Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to creating an environment free from discrimination, and promoting dignity and respect for all, and where individual differences and the contributions of all staff, students, professionals, and participants are recognised and valued. We demonstrate this commitment by:
- Recruiting, training and supporting students and staff regardless of ethnicity, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or religion.
- Taking seriously complaints of bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination by employees, students, users, suppliers, visitors, the public and any others in the course of the organisation’s work activities.
- Making opportunities for training, development and progress available to all staff and students, who will be helped and encouraged to develop their full potential so their talents can be fully realised.
- Monitoring the make-up of our community regarding information such as age, sex, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and disability to help us identify and address areas of under-representation.
You can learn about our values and what it’s like to work and train at the National Centre here.
In early 2021 we formed our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee to oversee the formulation and the implementation of NCCA’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan. The committee reports to the Senior Management Team and the Board of Trustees, and ensures goals they have set are met and that decisions they take are sufficiently informed in relation to equality, diversity & inclusion. In order to ensure that the Action Plan addresses issues in all areas of our work, the committee includes professional circus artists, students, teachers, non-teaching staff from all areas of the organisation and members of our Board of Trustees. It is joint-chaired by Ali King, who is also NCCA’s Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Kaveh Rahnama, a professional circus artists and teacher at NCCA (and also an NCCA graduate).
Some of the Committee’s actions to date include:
- Conducting a survey of our users to gauge their experiences of participating in activities at NCCA.
- As a result of the survey, improving the information on our website about how any of our users can (and should) report any incidences of bullying or harassment.
- Looking at our outward ‘face’ and all of our comms, to ensure they reflect the diversity of our community.
- Extending our contacts within the local Hackney community.
- Engaging Graeae to conduct an accessibility audit of our building, and provide advice and suggestions for how we can improve accessibility for all.
- Exploring how our Higher Education curriculum can be ‘de-centralised’ to include reference to the rich diversity of circus that can be found around the world.
- Support the implementation of our Access & Participation Plan.
- Ensure we are collecting good data on our users, so we know where we need to make improvements.
- Look at how we can become less ‘building-centric’ and take our work out into local communities, as well as ensuring people from those communities can enjoy our amazing facilities at Coronet Street.
- Explore how we can best support all of our users to feel a sense of belonging and value at NCCA.
We strongly encourage all of our community to report any instances of bullying or discrimination, either that you are personally subject to or that you witness, while taking part in any National Centre activities.
You should report anything that doesn’t seem right to any member of NCCA staff. This might be your main contact from your activity, a teacher, the Reception team or whoever you feel most comfortable speaking to. You can always ask to speak to a Duty Manager, and you can report verbally or via email.
However, we also recognise that there may be occasions where you wish to escalate an issue beyond NCCA staff, or report an issue anonymously. You can contact the Chair of the Audit Committee who is a Trustee of NCCA directly via board@nationalcircus.org.uk and your email will only be seen by the Chair of the Audit Committee. Or you can report anonymously using this form, which will also only be received by the Chair of the Audit Committee.
We will ensure that your concern is taken seriously and dealt with or escalated, involving the Safeguarding Committee and/or Senior Management Team as is appropriate. Depending on the nature of the concern, we may not always be able to let you know the outcome of our process but please rest assured that appropriate action will be taken.