12/07/2019
After 6 years Chairing the Young Members Committee, it is time for me to retire! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the work and achievements of the Committee over the last few years.
• Getting Equity to sign up to the Bacc For The Future campaign supporting arts in education. Our work on this has included a letter drop at number 10 Downing Street. You can get involved yourself and write to your MP on their website. www.baccforthefuture.com
• The introduction of half price child membership for working professionals aged between 10-17.
• Donating to Good Chance Theatre Company to help bring theatre, art and create a safe space for the refugees in Calais. www.goodchance.org.uk
• Getting involved in the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Young Workers Month in November each year to improve young member engagement and understanding of how the union works. Highlights include panel discussions, careers advice and workshops in London, Manchester & Glasgow. West End Producer took over our twitter page and we ran competitions with prizes donated from GAME, The Stage, Theatre Tokens, Bloch and so many more generous supporters.
• Taking motions to Equity’s annual conference and tackling subjects like child pay and the terms and conditions of our members working at theme parks and attractions.
• Creating a Young Workers Guide to Equity to help explain the benefits of membership and how the union works without all the normal jargon.
• Committee members walking on marches with Equity including on austerity cuts and of course Pride.
• Arranging a Trade Union Congress pub crawl for Equity’s Live Entertainment Works campaign.
• The introduction of Graduate membership as a bridge from student to full membership.
• Committee members talking to students about the union at drama school visits and events around the UK, along with helping to build the Student Deputy Network.
• Creative Acts, which was a month of collaboration with The Mono Box running workshops and events which were free for Equity members. www.themonobox.co.uk
• Helping Equity grow its membership to over 46,000 members and 5,000 student members.
• Various trips and meetings at the Houses of Parliament to talk with MPs about accessibility to the arts, arts funding and low and no pay in the industry.
• Growing the committee Twitter page from 56 followers to well over 4,000 engaged members.
• Our motions on housing and mental health becoming TUC Young Workers Conference priority campaigns.
• Sending two committee members over to Brussels to visit the European Parliament and talk to MEP’s about the arts and to learn about how the European Union works.
• In the last three committee elections, there has always been enough candidates for an election for the Young Members Committee, showing a real boost in engagement.
I couldn’t have achieved any of this on my own, so I want to thank all the Equity staff, especially Charlotte Bence, who has guided me and taught me everything I know. All the committee members who have supported me and worked so hard to achieve so much over the last 6 years, so a big thank you to Tom Cuthbertson, Sam Coleman, Jessica Edwards, Wayne Ingram, Paul Valentine, Nicholas McLean, Jessica Bastick-Vines, Isaac Stanmore, Guy Woolf, Callan Durrant, Abigail Poulton, Abiola Ogunbiyi, Kayi Ushe, Jonathan Vickers, Benjamin Luke, Kezia Davis, Ed Currie, Matthew Crowther, Shaun Blaney, Bonnie Parsons, Nicola Hawkins, Matt Jessup, Rebbi Rosie, Nicholas Keegan & Nico Lennon.
I wish the new Chair and the next Committee Members all the very best, and I look forward to following all the developments that this new energy will bring to Equity and the Committee.
Adam Pettigrew
