Equity in Action:
The Power of Diverse Narratives

6 February 2025

10am – 6pm (networking till 7pm)
Victoria Hall, Stoke-On-Trent, ST1 3AD

Main Conference Day Programme, 6th February, 10am-7pm

Outdoor Arts has long been the best channel of arts engagement for a diverse range of people. How can we continue to be the beacon of accessibility in the face of all the challenges we face? OutdoorArtsUK’s National Conference is coming to Stoke-On-Trent to hear from pioneering organisations, artists, and producers from the local area and beyond.

To engage individuals from underserved groups, we need to pay attention to care, equity, and outreach. Only then can we create a truly level playing field for all. This can be hard work but getting it right can boost your impact, innovation, and even income streams.

The OAUK Conference will give you plenty of time and space for reflection, discussion, care for each other, and of course, networking. We hope that you will leave Stoke with renewed motivation for carrying on your brilliant work.

Morning Session (12pm-1.30pm)

The registration and morning networking time runs between 10am and 11am.

After that, Dave Lovatt from Cat and Mouse Theatre will welcome us to the main auditorium. He’ll get us going with entertaining stories of growing up in Stoke-On-Trent.

We’ll then have a short welcome from OutdoorArtsUK Director Sho Shibata.

Susan Clarke (Executive Director of Stoke Creates) will then help us outline Stoke as a place, and what it takes to bring cultural justice for underserved communities. As part of this, we will hear short case studies from:

  • B-Arts will speak about their New Futures Lab, which is a collaborative project with Fegg Hayes Futures. The weekly commitment to provide youth-led projects has created tangible opportunities for local young people who face social economic challenges.
  • We will watch a short video of Amity Hub, who will show us the impact arts activities have had on young people in Stoke with refugee status.
  • FrontlineDance will share stories from their talent development programme, which opens doors for professional opportunities for disabled and neurodivergent dance artists.
  • Appetite Stoke will help us wrap the morning session by talking about their annual outdoor arts festival The Big Feast. We’ll find out how they involve marginalised people in decision-making and the positive impact this brings.

As well as platforming representatives from each organisation, we will also hear directly from young people, emerging artists and community representatives to invigorate your commitment to equity and inclusivity.

Breakout sessions (2pm – 3.30pm and 3.45pm – 5.15pm)

After lunch, we’ll be giving you the chance to attend breakout groups of your choice. This is where real reflection and meeting of minds take place. Each group will run twice, giving you the opportunity to attend two from the following options:

Breakout Topics

  • Jake Puddle from British Future will introduce their hot-off-the-press report Creating Connections: The Role of arts in bridging divides. The report has been created in response to the recent race riots and has a set of recommendations for the Creative Industries and its funders.
  • Gurvinder Sander from Cohesion Plus will reflect on his own experience of managing outdoor arts projects for diverse communities during those challenging times. Gurvinder is on the board of OAUK, too. He is also a member of Race Advisory Committee of Arts Council England and attended its emergency meeting in the immediate aftermath of the race riots.

The group will be chaired by Charlotte Bowen of The Culture House in Grimsby.

You can download Jake’s presentation here.

You can download Gurvinder’s presentation here.

  • Claudette Whittingham and Steve Pascal will introduce how UK Centre for Carnival Arts used its ability to engage with diverse communities to broker relationships with local businesses.
  • Anja Meinhardt will introduce how Justice in Motion has opened new income streams and performance opportunities by centring socially relevant concepts in her artistic work.

Chair: Lou Lomas (OAUK board member and Independent Producer)

Click here to download Claudette’s presentation.

Understanding the needs of diverse individuals are the first steps of addressing equity. We listen to artists with lived experience of disability and racism to understand the complex dynamics of presenting work in outdoor spaces.

We are delighted to have Fatina Cummings from Just So Productions and Laura Dajao, an independent disabled dance artist, who has most recently toured with Look Mum, No Hands! by Mimbre and Daryl & Co.

Chair: Vicki Dela Amedume, Artistic Director of Upswing.

Heather Dowler from Appetite Stoke and Rachael Lines from FrontlineDance will speak about their collaboration in programming disabled-led work and providing disability access for audiences.

Disabled artist and advocate Daryl Beeton from Daryl & Co will chair this group.

OAUK Board members Phil Hargreaves and Tracey Sage will co-chair our open forum. This is a free and open space for colleagues to catch up, let-off steam, or raise other specific issues about diversity and inclusion that is not covered by the breakout groups. We are asking each delegate to suggest topics at registration.

Phil is also the Artistic Director of Freedom Festival in Hull and Co-chair of Light Up The North, and Tracey is an independent producer, Creative Director and a cultural strategist.

Plenary (5.30pm-6.00pm)

Our Director Sho Shibata will invite Jennifer Cleary, Director of Combined Arts from Arts Council England, to help us close the conference by reflecting on how inclusivity will continue to be their priority, and where Outdoor Arts sits within their 10-year strategy Let’s Create.

Dave Lovatt from Cat and Mouse Theatre will present a short monologue of key observations and sound bites from the day.

Speakers

We’re thrilled to offer a brilliant line-up of speakers – expect rich discussions on cultural equity, access, and the transformative power of diverse storytelling.

