Campaign for equity in Scotland

When I talk about equity, I am referring to a spectrum; financial equity, equity of opportunity, representation, access to opportunities and employment, career pathways and progression – to name just a few. 

Be United is a creative arts organisation based in Scotland, committed to a more united, inspired and enriched world. Our mission is to advocate, nurture and champion Black people in the performing arts, screen and events sectors. 

While more opportunities are now available and accessible for Black creatives in Scotland, there is still a huge gap in equity with unfair working patterns across the sector.

Shockingly low representation

Recently, Be United undertook research into the representation of Global Majority leadership in Scotland’s creative sector. We sampled 32 regularly funded (by Creative Scotland) organisations working in music, festivals and events. Shockingly, not one had any Global Majority representation in their senior staff teams. This snapshot illustrates the real challenges facing Black creatives in Scotland today. 

In addition, board level representation in this sample was under 15%. That matters as it's at this level that influence lies. If underrepresented groups aren’t included, the voices of many lived experiences and communities in shaping decisions and influencing direction remain unheard.  

Through extensive research, we have been able to evidence and better understand the needs and desires of the Black community, enabling us to create programmes and platforms designed by and for the creatives we work with. Training emerged strongly as a need too, so we provide professional development and training that supports skills and career progression. 

Getting through the door

Getting a foot in the door can be the hardest thing; our development and learning programme, Producing the Future, opens the door. Participants come with varying levels of experience, with some 90% already engaged in the creative sector. However they struggle to get to the next step, as employers require experience. How do you get experience if you can’t get in the door?

Producing the Future is a 12-week programme teaching the methodologies and strategies of event management. Alongside, participants produce their own live event in a controlled environment giving them practical hands-on experience. The problems and challenges that may arise at any event can't be taught, you have to experience them. 

All through, participants are able to tap into our network of venues, crew and artists, suppliers and promoters. We provide a safety net for them to experiment, to learn, to innovate and to jump into ideas, knowing there is a team behind them to support, guide and if required, catch them. This is rare – you don’t often have this luxury or this support.

On completion of the course, the youngsters will have gained skills and expanded their professional networks as well as getting references for use in job applications. Our hope is that this contributes both to reducing barriers to employment and career progression and to supporting future events to flourish in Scotland. 

Continues…

Fifidiny and band performing as part of Summer Loving at Fruitmarket. Photo: Jack Visser Photography

Our goal is to support 500 Black people into and up in the creative industries. It’s a demonstration of our commitment to our community and to EDI, feeding into every strand of our work. Through scaling up, we hope to reach this goal. 

Another programme – Be United Presents – creates employment for 15 – 25 artists a year, and a soon-to-be-launched showcase strand will see employment opportunities for 60+ artists a year . But the best part is that it is scalable and can be replicated in new venues and new cities. Partners and collaborators play a crucial role in helping us achieve our goal. Through well-designed partnerships, we can create more opportunities and greater pathways than we would be able to offer alone.

Get out of your comfort zone

We urge organisations that have not previously engaged much with communities from the Global Majority to put more emphasis on doing the work, rather than expecting the people they are trying to reach to do it. We recommend taking time to get out into communities, meet people, go to events, network, connect and invest energy into developing networks outside your own. 

It’s important for organisations to look at their systems and structures and to be honest with themselves – with where they are and where they want to go – then take take steps in that direction. Practically, this means collaborating with the community to support recruitment and governance reviews, employing and advertising with organisations active in your target communities. Get out of the office and your comfort zones and into unfamiliar communities. By doing this, you demonstrate an authentic commitment to broadening your networks and reaching new people. 

We encourage AP readers to think about how you could contribute to our goal. If you are based in Scotland, who do you recruit? How do you recruit? Which artists do you employ and how can you expand your network? If you’re outside Scotland and like what we do, please get in touch about ways to support our programmes. 

Emma Sithole is Executive Director of Be United.
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