SOLT Update 24 June 2021

Jun 25, 2021 | SOLT Updates

The below correspondence is posted here by kind permission from the Society of London Theatre

The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an organisation that works with and on behalf of their Members to champion theatre and the performing arts.

Find out more about SOLT and visit their website here.

We understand that you may be concerned about making plans for the autumn and winter, due to the current delay in Step 4 and the impact this has had. We would like to reassure you that we are in constant discussions with DCMS to make sure that we get as much advance information to you as soon as possible to help you plan ahead. We will continue to update you on any progress in the newsletter as we get it.

Action: we need HR specialists and diverse representation on our Safeguarding Working Group 

If you or someone in your organisation has skills, knowledge or experience in safeguarding, Human Resources and employment law, SOLT and UK Theatre would like to hear from you. 

In order to have diverse representation of participants and diverse opinions, we are inviting more men, people of colour and disabled people to join the group.

We are forming a Safeguarding Working Group, and projects we are looking into developing include a whistleblowing hotline and online reporting system, principles for safer more inclusive working, training courses, and trained specialists. 

Please forward this to someone in your organisation or any specialists you know who have appropriate knowledge or experience and ask them to email ukt@soltukt.co.uk for more information. Meetings will be quarterly, and payment for attendance is available if required. 

The Theatre Green Book

The ‘Sustainable Productions’ toolkit is now available online, bringing together resources and industry expertise to help our industry work sustainably. Click here for more information and to download the toolkit.

Tracking Demand

Many members are participating in the COVID-19 Sector Benchmark. This is being used by SOLT and UK Theatre and DCMS to monitor the rate of recovery in ticket sales and revenue across the sector through automatic daily feeds from the participating box offices. These feeds cannot track the socially distanced capacities of performances. To establish a robust estimate on the scale of demand for available tickets, Purple Seven will be approaching venues to ask them for the actual capacity for a sample of performances. Please do respond positively to any requests you receive as this will improve the strength of our evidence of the on-going impact of restrictions on the sector.

 Get involved in the national marketing campaign, Escape The Everyday

Visit Britain’s Escape The Everyday campaign is inspiring consumers to book a short break in the UK by showcasing the ways in which they can escape the everyday.

We have been supportive of the campaign and please do get involved and provide content alongside your support for #BackOnStage.

Use the campaign hashtag #EscapeTheEveryday to highlight your business or destination, as part of this national campaign.

Find out other ways you can get exposure by downloading the toolkit.

 Let’s Do London

Following the campaign launch in May, Let’s Do London has had great results with more than 50m impressions, 1.5m engagements with the #LetsDoLondon hashtag and an estimated reach of 234m. The campaign has also generated more than 1,200 pieces of media coverage, across 37 countries globally.

We have been feeding into the campaign as part of our role on the London Tourism Recovery Board and have done our best to ensure theatre is featured wherever possible. 

Please find the Let’s Do London campaign report here and the TV ad which launches this week. You can download the campaign toolkit and assets here.

Kids Week

We had a great response yesterday to our announcement that Kids Week is back for 2021. We have announced the shows participating so far and that tickets go on sale at 10am on 30 June. As we were unable to run Kids Week last year, we’ve extended the age range to 17 and under for those that missed out on their last Kids Week experience.

We have also secured £20,000 from the Mayor’s Office to run Kids Week activities in Leicester Square Gardens during the last week of August and will be sharing more details mid-July.

Official London Theatre content opportunities

We’d like to share a friendly reminder of the fun content opportunities available for your shows:

  • Tell Us In 10 – A profile piece as part of our ‘Tell Us In 10’ series where we ask cast/crew/creatives to tell us all about themselves in just 10 questions.
  • Theatre Chat Live – Cast/crew members can join the live for a casual interview with our social media coordinator Jess, or one of the members of our team.

If you’d like more information, please send an email to news@soltukt.co.uk 

New recruits join Stage One’s Diversity and Inclusion programme Bridge The Gap

Stage One, the charity that supports UK theatre producers, has recently recruited the third cohort of its year-long programme Bridge the Gap. Meet the new cohort here. 

This initiative, now in its fourth year, addresses the lack of diversity in theatre producing, and supports under-represented producers in the commercial theatre industry.

Following nearly 100 applications, they recently welcomed 11 emerging to mid-career producers from under-represented backgrounds to the 2021 programme. The group will receive training, mentoring and coaching to upskill their practice and kick-start grants to support their commercial producing journey. 

Only 7 more days to apply for the role of Public Affairs Manager at SOLT / UK Theatre 

Applications close on 1 July for the role of Public Affairs Manager at SOLT/UK Theatre.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop and deliver a proactive programme of policy, public affairs and external engagement activity for SOLT / UK Theatre and our members. The role will advise on lobbying and influencing activities to help our organisations achieve our policy objectives.

For more information and to apply, visit here.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Coronavirus Recovery Guidance

Wellbeing and mental health support for you and your staff

Jobs & careers in the sector