Anti-Racism Statement
New Anti-Racism Statement for BDBF
BDBF Anti Racism and Inclusion Commitment, Strategy and Action Framework
Our Board, leadership team and staff share a joint commitment to being actively anti-racist and to work together to create a culture of care for all, and especially those who may or have had lived experience of racism.
We commit to holding each other accountable for building and maintaining this culture. We believe that making BDBF an anti-racist organisation and a place where racism is not tolerated makes the culture better for everyone.
Training is a core part of our induction and offer to all new staff members, which is mandatory. We continue to explore racial justice training that includes all of those who experience racism.
We have an internal equality and diversity group (EDAG) that meets quarterly to support wider inclusivity projects including and beyond racial justice (trans rights, disability justice) across our organisation. This group drives a racial justice action plan to propel our ideas and commitment to inclusivity across departments.
We still have a long way to go in creating an organisation where we truly represent the city, especially at leadership level, and where anti-racism is a part of the daily work and culture. We recognise that this work doesn’t have an end point but will involve cycles of listening and responding to our artists, staff, and communities.
This Strategy is a live document, designed to develop and change over time as we work with children and young people, our partners and stakeholders to ensure it remains relevant and able to meet the changing needs and wants of the communities we serve.
We operate with radical generosity and radical welcome. We prioritise the welcome and comfort of people who experience racism in the wider world.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
BDBF is made up of Brighton Dome, Brighton Festival and Create Music. Across all of our practice, we are committed to making a step-change in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), believing that this is a key driver in realising our overall vision.
To achieve this we aim for a people-centred approach as we work with our partners and stakeholders to inspire engagement with a diverse range of high-quality experiences.
We are committed to being more representative and to better reflect the communities we serve, in all areas of our work, from our place-based programmes to our staff team and governance structure.
Our action on inclusion follows five aims:
- Championing inclusion as a measure of success
- Diverse and accessible programming
- A range of voices contributing to the organisation’s strategy
- Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
- Governance embodying and driving inclusion and anti-racism
Data on racial inclusion and representation
Our Workforce
- Age – 15% aged 18-25 years/ 20% aged 26-35 years,14% aged 36-45 years/ 16% aged 46-55 years/ 20% aged 56-65 years/ 16% aged 66 years +
- Gender – 60% - Female/ 32% - Male/ 2% - Non-Binary/ 6% - prefer not to say
- Disability – 83% non-disabled/ 13% - disabled/ 4% - prefer not to say
- Sexual Orientation – 64% - Heterosexual/ 19% - LGBTQIA+/ 17% - prefer not to say
- Ethnicity – 74% - White British/ 18% - Ethnically Diverse/ 8% - prefer not to say
- Neurodiversity – 69% - Neurotypical/ 13% - Neurodiverse/ 8% - prefer not to say
Leadership team
- Age – 46-55 years – 67%/ 56-65 years – 33%
- Gender – 89% Female/ 11% Male
- Disability – 89% - Non-Disabled/ 11% - Disabled
- Sexual Orientation – 67% - Heterosexual/ 33% - LGBTQIA+
- Ethnicity – 78% - White British/ 11% - Ethnically Diverse / 11% - Prefer not to say
- Neurodiversity – 67% - Neurotypical/ 33% - Neurodiverse
Board
- Age – 58% - aged 35-49 years/ 42% aged 50-64 years
- Gender – 58% - Male/ 42% - Female
- Disability – 100% - Non-disabled 0% - Disabled
- Sexual Orientation – 75% - Heterosexual/ 17% - LGBTQIA+ and 8% - prefer not to say
- Ethnicity – 75% - White British/ 25% - Ethnically Diverse
- Neurodiversity – 100% - Neurotypical
MAY 2025