Stage Awards nomination for #WeShallNotBeRemoved campaign

The UK Disability Arts Alliance’s #WeShallNotBeRemoved campaign has been shortlisted for The Stage Awards’ Community Project of the Year 2022.

Set up in April 2020, the campaign was created by Jenny Sealey, the artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company, and former Government disability champion Andrew Miller to amplify the voices of the creative disabled community who had been made invisible by the global pandemic and to campaign for a more inclusive recovery in the arts.

Commenting on the nomination, #WSNBR co-founder Sealey said: “The Stage Awards nomination for  #WeShallNotBeRemoved is a fantastic recognition of our creative disabled community and its ability to be a positive force for change. The nomination itself demonstrates our impact in not being removed from the theatre industry’s agenda.”

Co-founder Miller added: “At a time when the creative disabled community is once again facing extreme danger from this continuing pandemic nightmare, I’m greatly heartened that our #WeShalllNotBeRemoved campaign has been recognised by The Stage Awards in a shortlist that features an incredible array of vital community projects.”

The citation for the nomination reads:

‘The #WeShallNotBeRemoved campaign, established last year by the UK Disability Arts Alliance, came into its own in 2021, placing itself at the forefront of advocating for an inclusive recovery of theatre and the arts from Covid-19.

“This has been a time during which the industry is quite rightly being asked to use the pause brought about by the pandemic as an opportunity to reset, and finally address some of the systemic issues that it has failed to resolve in recent years. Against this background, the campaign has made impressive strides to hold the sector accountable and help make sure that D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists, creatives, theatre workers and audiences are supported.

“Its work is particularly acute given the invisibility that many disabled people have felt throughout the pandemic, and this has served as a stark reminder of the lengths the industry must still go to make its spaces – both physical and metaphorical – inclusive and accessible.

“Led by Graeae’s Jenny Sealey and former disability champion Andrew Miller, it lobbied to ensure that the issue was included in public statements around reopening and secured more than £150,000 in additional funding for disabled artists, inspiring spin-off campaigns and revealed the marginalisation of disabled arts professionals through a major survey.

“The campaign has stepped up efforts to ensure that its Seven Inclusive Principles – guidance published in September 2020 to ensure organisations deliver a recovery that protects and supports people with disabilities – are adopted by venues and companies in a way that keeps ableism on the sector’s agenda and raises the profile of the ongoing jeopardy faced by disabled people working in and engaging with the arts.

“#WeShallNotBeRemoved was both a challenge and a provocation to the cultural industries as well as a simple declaration of intent. The initial response saw 700+ deaf, disabled, learning disabled and neurodiverse people join the campaign with members representing every role and capacity in the creative industries. Supported by Graeae Theatre Company, Arts Council England and The Arts Council of Wales.”

Angela Thomas