OUR VALUES

 

We exist to create artistic experiences for people, made in response to how we live right now, and how we might live in the future. The work is made with the intention to inspire action, response, reflection, a pause, offer questions and give joy. 

We do this by:

  • making choreographic work collaboratively with other artists, starting with questions which might never get answered

  • including radical questions, inviting the radical into our work

  • often placing performances in spaces they might not otherwise happen

  • putting the audience at the heart of the work

  • including campaigning for causes we hold dear as part of our work

  • creating different environments for making work that offer alternatives to the way we live

  • consistently asking ourselves about why this work is important now

  • not over-defining what kind of products Charlotte Spencer Projects creates, allowing for the form of the output to be ever changing

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Commitment to people

  • We operate an equal pay structure – every individual who works as part of Charlotte Spencer Projects receives the same day rate/week rate.

  • We ensure a fair rate is paid – usually higher than is recommended as a minimum payment by Equity.

  • We make every effort to provide supportive, flexible working conditions to enable freelancers, parents and carers to manage their needs.

  • We make time in the process to hear everyone's feelings and how we all are. People's well being is central to the making of the work.

  • We are interested in making work that audiences are part of, rather than observers of

  • We want to make work that everyone can take part in, where access (financial and physical) is not a prohibitive factor. We always work with partners to try and offer equal access to resources, performances and opportunities.

  • We welcome diversity and are active in trying to engage increasingly diverse stakeholders (collaborators/partners/funders/audiences) in our work. Through our work we aim to remove any physical or perceived barriers for engagement which may include race, gender, physical abilities, age, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, or education.

  • We work hard to embed our work in the communities it happens in. We don't always succeed but we always try.

  • We consider our funders, partners and audiences to be our collaborators also and spend time developing real relationships with them, sometimes over long periods of time.

  • We run the company as a Community Interest Company (CIC), always keeping in mind who we are making the work for.

Commitment to environmental sustainability

The entire process of developing Charlotte Spencer Projects’ work gives careful consideration to its sustainability - environmentally, economically and socially. If the work itself endeavours to enable deeper connections for its audience, then the process of creation needs to endeavour to live by those connections also.

In practical terms, we try and follow these principles:

  • Travel for meetings, rehearsals and performances for all collaborators by land rather than air (where possible), even when travel is international. Actively encourage use of public transport and cycling where appropriate.

  • Ethos of re-use and recycle, including sourcing of second hand props and costumes where possible and avoiding single use/disposable items

  • Limit necessity for printing and paper - operate paperless invoicing, take and share minutes from meetings electronically.

  • Communal vegetarian/vegan eating for the company during rehearsal/touring periods, where possible food is organic and local.

  • Self-catered accommodation over hotel accommodation.

  • Energy use is considered in making choices about sound, light and heat technology used in performances.

Fundraising principles

Funding is essential in helping us to continue our work and partnerships are very important to us. We actively develop relationships with external organisations and individuals in order to achieve shared objectives, including those that support the environment and human rights. We encourage relationships with organisations that actively operate for the positive benefit of people, animals and the environment in a fair and transparent way. When considering a potential supporter we look at these core principles:

  • The relationship must align with or aspire to the vision and values of Charlotte Spencer Projects

  • It should positively reinforce the integrity or reputation of Charlotte Spencer Projects

  • It should encourage the artistic or academic freedom of our work or of the artists we represent.

It is also part of Charlotte Spencer Projects strategy to think around existing funding models, to ask questions of our funders, to imagine scenarios outside of the accepted arts funding structures and seek conversation and support from unusual sources. We believe in transparency and openness and are very happy to share past and present funding applications with other artists and organisations in an effort to create a stronger community rather than that of competition for relatively small resources.