Member Article

NewcastleGateshead cultural venues get the gold standard

NewcastleGateshead’s leading cultural venues have been awarded the highest accolade in the country for equality and diversity; The Equality Standard Gold Award.

This nationally-acknowledged award is given to organisations who can demonstrate excellence in how they approach equality and diversity with employees, customers and stakeholders.

NewcastleGateshead Cultural Venues (NGCV), made up of BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, International Centre for Life, Dance City,Live Theatre, Northern Stage, Seven Stories, Theatre Royal, Sage Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and Tyneside Cinema, are the first cultural venues in the country to achieve the award.

Kate Edwards, Chief Executive of Seven Stories and champion of the NGCV Human Resources Network, said: “Each venue has worked with passion and dedication to champion our vision of fair and inclusive access to cultural venues across NewcastleGateshead. We’re delighted to have achieved the Gold Award within The Equality Standard. To have achieved this as a group is testament to our on-going commitment to collaboration and the benefits it brings to the region’s cultural offer. Our aim is to ensure that we continue to be places where people from all backgrounds will want to work and visit.”

Equality North East, an independent company that works regionally and nationally to help achieve equality in employment and services, worked with NGCV to guide them through the accreditation process.

Steve Cave, from Equality North East, said: “Achieving Equality Gold Standard is about creating fairer places to work, where employees get the most out of their jobs, which in turn helps their organisation to flourish. The cultural venues showed, for example, innovative ways that they support young people who aren’t in work or training to learn and gain employment, along with flexible approaches to working arrangements for employees whose life circumstances change.”

He added: “The North East is becoming more diverse particularly in our major towns and cities. NewcastleGateshead Cultural Venues have been quick to lead the way in attracting new customers and welcoming new groups. They have also led the way nationally in working with groups that have previously found it difficult to access cultural venues such as children with autism.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by NewcastleGateshead Initiative .