feel over-consulted. Too many agencies would descend on a community, take information and then leave. Rare was the courtesy of an update or explanation of how the data was used or even what was deduced from it. Some felt that it was like being in a zoo – watched and observed but little changed. The opportunity to develop a dialogue or a relationship was avoided and the benefits of real understanding let alone interaction missed. The approach Voluntary Arts took with its interviews was initiating simple open conversations and building relationships rather than more formal consultation. These open conversations – a model also followed in the Panel meetings – created real dialogues and built trust.

David Bryan: Meeting the staff made me aware that some were already enthusiastic and just needed licence and encouragement, while others felt fearful about the unknown to be met. Some wanted to offer bounties and peace offerings when all that is necessary is a simple opening gambit such as – please tell about what you do, I hear it’s really good and I’d like to know more. The worry gets in the way and this might manifest itself as a training issue when really it’s more a group learning or coaching matter. In other words a place to reflect on the interaction and how to do better next time and face up to the stereotypes/ assumptions that you may have had.

The key practical result of the Panel’s work is that Voluntary Arts now regularly has a more diverse range of people round the table during its day-to-day meetings and discussions. Having failed to make progress in this area for many years, in part because it was trying to find a perfect solution, Voluntary Arts has now embarked on a journey towards greater diversity through a series of small, practical steps. When the ‘go-to’ people the organisation knows and involves in its work are more diverse the activities of the organisation naturally begin to connect to more diverse communities.

Photo: Arts Ekta

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7. How will we handle the legacy of the BAME Advisory Panel?

Voluntary Arts has been trying to create a shift in behaviour, in perception, in interaction with individuals. The groups the Panel has interviewed are keen to be seen, acknowledged and affirmed. Voluntary Arts needs to find other partners to help connect groups, creating personalised connections into organisations – maybe through some kind of ‘buddying’ system.

David Bryan: I was surprised by the value I felt in having space to reflect with peers on the concerns for BAME arts and its importance for BAME communities. As each panel member shared stories about where and how communities function I was reminded of the importance of the social setting within which the arts takes place and the degree to which BAME communities felt welcome, under threat, ignored and banished. Participating on the panel also, towards the end, corresponded with my involvement in a project that looked back over 40 years to the report, ‘The Arts Britain Ignores’ by Naseem Khan. And the surprise, or maybe suppressed reminder that our society operates in parallel spaces and this means that the level of interaction that some of us have developed is not as widespread as we might like to think. More importantly, the separation creates a barrier to engagement and with the absence of interaction, allows stereotypes and apprehension to become dominant. Bridging the gap therefore requires an openness and honesty similar to that expressed in the formation of the advisory panel and an exploration of what might be created together.

The Panel now needs to hand the baton back to the organisation and make this agenda the responsibility of the Voluntary Arts Board. The ways of working developed by the Panel will be integrated, both into the ongoing work of Voluntary Arts (including its advocacy, advice and information services) and into developing greater diversity within Voluntary Arts staff and volunteers. All the members of the BAME Advisory Panel have agreed to continue their involvement in the organisation as members of the national Advisory Groups for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and/or as members of the Voluntary Arts Board of Trustees. This will help to embed new ways of working within Voluntary Arts in order to avoid reversion after the completion of the Panel’s work.

Specific targets and actions resulting from the Panel’s work will be built into the current mid-point review of the Voluntary Arts Strategic Plan 2014-19 (due to be completed in November 2016) rather than becoming a separate BAME action plan, in order to emphasise the integration of this agenda into the ongoing work of the organisation. This will lead to particular targets for staff within each department of Voluntary Arts as part of the annual departmental action plans.

Voluntary Arts plans to convene twice yearly meetings of staff and Trustees to assess progress of this agenda.

Photo: Butetown History & Arts Centre

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8. What have we concluded?

David Bryan: As much as I had initially thought of this as a place to give, to impart, in reality it was the learning from others that gave me the most pleasure. I got a feel of the texture of communities in other places that shone a new light on some of my own experiences. Within and among the panel members there was ease in sharing, there was fun, this was an invaluable opportunity to reflect on one’s own experience and attribute value and importance.

