News

​Freelance Taskforce

​Spilling The Beans: Calling Out Mental Health Discrimination
​

"I no longer work with that organisation - I just won’t put myself in that position anymore. Objectively I can see they are nice people doing good work. It's a constant mystery to me how many nice, progressive people in the arts find it hard to listen, be humble, say sorry and make changes. If I’ve learned one thing working in disability arts contexts for the last 20 years, it's that it's impossible to get it right all the time for everyone. Disabled people are not a homogenous mass who all agree on what equality looks like - beyond some basics, access is very individual - accessibility and inclusion are all about relationship, listening and responding. What happened in this case wasn’t initially that bad but it became terrible because no-one was prepared to listen - if they had it could have been sorted in 20 minutes.​"

If you’re a freelance artist with mental health needs who has experienced discrimination, exploitation or gaslighting please do get in touch on vivgordonco@gmail.com. I’m collecting stories to call this out and bring it into the light. I’m also interested in ideas for new approaches and hearing stories of good practice that can be shared. You can read my story via the button below.

Please get in touch: 
  1. Share your experiences of discrimination, exploitation and gaslighting with me in writing, video, voice-note, social media post or any other way that feels good to you.
  2. Let me know you’d like to chat about your experiences - I will have limited time to do 1-2-1s so apologies in advance if I run out of time.

Let me know if you need other options to make this conversation accessible to you. All information will be treated as confidential. Our stories will be collated and used to advocate for freelancers.
Exeter Northcott Theatre Associate News! Very excited to share this. It’s brilliant to have this support to make bold plans to amplify survivors’ voices and agitate for change