It is an on-going journey and so far we’ve:

• met with freelancers, practitioners and ex-staff members who generously shared their personal and often painful experiences. We would like to publicly thank all of those who contributed
• accepted that as two major public buildings in Liverpool, we should be a welcoming and safe space for everyone; it has become apparent that this has not always been the case and for this we are deeply sorry
• recognised that change must come from the top. We felt that the Board needed to be more diverse and have taken steps to address its composition
• established a Diversity Action Group made up of our staff, board members and external co-opted members to agree measurable targets in the short, medium and long-term and monitor our progress on the journey
• acknowledged the impact of institutional racism in our sector and working hard to ensure that we are an anti-racist organisation and that our initiatives do not perpetuate inequality

We have worked with our Board of Trustees to solidify our commitment to bring about positive change throughout our organisation as follows:

Finance, Operations and Recruitment

• allocated 1% of our annual turn-over to initiatives that promote diversity, inclusion and social progression. So far, our investment has:

• supported schemes to directly support ethnically diverse artists
• engaged Innervision to deliver anti-racist training for Board and staff teams
• developed an emergent leaders course aimed at upskilling and empowering individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds
• supported the Anthony Walker Foundation as a corporate partner to further our work in being an anti-racist organisation
• reviewed our anti-racism policies
• identified that we need to take a holistic approach – with the help of the Diversity Action Group (DAG) we’ve undertaken a root and branch review of each of our functional areas, including procurement, recruitment and training, to ensure we are not missing opportunities to embrace diversity
• published our workforce statistics and summary of recent activity
• assessed our recruitment procedures to ensure they are accessible to all, regardless of background
• reviewed how our offer (including food & drink) might better reflect our diverse communities

Artistic

• reviewed our programming mix and approaches to casting to ensure a diversity of talent is promoted on our stages
• committed to increasing diversity in our creative teams as well as our casts
• reviewed our artistic model to explore how we can remove barriers and provide greater access across all of our work, including our youth theatre YEP
• work with visiting companies that can demonstrate a commitment to diversity
• established a cohort of Associate Companies that have a  track record in creating opportunities for performers, creatives and audiences that celebrate the diversity of our world
• committed to commissioning Black writers from the North West for our main stages
• allocated additional resources into recruitment for our writers’ programmes, including running taster sessions outside of the theatre to reach local communities
• committed to delivering more masterclasses led by Black artists and artists of colour

Advocacy

• reached out to local and national diversity experts and advocates for guidance and identified potential local partners
• worked closely with colleagues across Liverpool’s arts and cultural organisations to create a new Race Equality Manifesto, which you can read here

Changing attitudes and established working practices does not happen overnight. We continue to learn and take steps on our journey of change and remain grateful for the continued wisdom and help of our Diversity Action Group, past and present.