The result of the EU Referendum on 23 June 2016 demonstrated the dramatic polarisation of communities across the UK. The discrimination surfaced by the Referendum is not new but the escalation of explicit violence following the vote to leave the EU is worrying and dangerous. Brexit has highlighted a disconnect between people and a feeling of isolation. The Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel has developed a good process for people coming together – a means of creating alliances, links and ways into the sphere – which now feels even more important in terms of the reassurance and rebuilding that will be required.

Voluntary Arts believes it is important to move away from a ‘deficit model’ that assumes a proportion of the population are not engaging and that we should therefore be intervening to encourage them to participate in our activities. Rather, we should be taking an asset-based approach to explore, understand, recognise and value the creative activities that people undertake in every community. This approach has been exemplified by the work of the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel and now has wider relevance for how we reconnect to all marginalised and disillusioned communities. Above all, the Panel has reinforced the need to be proactive rather than acting from fear or anger.

The Panel discovered phenomenal similarities between different BAME communities in different parts of the UK. Even the negatives have been reassuring: you’re not the only one dealing with this. The stories the Panel uncovered reveal how BAME communities are often disconnected. There is a common need for people to find somewhere they can go safely, cheaply and unencumbered in the space to undertake creative activities.

For many the art itself is a secondary focus. Disconnected communities are separate from the mainstream: once someone becomes a broker with the mainstream that person is invaluable. Connecting Voluntary Arts to these communities has made them think someone cares. It will be important to maintain these connections now that expectations have been raised.

Leanne Rahman: I have been surprised by the similarities between the nations – the message of over consultation from our BAME communities, the importance of safe, welcoming and free community spaces, the significance of familiarity and the real difference that having someone “like me” makes to developing and brokering long-standing relationships, as well as overcoming barriers to participation and communication, and how little these needs have changed or this work has progressed to address this in-equitability in the ‘mainstream’ over the last 20 years.

Jerri Daboo: The formal interviews and informal discussions have reinforced that participatory arts activities play a very important part in the lives of BAME communities, for creativity and expression, as well as personal development and learning about the history and culture of the community. However these activities often remain invisible to the more mainstream view. Obtaining funding for these activities can be very difficult. Networking is also a challenge, and all the organisations I spoke with said that this aspect of feeling linked in with other organisations would be very helpful.

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Maryam Imran: The experience has been very positive and the learning, sharing and networking approach is key to help understand the national picture in terms of minority ethnic cultural and arts participation as artists, performers or audience.

Bobsie Robinson: To be surrounded by like-minded individuals committed to developing and supporting the voluntary arts across the UK and the Republic of Ireland to bring forth the voices and experiences of a diverse society has been awe inspiring. I am proud to be part of a unique movement of expertise which has supported my own personal development. The value of the interactions so far with staff, communities, artists, performers and audiences cannot be underestimated as we move forward.

The Panel is clear that this is not the end of the process: Voluntary Arts is still in testing mode not consolidation.

David Bryan: The commitment to affect change in an organisation on a topic that causes emotional discomfort needs to be carefully handled. The issue of race with or without religion causes considerable apprehension for many who are unconnected and unfamiliar with engaging with difference. The fact that the organisation had done some early scanning of the terrain through its report ‘Dynamic and Diverse’ was a vital starting point. It made the case for further development by the organisation and while progress was not as fast as some would have liked, the importance was held onto by the board. The commitment and determination not to be dissuaded, or capitulate to the usual concerns of workload, were central. All organisations form comfort zones and some aspects of diversity are outside that comfort zone.

Photo: Pinocchio Forum Project

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The recurring theme is that it all boils down to open conversations – talking to people, asking what they need. The Panel emphasised the importance of Voluntary Arts wanting to listen rather than to question – using the skills of active listening. People have a need to speak, to be heard and seen – and to talk to others doing the same thing elsewhere. Groups feel isolated and Voluntary Arts could help with this. Conduits of information to communities (such as community radio) are important as well as talking to local cultural groups themselves. The result of the Panel’s work has been that the ‘go-to’ people for Voluntary Arts are now more diverse.

