Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Our continuing commitment to equality
Arvon was founded on a belief in the power of the imagination and the benefits of creative writing. It continues to be driven by a conviction that these benefits should be available to everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances. It is central to our mission that we work towards equality of access, opportunity, and participation in all our programmes. As a charity, we seek to place diversity, inclusion and anti-racism at the heart of our strategy, our programming, and our evaluation.
Our society is not an equal one. People of the Global Majority, d/Deaf and Disabled people, women, those who identify as LGBTQIA+, those from working-class backgrounds and/or who live on low incomes – all face structural and social obstacles. There are all kinds of different lived experiences that can unfortunately cause barriers to participation, including – perhaps especially – in the arts.
It is crucially important that the arts sector acknowledges, and continues to acknowledge, the barriers marginalised people face in gaining access to opportunities in our field – as participants, practitioners and administrators. These barriers are inseparable from a system that devalues the lives of marginalised people by, not least, persistently silencing and delegitimising their voices, stories and experiences. We know that the UK publishing sector continues to struggle to offer marginalised writers full equality of opportunity or appropriate recognition; as a writer development charity we are part of that ecosystem, and we share a responsibility to work to ensure marginalised writers are given the support they need. We pay tribute to the talent, skill, professionalism, and tenacity of writers from all marginalised backgrounds, particularly those among our outstanding network of tutors. Despite these barriers, they have achieved success in their art and elevated the practice of writing in this country. They are central to all aspects of our work, not least our partnership courses with young people and vulnerable groups, which we see as the core of our mission.
We will keep working to create an inclusive and supportive atmosphere in all our activities. We have developed an action plan to call out stereotypes, prejudice, and any form of discrimination when we see it. We do not advertise our writing houses as “safe spaces” because we know that safety looks different to everyone. Instead, we are clear about how we put our values into action so that people can decide for themselves if the space feels safe for them. We invite feedback at any time so we can be held accountable and learn effectively. If you have a question, would like to give feedback, or want to discuss any aspect of your experience or potential experience of an Arvon activity, you can contact the following people in confidence:
For general enquiries, feedback and discussion around anything to do with inclusion at Arvon, please contact: inclusion@arvon.org
For anything specifically relating to access, please contact: access@arvon.org
Our Access and Inclusion Lead is Eliza Squire: eliza.squire@arvon.org
If your query is about safeguarding, please contact: sophie.lloydcatchpole@arvon.org
If you have a house-specific query please contact: totleighbarton@arvon.org, lumbbank@arvon.org, thehurst@arvon.org, arvonathome@arvon.org
Our Chief Executive is Andrew Kidd: andrew.kidd@arvon.org
If you have a more practical question about attending any of our courses, do visit the Access page here, which contains in-depth information on all our Writing Houses and Arvon at Home courses, as well as video tours of each house. You can email access@arvon.org with any additional questions.
Our writing houses belong to everyone as writers. In each one you will find allyship and solidarity, and you will be heard. Arvon, the home of creative writing, is a home for your writing, and for you.
Ongoing reflection and change
Governance and staffing: A third of our Board of Trustees are people of colour, including our Chair, and several trustees identify as Disabled and/or neurodivergent. Our Board Leads for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion take part in Arvon’s monthly EDI meetings to ensure issues of diversity and inclusion remain high on the Board’s agenda. We are working with our HR consultants to find proactive ways to diversify our workforce.
Changing our policy: Our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy is a living document, always open to feedback and updating to make it more specific, comprehensive, and practically useful to our staff.
Offering new bursaries: For decades, Arvon has offered grants to make sure those who would not normally be able to afford to take part in our courses can do so. A more diverse course is more enriching for all participants. We also offer a wide range of concessions. A number of supporters have committed to sponsoring course places specifically for Black writers and other writers of colour, Disabled writers and working-class writers, and we occasionally offer fully-funded places to writers who face barriers in publishing. We will continue to seek and/or ringfence funding aimed at engaging all these groups.
More diverse programming: A third of our tutors last year were writers of colour. We continue to seek out talented writers from the most diverse possible range of backgrounds, and we will explore how barriers either in our procedures or in the sector may obstruct pathways to achieving this. We programme some courses aimed at specific marginalised groups each year.
Deepening our learning: The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group will continue sharing insights from our reading and research with the wider team. This will help each of us to deepen our understanding of issues related to diversity and inclusion. We have undertaken an access audit of our houses and website with an Access Consultant. Furthermore, we have prepared advice for our staff on how to challenge discriminatory or exclusionary behaviours and stereotypes. We communicate clearly to our tutors the importance of referring to a diverse range of example texts in their workshops.
Partnerships and collaboration: We have built solid, trusting partnerships with several writer development agencies, community organisations, publishers, and partners across the arts and beyond. We will continue to seek to develop new ones – in particular, with organisations supporting Black writers and other writers of colour. By supporting them, or combining our efforts with other organisations, our intention is to reach new audiences and help marginalised voices find the support they need to succeed and grow.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we want to ensure you find it easy to give us your feedback. We want to hear from you if you have anything you want to tell us. Perhaps a suggestion on how we can improve. Or feedback on where we may have gone wrong, or not lived up to our own values. We will do our best to address your concerns, whether you’ve taken part in our programme or not. We don’t want to ask people to do our work for us, but our minds and hearts are open to any constructive feedback that can help Arvon improve and be a better and more inclusive champion for writers. Please feel free to contact us at the email addresses listed above.
This statement was last reviewed on 4th June 2024. It is reviewed annually by Arvon’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group.