Equality Strategy 2007‐2010: Progress Review Contents: Equality Strategy Progress Review 2007‐2010: Executive Summary 2 Progress 2007–2008 4 Progress 2008 – 2009 5 Progress 2009 – 2010 8 Appendices: Appendix A 12 Reviews for branch covering the period 2007‐2010 ‐ each update includes planned activity from 2011 onwards. Revised and issued 01/11/11 1 Equality Strategy Progress Review 2007‐2010 The purpose of this report is to provide a progress review on IWM (Imperial War Museums) Equality Strategy 2007‐2010 and to illustrate how IWM will be complying with the specific duties of the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Strategy 2007‐2010 set out IWM’s aims in relation to cultural diversity, disability and gender equality, with an action plan for each area. To summarise the range of work done this report will cover planned and unplanned work. Executive Summary Disability strategy Disability issues have been addressed successfully across the IWM Family. Access provision is routinely considered as part of the exhibition planning process. All exhibitions are installed at wheelchair accessible height. Large print captions and transcripts of audio interviews are produced for all exhibitions. Subtitles are used on all new exhibition films and interactives and these have now been retrospectively added to films in the permanent galleries in IWM London. Site facilities have been reviewed and improved and there is updated accessibility information on our website for all branches. It is our view, supported by feedback, that all IWM sites are welcoming places for visitors; for example the Explore History project radically improved facilities and access to our collections for visitors with disabilities. Both the Lord Ashcroft Gallery (IWM London) and IWM Duxford AirSpace projects were excellent examples of working with disability groups in the development phase of new exhibitions and facilities for visitors. We have ensured that all our core teaching sessions can be modified for special needs groups. In 2009 IWM London was nominated for Group Travel Organiser magazine’s award for the ‘Best Provision of Disabled Facilities’. The AirSpace audio guide received the Jodi award for ‘Digital Access On Site’ in 2009. Cultural diversity Awareness of cultural diversity, including race, religion and belief, has been increased across the Museum’s workforce by working in partnership with the Advisory, Conciliation & Abitration service (ACAS) to run workshops and by rolling out the e‐learning diversity training for all staff. We have a well developed community learning programme. One of the constant themes of our programmed activities is cultural heritage diversity, especially Caribbean, African and Asian heritage. Our Schools Learning Programme reflects the experiences of men, women and children from a variety of different cultural backgrounds. Current arts projects have engaged with Iraqi, Scottish, Irish and Polish groups. Equality is embedded in all our core Revised and issued 01/11/11 2 collections and access policies and procedures. We also have diversity competencies in all job roles. Regrettably, progress on diversifying the workforce has been limited. In the London branches, the front of house roles, including retail and visitor services jobs, are very much a reflection of the communities we serve in the London branches and at IWM North, but there is still under‐representation in the workforce as a whole, particularly in the specialist curatorial roles and in senior management roles. The demographic profile in the catchment area for recruitment for IWM Duxford also makes this particularly challenging. This situation has been hindered by the need to respond to the current economic climate, limiting recruitment largely to internal staff only. Gender equality IWM’s workforce has equal gender representation across all job roles. An equal pay audit was conducted in 2009 and the issues addressed. Sex/sexual orientation The Military Pride display in 2009 revealed the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people within the context of conflict, war and military service. Funded by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities in partnership with Stonewall, this successful exhibition subsequently went on tour and was seen by over 16,000 people. Progress 2007‐2008 General 1. The Museum’s library and archives equality toolkits were used to develop branch action plans on disability, cultural diversity and gender. 2. IWM finalised and published the Equality Strategy and action plans on disability, culture and gender and set up an equality consultation email address for the public. 3. Progress on branch action plans – it was agreed progress should be reported as part of the quarterly reporting process in addition to the Equality Monitoring Group (EMG) updates. Disability 1. The Disability Monitoring Group (DMG) expanded its remit to cover all equalities issues, becoming the Equality Monitoring Group (EMG) chaired by the Director of Corporate Services; the group has met regularly to review progress in each branch and share best practice. Revised and issued 01/11/11 3 2. Training on disability awareness, including deaf awareness and visual impairment awareness, was delivered to 49 staff. 3. Branch champions in all branches established links with local disability associations, e.g. Mencap, Royal National Institute for the Blind and Scope to get advice and feedback on local issues. This information then gets fed back at the EMG – the branches are reviewing and implementing changes accordingly. 4. AirSpace, at IWM Duxford, opened to the public in 2007. The exhibition development involved a significant level of consultation with disability groups including Portal, National Association of Deafened People, National Cochlear Implant Users Association, Royal National Institute of Blind People, Support 4 Sight, Fight Against Blindness and the Papworth Trust. This resulted in not only the standard provision of subtitles and British Sign Language on all films, carefully designed interactives and a high level of attention to accessible graphics design, but also Royal National Institute of Blind People Maps for All (sight and touch, an audio guide for blind and partially sighted visitors and a highly accessible approach to text writing. 5. Various events across the branches all specifically considered disability access at planning stages – for example the ‘First Partners in Time’ family day at IWM Duxford and the Moving Minds volunteer programme at IWM North 6. During 2007‐08, the Museum ran the Conflict & Disability project, part of a national programme of nine linked projects called Rethinking Disability Representation (RDR), led by the Research Centre for Museums & Galleries at the University of Leicester (RCMG) www.le.ac.uk/ms/research/rcmg.html. Principal funding came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and NESTA. The IWM London education team developed four new curriculum sessions looking at issues of disability represented in the collections of the Museum.’ The four new sessions were: • Welcome Home ‐ Literacy workshop comparing collections evidence with Wilfred Owen’s view of life after the First World War in his poem Disabled. • Necessity Breeds Invention (with the Hunterian Museum) ‐ History workshop examining attitudes to visible difference through the incredible story of the Guinea Pig Club, a support group set up by 1940s airmen treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Archie McIndoe. • Disability Rights (with the Parliamentary Education Service) – Citizenship workshop, considering the campaign for disabled rights and assessing the Museum itself for access as Disability Discrimination inspectors. • The War on Nerves ‐ A two‐day workshop for Gifted & Talented students studying the emotional and mental outcome of warfare. Gulf War veteran Allen Parton contributed his own experiences to this session Revised and issued 01/11/11 4 Cultural diversity 1. Training: diversity awareness workshops were delivered to 131 managers (in partnership with ACAS). 2. IWM signed up to the Young Graduates in Museums and Galleries (YGMG) diversity scheme. The Director‐General and other senior IWM staff attended the launch at the National History Museum to learn more and met potential candidates and their families. Matthew Gansallo, the Director of YGMG, attended an IWM staff forum to talk about the scheme to staff. 35 potential participants attended an open day at IWM on 4th August 2008. 3. IWM hosted two placements as part of the Museum Association’s Diversify Scheme. One in IWM London’s front of house team and the other at IWM North. 4. IWM took part in the Museums, Libraries and Archives national workforce diversity audit. 5. IWM ran two recruitment open days, one in London and one in IWM Duxford, publicised to the local community to increase awareness amongst more diverse candidates. Both days were well attended and all vacant front of house posts were filled. 6. Diversity was considered in all exhibitions but particularly the Journeys of Change, From War to Windrush and the Through my Eyes exhibitions. 7. The community outreach project, Street Genius was launched. 8. IWM Personnel hosted a delegation of Managers from developing countries briefing them on developing HR strategy in a National Museum. The workshops raise awareness of our collections amongst the delegates and help to build partnerships with delegates from Asia, Africa and India. 9. Progress on Recruitment: it was agreed with the Head of Strategy and Planning that each branch should report on recruitment