Voluntary Arts wishes to thank all those who gave their time and shared experiences to help with this work over the past twelve months.

The Panel felt that partnerships and networks are the key, but Voluntary Arts should not be trying to do everything on it own. The organisation should be involving local authorities and other relevant agencies, and should also be connecting groups from different regions with each other.

Our Cultural Commons – a major national initiative launched by Voluntary Arts and Arts Development UK in 2014 – is exploring new ways to sustain and develop the creative lives of our communities in all their diversity. Building on the assets we already know we have and can deploy rather than beginning with a deficit in what we have lost or never had, Our Cultural Commons should have a particular resonance for community groups feeling isolated who want to be in touch with each other. Integrating the connections developed by the Panel into Our Cultural Commons would provide a natural way to make this agenda part of the mainstream work of Voluntary Arts.

Voluntary Arts has moved, in short space of time, from a position of embarrassment about its lack of ethnic diversity to a confidence that it is pioneering a new approach to developing strong, effective connections to a range of BAME communities. The organisation is clear that it is still only at the start of a journey but that first step, which allowed Voluntary Arts to break its cycle of inactivity, has been fascinating, inspiring and great fun.

Voluntary Arts now needs to integrate this learning, and the resulting new connections, across the work of the organisation and would welcome any further links or introductions to help with this process.

The BAME Advisory Panel stresses the importance of a multi-level approach: avoiding looking for the big magic solution and just getting on and doing things. But if there was a single thing that enabled Voluntary Arts to start doing things it was the simple act of asking for help. Inviting representatives of BAME communities to take part in focus groups and panel sessions, advertising for a freelance contractor to advise the organisation and recruiting volunteer members for the Advisory Panel quickly brought more diverse voices to the table. Moving forward together is so much easier than worrying alone.

November 2016

Photo: Glasgow Mela - Abhinaya

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APPENDIX 1: The Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel

David Bryan, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel Chair David Bryan is Director of Xtend UK Ltd, a management consultancy working in organisational change, leadership development and diversity. mostly in the not-for-profit and public sector. He has over 20 years consultancy experience, providing management training, facilitation to senior management teams, one to one coaching and governance support. Prior to becoming a consultant he worked in senior management within the voluntary sector, the arts and in academia. David is currently a member of the Council of Arts Council England.

Jerri Daboo, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member Jerri Daboo is Associate Professor of Performance at the University of Exeter and Director of Postgraduate Research for the Department of Drama. She worked professionally as a performer, director and teacher for fifteen years, before taking up the position of Lecturer in Exeter in 2004. Her work moves across a number of different cultures, practices and performance forms, inlcuding acting, music and dance. Jerri was the Principal Investigator on a two and a half year project entitled ‘The Southall Story’, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to research and document the cultural history of the diasporic town of Southall, focusing on the development of arts and performance, as well as the relationship to socio-cultural events and political organisations.

Jerri joined the Voluntary Arts Board of Trustees in October 2014.

Bobsie Robinson, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member Bobsie is currently employed by Bradford Council as the Cultural Policy and Strategy Manager. She has a long and varied history of working with BAME communities on various regeneration initiatives. She has established new groups and organisations particularly in the African and Caribbean community in areas such as Education, Health, Young and Older people. Through her current position Bobsie also leads on equalities and has developed a number of initiatives to engage BAME communities particularly around events and festivals within the arts and culture sector. On a regional and national level she has been involved with various Arts Council England steering groups to engage and develop BAME artists and organisations such as Verb (a network for BAME artists across the region); Sustain Theatre (a network of BAME theatre practitioners and organisations nationally). Bobsie is currently leading on a joint DCLG and Arts Council England Arts in Communities programme where she is developing a number of community arts networks across various localities and interests groups to enable grassroots communities to participate and engage in the arts.

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Catherine Mugonyi, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member As Equality Officer at Blackpool Council, Catherine’s job involves working with BAME communities in Blackpool, consulting with BAME residents on service access and employment opportunity issues. Her role is to ensure there is wide public involvement built into the design of a variety of projects and policies ranging from Capital Projects’ £96 million tramway upgrade to HIV testing and cultural services.

