Our Policies
At Lyra we strive to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for every child, young person and adult that interacts with our work. We believe that everyone should be included, represented and treated with dignity and respect.
Our commitment to equity, equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do and we recognise that this requires us to be proactive, sensitive, courageous and open.
We acknowledge the multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination that exist in all aspects of our society, and those which are specific to the young audiences and youth arts sector. We recognise the part we have to play in challenging the status quo and reducing the risk that our actions contribute to, or perpetuate, harm, bias and inequality. Creating a truly inclusive and diverse culture in our organisation is an ongoing process and we know we have a long way to go. As an organisation working with and for children and young people, we take this responsibility especially seriously.
We’re committed to frequent review and examination of our practice. Our policies and action plans are live documents that will change as we learn and develop.
Anti-Racism
Lyra is committed to being/becoming an anti-racist organisation
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We uphold that an anti-racist approach is imperative to delivering work that nurtures and supports young audiences and those who work with them. We acknowledge that racism intersects with other forms of discrimination and recognise that developing an anti-racist approach means tackling all forms of oppression and injustice.
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We have been part of a small working group to tackle racism in the sector, as part of the Young Audiences Group (YAG), a collective of arts organisations and individuals in Scotland making work with and for children and young people. Collectively, we have created a set of anti-racist commitments.
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We know that we won’t always get things right and welcome feedback and ways to improve. If you’d like to get in touch with us, please do:
Anna Plasberg-Hill, Engagement Producer - Anti-Racism Champion (anna@lyra.co.uk)
Child Protection & Safeguarding
Lyra is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children working with the company. Lyra recognises its responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect children from harm, abuse and exploitation. All staff (including freelance employees and volunteers) will work together to encourage the development of an ethos embracing diversity and respecting the rights of children.
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Download Lyra's Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy Statement
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If you’d like to get in touch with us, please do:
Anna Plasberg-Hill, Engagement Producer - Designated Child Protection Officer (anna@lyra.co.uk)
Natalia Barua, Engagement Artist - Designated Child Protection Officer (natalia@lyra.co.uk)
Complaints
Lyra recognises that participants, parents/carers and/or volunteers have the right to make a complaint about any matter related to their involvement with Lyra. This could be in relation to another participant, a volunteer, a member of the paid staff, or the manner in which they are being treated by Lyra. In addition, any other person is entitled to make a complaint about the organisation.
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If you wish to make a complaint please follow our Complaints Procedure
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Environmental Sustainability / Climate Emergency
Lyra is committed to continually improving and monitoring our environmental impacts. We aim to reduce our environmental impact in our everyday operational practice and to incorporate environmental factors in our business and artistic decisions and at strategic planning levels. We will lead by example, encouraging everyone we work with to do the same.
In our Climate Emergency & Sustainability Action Plan we have set the ambitious target of reaching Net Zero by 2030.
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We challenge the grown-ups at Lyra to communicate our commitment in fun, age-appropriate ways to the Young Artists we work with. We aim to make our concern for environmental sustainability a positive, future-looking concern, not a chore, and we can all help to educate, inform and inspire children and teenagers to get on board with this.
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If you’d like to get in touch with us, please do:
James Preston, Executive Producer - Environmental Sustainability Champion (james@lyra.co.uk)
Fair Work
Lyra is committed to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy. We are striving to be an organisation which sees employees engaged in what we do, supported through training and development opportunities, and we promote positive approaches to make Lyra a flexible and dynamic place to work.
Fundraising
Lyra’s purpose is to achieve cultural equity for children, teenagers and families in areas of multiple deprivation. All of Lyra’s activities are free. As a registered charity we rely on the support of a variety of funders including public bodies, trusts, foundations and corporate donors to fund us so we can run our services.
Our board have carefully considered our current fundraising practice and unanimously agree that our priority is to ensure that our work continues to be free for the benefit of the children, teenagers and families who live in our community.
Those living in areas of multiple deprivation are often most affected by cuts to services, and it is a great privilege to be able to turn away money. Lyra currently receives around 57% of its money from public funds and therefore cannot operate without the support of private trusts, foundations and corporate donors. Lyra will never charge the local community for our services and so without private support our only options are to secure further public funding (which we are working hard to achieve) or to cut/reduce our programme of work.
Lyra seeks to be ethical in all that we do. We have always ensured that Lyra banks with the most ethical banking services available to us. However, as a small organisation it is not feasible for us to investigate the detail of where the funding we receive originates from or how it is currently invested. We are however open to working together with other Scottish arts organisations to explore this complicated issue further.
This is our current position. We have consulted with the families who come to Lyra, and the staff and freelancers who work with us.
If you would like more information, have questions or any concerns about Lyra’s approach please contact: Artistic Director/CEO Jo Timmins (jo@lyra.co.uk) or Executive Producer James Preston (james@lyra.co.uk).