The Chair's Review…or three thoughts.
My first thought…
Belonging - ‘a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group and having a good relationship with the other members of the group because they welcome you and accept you’
We spend a lot our lives ‘fitting in’, in schools, workplaces, friendship groups, but in my first year as Chair of the Federation I truly came to understand that ‘fitting in’ is not the same as ‘belonging’. The Board and I have worked tirelessly this past year to better understand the role and position of the Federation as a charity and as a membership organisation in the wider arts/cultural sector. After 12 months of reflection, review and revision, what I have learnt is that all of us as members of the Federation should feel and experience a strong sense of belonging.
At the beginning of this year’s annual conference I asked the delegates to write down what it means to be part of BIFF. Key values of quality assurance, knowledge & experience and professionalism ran strongly through the responses. However, it was how much we value the network, community and friendship within the Federation, all of which are associated with our human need to belong, that resonated strongly with me.
I have kept this mind recently and really hope to advocate for a sense of belonging for our staff and all of our members in the next year, with a commitment to ensure our ethos, values and the benefits of being part of the federation are tangible and accessible.
My second thought…
Membership - ‘the state of belonging to an organisation’
I have spent the past 12 months talking to many of our members, visiting festivals, and attending meetings with our sub-committees. I have focused on trying to better understand the needs and challenges of each discipline in 2024, for both festivals and adjudicators, and considered the ecology of our position in relation to the cultural/arts sector both in education and professional settings.
Whilst we have an incredible history as an organisation, the social and cultural changes that happen over time must be acknowledged, and our festivals must be able to respond, react and be ready to lead the way within the competitive performing arts landscape now. Creating and embracing new initiatives and approaches for our festivals to be as inclusive, accessible and current as possible should be at the forefront of our work.
As a membership organisation, it is crucial that we recruit and retain members, offering them tangible benefits whilst upholding the ethos, values and professional standards that are at the heart of Federation, which I know is of significant importance to both the Adjudicators’ and Festivals’ Councils.
However, with our boarder overview of the organisation, the Board recognise that there is a significant and strategic need to grow our membership at this current time to protect the future of this organisation.
In order to achieve this and to be able to continue our work within the performing arts sector, we must ensure we are financially stable as an organisation, which requires us to review and revise our membership strategy, a significant piece of work which will begin in 2025.
I believe the initial operational changes the Board has directed over the past 12 months has already been most effective. Adopting a co-chair model for the Adjudicators’ Council is having a positive impact to allow each discipline to review and invest in each discipline’s needs in relation to developing CPD opportunities and the implementation of the new mark scheme. I must thank Rebecca Vines and Nancy Litten for their period as Interim Chair and Vice-Chair and then thanks to Rebecca, Ben Costello and Karen Blackburn for their hard work and commitment to the Federation in their roles as Co-Chairs of the AC. A wider thanks also goes to all members of the AC. It’s really encouraging to hear of your recent discipline specific meetings, and the Board and I really look forward to working with you all in the coming year.
The second phase of the Board’s operational restructure is a forthcoming review of our festivals’ regional structure. Our team and Board will be working closely with Alison Williams and the Festivals’ Council to revise and develop the roles of the regional representatives, to look closely at the current regional structure and adapt, where necessary to design a more effective and impactful approach. I am so grateful to Alison as Chair of the FC and to all the regional reps and members of the FC for their work. We will be reliant on your collective knowledge and experience to revise this crucial role within the Federation’s operational ecology.
Our international festivals are essential to our organisation’s global reach. By co-opting, Annette Brown from Australia as our International Representative to the Board, we have already begun to create some exciting new partnerships. It was due to Annette’s connections that we have brokered our partnership with Kawai, who kindly sponsored this year’s conference, and we have some exciting upcoming meetings with other international organisations in the coming weeks. Thank you so much, Annette for bringing such knowledge and enthusiasm and we look forward to working closely with you.
Working on an international scale allows us to truly be part of the positive global impact of the arts, and I know how much our adjudicators value the opportunity to work at an international level. Therefore, we are working to create flexible membership options that are suited to the differing cultural and economical positions of our international festivals and to create more substantial partnerships with more festivals and arts organisations around the world.
The Conference Committee is working hard on the events for the next three years, and we will communicate the plans for this in the coming weeks. Sometimes there is need to adopt different approaches to allow things to happen realistically, so I ask that you trust that all decisions are being made from a highly informed position in response to the needs and priorities of the wider membership and organisation. Huge thanks to Linda Lear and Beryl Whyatt for their continued hard work to developing professional and engaging conferences for the Federation and also to Chris Blurton, who has taken a role within the Conference Committee to support the design of these events.
A huge thank you also to Marilynne Davies for her valuable work as Chair of the Fellows.
The development of the Youth Board is ongoing and will be implemented in early 2025. Various working party groups are being developed to implement initiatives to support volunteer recruitment, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work and fundraising activities.
The recruitment of our new patrons is an essential part of raising our visibility and the awareness of our organisation. We are thrilled to have whole Kanneh-Mason family and Anna-Jane Casey as our new patrons, and will continue to announce further new patron appointments.
Thank you as always, to our President, Margaret Venables, you were much missed at Conference, and to our Vice Presidents. Thank you, Carolyn McCabe for all your work as you step down from your role as Vice Chair of Festivals.
All of these people and committees are essential to our growth and visibility as a leading performing arts charity organisation and definitely enhance the benefits and experience of belonging to our membership.
My final thought…
Togetherness - ‘The pleasant feeling of being united with other people in friendship and understanding’
After a long period of consultation with our staff and external professionals, we will be selling Festivals House in 2025. We are excited about creating a new working model and flexible workspace for the Festivals House team. It is a priority for the Board to ensure that team feels supported in this transitional period and that they are able to continue to provide the excellent service to our members. We have also begun the process of renewing and redesigning our website to make it as functional and as user friendly as possible, another detailed piece of work, crucial to our organisation. These two things will take a huge amount of hard work from our staff and the Board will be supporting them throughout this transitional period.
I’m sure you will all join me and the Board with an outpouring of gratitude for the sterling work that Claire, Michelle and Fay do. They are so professional and completely dedicated to the Federation and its members and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them all this year. Thank you all, I couldn’t have survived this year without you!
Thank you to Steven Roberts for being a consistent guide and mentor. I am very grateful to have had you on speed dial this past year and the Board have valued your guidance and knowledge in supporting my transition into the role of Chair.
My finals thanks goes to my colleagues on the Board. Firstly, thank you to Clara Lane and Robert McDonald who are both stepping down. We are so grateful for your guidance and input over the years and you will be greatly missed.
John, Chris, Priscilla, Jill, Yvonne, Annette and Fiona, thank you. You have been a pillar of strength to me and your enthusiasm, commitment and ambition for the Federation is really inspiring. It should reassure the membership that I do feel completely united in our understanding of how to support, protect and grow the Federation.
A final thought…
I believe we should not need to ‘fit in’ to this organisation, but to belong to a membership that works collectively to create inspiring and educational performance opportunities. Our purpose is to serve our communities, locally, nationally and internationally, to enable them to engage with the performing arts with a united sense of togetherness.
Thank you.
Belonging - ‘a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group and having a good relationship with the other members of the group because they welcome you and accept you.’
Membership - ‘the state of belonging to an organisation.’
Togetherness - ‘The pleasant feeling of being united with other people in friendship and understanding.’
Deborah Ward
Chair of the Board of Trustees
December 2024