Speaker Biographies

Digital Brochure

Introducing our digital brochure of tour-ready work and video pitches

We have designed the 2025 Conference as a day for delegates to meet, listen, and speak with each other to go on a journey of shared learning. Our hope is that you will leave Stoke with new ideas, connections, and commitments for a more inclusive Outdoor Arts sector. There will be a mix of talks, breakout sessions, networking, and discussion opportunities throughout the conference to facilitate this. We have prioritised giving delegates ample time for collective reflection, which meant it is not possible to include an artist marketplace or pitching sessions.

Some of the most fruitful programmer-artist partnerships develop when key individuals get to know each other, and we aim to deliver breakout and discussion sessions to give room for relationship building.

Digital Brochure of shows

Access

Click below to find out more about access at the Conference. OutdoorArtsUK is committed to providing access to our 2025 conference.

Accessibility of the venue

Victoria Hall is managed by ATG Theatres, who have a wide range of accessibility measures. For full details, click here.

BSL Interpretation

The sessions in the main auditorium will be BSL interpreted, if you also need a BSL interpreter in a breakout session, please let us know.

Quiet Space

We have a designated quiet space for the conference. There will be venue and OAUK staff who can help you access it throughout the day. Please notify a member of staff at registration so that we can direct you to the space.

Captioning

Captioning is available in the main auditorium, to access this, please click here. If you also need captioning in a breakout session, please let us know.

Access Contact

If you’d like to speak with the OAUK team about access support, please contact General Manager David by email: David@outdoorartsuk.org.

Accessibility of the venue 

Victoria Hall is managed by ATG Theatres, who have a wide range of accessibility measures. For full details, click here. 

Quiet Space 

We have designated Dressing Room 6 as the quiet space for the Conference. There will be venue and OAUK staff who can help you access it throughout the day. Please notify a member of staff at registration so that we can direct you to the space. 

Access Contact 

If you’d like to speak with the OAUK team about access support, please contact General Manager David by email: David@outdoorartsuk.org. 

Sustainability

The climate crisis greatly impacts the outdoor sector and threatens the livelihood of its existence.

We understand our responsibility in minimising the negative environmental impact of the organisation’s activities, alongside the requirement to help create and communicate the resources, guidance, and best practice required to upskill our members, and the wider outdoor arts sector, to reduce the impact of their events.

We are delivering the conference in line with our environmental policy and our green code of conduct. You can find our policy here and our code of conduct here. Below is a list of things we’d like to make you aware of so that you can help us minimise the environmental impact of the conference.

We’ve also used our conference as a case study on how to use the OAUK donut toolkit, you can find out more here. The OAUK donut toolkit was developed by Andrew Lansley to provide businesses and organisations with a quick and effective way to profile their accessibility and sustainability practices against nationally recognised standards frameworks. Find out more here.

Print

As part of our sustainability measures taken for Conference 2025, there won’t be any physical print for delegates attending unless specifically requested for access purposes. If you do need physical print copies of any of the conference information, please contact General Manager David at david@outdoorartsuk.org

Water

Please bring your reusable water bottles as there will be refill points at Victoria Hall for you to use.

Carry Cups

Please bring your reusable hot drink cups, as we will not be supplying them or supplying one use hot drinks cups.

Lanyards

OAUK will provide name badges and lanyards at the conference, and we will ask you to return them at the end of the event so that we can reuse them. Delegates are welcome to bring their own lanyards to the conference from previous events.

Measuring Impact and Carbon Offsetting

To get a better understanding of the carbon impact our conference creates, we will be circulating a travel survey after the event, asking how delegates have traveled to the conference.

We encourage everyone to use Onboard.Earths travel calculator to understand how much carbon their journey to the Conference has generated. For those who have the means can then choose to offset through schemes on the website. When filling out the submission form, use the venue’s postcode, ST1 3AD, as your destination. If you do offset your carbon attending the Conference, we’d like to know!

Click here to email General Manager David at David@outdoorartsuk.org

Click here to access the carbon calculator.

Meals

All our lunches at the Conference will be vegetarian or vegan. You’ll be able to tell us any dietary requirements when purchasing a ticket. Lunches are included in the price of your ticket.

Lunches will only be provided for the number of tickets sold. We will work with catering suppliers to use packaging that is recycled and recyclable. Any leftover lunches will be distributed afterwards to local charities.

Evaluation

To monitor how the conference was received, we are collecting feedback through this survey. We are interested in making the conference an annual event so all feedback will help us shape future conference events. Fill out the conference evaluation here.

FAQs

There are 3 hotels within a 30-minute walking distance of the Conference venue.

These are:

Beyond this, there are number of hotels in the surrounding area that are a short drive away from the venue.

Train 

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a 10-minute bus ride or taxi drive away, or a 1.2 mile walk (google estimates this taking 25 minutes). 

Bus  

There are several buses from the train station to Victoria Hall, the 9 (yellow), 23, 24, 25, and 100 all can leave you within a short walk of the venue.  

Car 

If you are driving to the conference, to reduce the number of cars on the road heading towards Stoke-on-Trent, please consider listing your journey on our car share spreadsheet, which can be found here.

We’d also strongly encourage, where affordable, that you consider offsetting the carbon of your journey using Onboard.Earths travel calculator.

There is daylong parking available at: 

  • Cultural Quarter Multi Storey, ST1 3BP 
  • Brakes Parking, ST1 4EU 
  • Lower Huntbach Street, ST1 1NZ 
  • Charles Street, ST1 3AN 
  • Smithfield MSCP, ST1 4JH 

Our host venue, Victoria Hall, has a cloakroom. Please note this will not be attended by a staff member and any items left are left at your digression. 

Image Credit: The Air Between Us by Chloe Loftus Dance