On behalf of Blackpool Race Equality Forum she has also co-organised a Sustained Theatre Up North (STUN) roadshow event which allowed local BAME groups to access support and development opportunities regarding their arts activities and programmes as well as a valuable networking opportunity.

Catherine is also a director of a community interest company, Aunty Social CIC which provides accessible, affordable, participatory arts activities for local people. Aunty Social’s projects include a yarnbomb trail, altBlackpool (hyper-local arts and culture website) creating programmes of arts activities for young people, Pop-up picturehouse neighbourhood cinema and Charabanc – a shop selling work by local artists and makers. In partnership with the Winter Gardens Trust, they also organise the Winter Gardens Film Festival showcasing the best of black and white cinema in a heritage venue.

Nisha Tandon OBE, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member In 2006, Nisha conceptualised and founded ArtsEkta (Ekta meaning ‘Bonding’), a social enterprise leading on innovation through a highly unique programme of work, addressing key social issues in Northern Ireland such as segregated communities, demographic change, legacy of the troubles, multiple deprivation, and weak community/arts infrastructures. Nisha has led the design, development and delivery of Cultural Coach, a region-wide intercultural outreach programme principally funded by Arts Council of NI; the development of Northern Ireland’s first South Asian Dance Academy; the delivery of three large scale award-winning festivals including Northern Ireland’s largest intercultural arts festival, Belfast Mela, which to date has over 0.25m visitors and; the employment and professional artistic development of over 50 local and ethnic artists who deliver the organisation’s services.

She was appointed by the Minister for Culture, Arts & Leisure to the executive board of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland providing representation for the community arts sector. She also leads on the Stronger Together working group established in 2010 with partners STEP, SEEDs, Chinese Welfare Association, Foyle Multi-Cultural Forum, Centre for Global Education and Ballymena Inter-Ethnic Forum.

The group was developed with the view of creating a strong supportive network, supporting an integrated community development approach to tackling racism, promoting good relations, sharing & exchanging information, experience and knowledge towards achieving rights based interdependent integration. It is supported and endorsed by the Office of the First & Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) and Community Relations Council. In June 2014, Nisha was the first Asian women from Northern Ireland to be awarded the prestigious UK Asian Women of Achievement Award for contribution to arts and culture, and later that month she was awarded an OBE for services to the minority ethnic sector in the 2014 Queen’s Honours List. In 2015, she won the British Indian Award for ‘Indian Spirit in the Community’ presented by Trade Next and BDO. 21

Maryam Imran, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member Maryam is a Project Management, Training & Fundraising Consultant, based in Glasgow, currently working for Glasgow ANSAR, Diversity Arts and Noor Arts. Her previous work has included BEMIS – Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland and Deaf Connections. She is predominantly a community facilitator of equality and diversity work with training as her main specialism. She also has strategic fundraising, capacity building, research and consultation, community engagement and networking skills, particularly with public bodies. She has a vast range of funding experience from Scottish Government Grants, Big Lottery, VAF, trust funding and business sponsorship in voluntary and community group settings.

Leanne Rahman, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member Based in Cardiff, Leanne Rahman is the Arts in Education Project Administrator for the Arts Council of Wales. She previously co-ordinated the SPFP Project for Creative & Cultural Skills, Wales, and was Senior Arts Development Officer at the Black Voluntary Sector Network Wales from 2008-2013. Leanne is an experienced projects manager, trainer, arts and events coordinator and community practitioner. A qualified community arts manager and skilled in developing and managing community regeneration, cultural diversity projects and partnership working within community, voluntary, the private and public sector at grassroots and strategic levels. A skilled communicator and negotiator with experience of working in advisory and consultative roles in the areas of community arts and community engagement in Wales. Leanne’s skills include project and event management and audience development and she is recognised for her ongoing work in fundraising, managing and coordinating Black History Month Wales.

Peter Stark OBE, Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel member Peter Stark has had a long and distinguished career in arts administration with a particular focus on projects and programmes that promoted participation. As Director of Northern Arts, in his native North East of England, he introduced policy-led programme budgeting, new partnerships with local authorities and developed the capital strategy that led to the culture-led regeneration of Tyneside. He was a member of Richard Luce’s committee established to review the national arts funding system and was awarded the OBE for his work for the arts in the North. From 2000, Peter was based in South Africa working in Inner City Johannesburg and then in the Eastern Cape where he established his company – Cultures in Regeneration – and The Swallows Partnership, which links that province of the new country to North East England. Since his return to Northumberland, Peter has worked as a Cultural Policy Analyst with two longstanding colleagues, Christopher Gordon and David Powell, establishing GPS Culture and producing two major research reports ‘Rebalancing our Cultural Capital’ and ‘Policy for the Arts and Community in England’. Peter was Chair of Voluntary Arts from October 2011 to October 2015.

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APPENDIX 2: Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel interviews October 2015

• Atta Yaqub – Professional actor, model, co-founder of Glasgow Ansar (All Nations Sports Arts Recreation), representing/supporting the Scots Pakistani and South East Asian communities, Scotland-wide and international • Harminder Berman – Diversity officer, Glasgow Life Cultural Trust, representing/supporting the South East Asian community in Glasgow and Glasgow Mela • Gathering of BAME advisers at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Belfast, involving: Szidonia Szucs, Nico van Kessel, Konrad Pawlaszek (representing/supporting the Polish community in Belfast), Kalashree Pol, Nabeela Yasin-Iannelli, Indirah Abdullah, Kaulini Chillara (representing/supporting the Indian community in Belfast), Rose Abellow, Mahan Salgado, Marilou Aringo (representing/supporting the Filipino community in Belfast).

November 2015

• Open meeting in Cardiff, involving: Isaac Blake, Roiyah Saltus, Rabab Ghazoul, June Campbell-Davies, George Keane • Gareth Redstone – Jewish Museum, representing/supporting the Jewish community in Manchester

December 2015

• Isaac Blake – Romani Cultural and Arts Company, representing/supporting Romani, Gypsy and Traveller communities across Wales • Paolo Piana & Ann Evans – Llanelli Multicultural Network, representing/supporting all communities in Llanelli • Bana Gora and Sofia Ashraf – Muslim Women’s Council, representing/supporting Muslim Women in Bradford

January 2016

• Iolanda Buna Viegas – CLPW / Race Council Cymru, representing/supporting Portuguese-speaking communities in Wrexham and North Wales • George Keane & Gaynor Legall – Butetown History & Arts Centre, representing/supporting all communities in Cardiff • Mary Dilson – Bradford Community, produces specialist programmes for the BAME community in Bradford • Terry Brandy – Blackpool Carnival, representing/supporting the BAME community in South Shore, Blackpool • Graham Campbell – Professional musician and poet, representing/supporting Afro-Caribbean Scots in North East Glasgow

February 2016

• Clara Rose Thornton, representing/supporting the BAME community in Dublin.

• Paula Montes de Oca, representing/supporting the Spanish community in Belfast.

• Kaulini Chillara, representing/supporting the Indian community in Belfast.

April 2016

• Christine Locke – Diversity House, inclusive of all in Kent and South London.

May 2016

• Uzma Iohal and Barry Hale – Threshold Studios, representing/supporting BAME communities in Lincoln • Vina Ladwa – Manushi, representing/supporting the Asian community in Nottingham • Mr Khandulewalashok, Mr Ramesh Gandhi and Mr Chirag Khajuria – Fylde Coast Hindu Council, representing/ supporting the Hindu community in Blackpool Do you need this publication in an alternative format? Telephone 02920 395395 or email info@voluntaryarts.org

The Voluntary Arts Network (operating as Voluntary Arts) is registered in Scotland as Company No. 139147 and Charity No. SC 020345.

Registered office: Creative Exchange, 29 Constitution St, Edinburgh EH6 7BS.

Voluntary Arts acknowledges funding from Spirit of 2012, Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Wales.

November 2016

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