diversity & inclusion improv outreach worker
Help Hoopla fund a Diversity & Inclusion Improv Outreach Worker to help bring improv to everyone!
We’ve been fundraising for a new Outreach Worker and should be ready to go after lockdown.
Hoopla’s purpose is to bring the joy of improv to as many people as possible. We aim to make improv fun, friendly, sociable, open and accessible to all.
At the moment we run improv classes and shows across Central London, and have a diversity program set up to bring people from different backgrounds to those classes and shows and diversity scholarships offering free and discounted places.
But all that is currently reliant on people knowing what improv is, finding us online, being near the workshops and able to make the times. So there are a huge number of people we aren’t reaching and we want to fix that.
So now we want to remove those blocks and bring improv to where people actually are, to people of all backgrounds, to different areas and help bring improv to everyone.
And that’s why we are starting a new Diversity & Inclusion Improv Outreach Worker project. This is a specific paid job that will rapidly bring about a massive positive change to the UK improv scene.
I love improv, but it needs shaking up. I see improv as something for everyone. So I would live if it truly represented a slice of society. If you don’t see yourself represented we need you!
DTRS at Hoopla are all super friendly; they make you feel instantly at ease and really included; if you're looking for a clique full of mean girls this is the wrong place. I felt completely supported on stage and there is a really different experience from performing with others from a similar background to you.
Stumbling upon a BAME improv night was encouraging as somebody new to the scene, as I was able to watch experienced performers who looked like me and whose content was often more relatable than the main circuit.
Do The Right Scene at Hoopla host one of the best comedy nights in London. The atmosphere onstage and off is always electric. It’s always a joy to perform alongside their stellar lineup of talented stand-ups and improvisers.
I've been going to DTRS at Hoopla for about a year and it is consistently one of the most welcoming places to perform and watch improv. I didn't know many Asian performers before joining and feel incredible comfort that there's a space for us too.
I can confidently attest to how much I’ve grown and how grateful I am for the friends I’ve made. Improv is transformative.
One drop-in class with Hoopla and four and a half years later I have gone from student to an improviser who performs with multiple groups.
I just think there’s something so special about these monthly nights that allow me to want to continue to perform improv.
Improv can be transformative and thanks to the work of a few dedicated black women, the scene is opening up and becoming more inclusive.
The black women transforming London's improv theatre scene.
key aims of the project
The outreach worker’s job will be to bring the joy of improv to more people in these groups:
– Black, Asian, Middle Eastern and Minority Ethnic.
– Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans +.
– Younger People.
– Older People.
– English as a second language.
– People with a disability.
– Areas outside of Central London.
And to also help more people from those groups to go on to perform in the wider improv scene.
They will mainly do this by bringing improv outreach workshops to the community in these places:
– Schools, Colleges and Youth Clubs.
– Community Centres, Charities and Religious Centres.
– Theatres, Drama Clubs and Drama Schools.
– Recovery Colleges.
– Language Schools.
– Old People’s Homes.
– Areas outside of Central London, including bring existing diverse improv teams and teachers to non-improv spaces like festivals and cultural events to make them more visible and to inspire Improviser of Colour (IOC) communities across the UK.
These workshops will be at no cost to the participants and we will go to them. This work will be covered by this fund.
The outreach worker will be set up to be able to efficiently contact organisations and deliver workshops, so your donations lead to direct action and are not tied up in bureaucracy or core costs.
This will have the longer term effect of bringing improv to more of these groups of people and then bringing more of these groups of people into the wider improv scene.
additional aims of the project
They will also help improve diversity by doing these additional tasks:
– Awarding diversity scholarships to people wanting to do our main courses as a result of this outreach.
– Awarding accelerator scholarships to help those go to a professional performer level.
– Being on the audition panel for new shows to improve diversity.
– Helping existing shows diversify their cast by connecting them to improvisers.
– Running diversity workshops within Hoopla for students, teachers and performers.
All of these additional tasks will be paid for by Hoopla and will not take money from our crowdsourced fund. The crowdsourcing fund will be reserved for the improv outreach workshops as that’s the part we aren’t capable of running without financial help.
Hoopla will also continue to fund the following things themselves outside of this project:
– Diversity scholarships for all courses.
– Do the Right Scene improv workshops for BAME improvisers.
– Do the Right Scene improv shows for BAME improvisers.
– Internal diversity training.
– Hoopla house team system including new shows featuring BAME improvisers.
– Recruitment of new BAME teachers.
– General admin supporting and promoting this project.
– Providing an admin support team for the outreach worker including training manager and shows producer.
how this project is funded
– This crowdsourcing fund.
– Fundraising shows, events and festivals run by Hoopla.
– An additional commitment of £5000 from Hoopla.
We aim to have this fund the first 1-2 years of the project.
We are not applying for arts council funding yet as we want to get the project up and running as a soon as possible and feel there would be too long a delay to wait for external funding especially as a lot of arts council funding at the moment will be going to corona recovery rather than new projects. We also want the creative and political freedom to bring the work to where we feel it is most needed.
How the project is funded longer term:
– Ongoing fundraising events from Hoopla.
– Ongoing donations from Hoopla.
– Corporate sponsorship (we have no experience of this though so please contact us if you can help).
– Arts council funding (we have no experience of this though so please contact us if you can help).
– Other funding organisations.
– Ongoing donations to this crowdsourcing fund.
Where the money goes:
A salaried ongoing job at Hoopla of Diversity & Inclusion Improv Outreach Worker, booking and delivering improv workshops to people of all backgrounds as detailed above.
Donations to the crowdfunder go to a separate bank account than normal Hoopla, so will not get caught up in Hoopla’s core costs and general admin. Once we have recruited the outreach worker (later this summer as lockdown eases) we will be setting this fund up as a separate organisation to make sure that 100% of your donations go to diversity & inclusion improv outreach work and maximise action.
faqs
Who is the outreach worker going to be?
We are recruiting later this summer as lockdown eases and once we have raised enough funds to support their job for at least a year.
How will you recruit?
We will spread word throughout our current diversity initiatives (for instance Do The Right Scene), improv audience, teachers, students, social media and also from outside of Hoopla to make sure the job application process is fair.
What skills will they need?
They will need to be an excellent improv teacher and communicator with the experience of delivering outreach work in drama or similar.
Why are you crowdfunding?
Because this is Hoopla's missing project that we currently can't afford by ourselves but we feel will make the biggest positive impact to the improv scene.
Why don't you fund it yourselves?
We are, we just need extra help. We are committing £5000 to help get things started and we already fund all of our diversity scholarships (100s per year) and other diversity work including workshops, shows, internal training, teacher recruitment, festivals and more. We will also supporting by providing full admin support to the new project, and we will be covering those cores costs ourselves. This means that your donations go directly to the action of delivering the joy of improv to new groups. Without your donations or other funding we would be limited in the number of outreach workshops we could do per year, but with your help we can go big and bring improv to lots of great people!
Why don't you get arts council funding?
We want to stay creatively and politically free, especially at the start of the project. We also want to get the project going as quickly as possible and at the moment feel most arts council funding will be going to corona recovery rather than new projects. Later on once the project and role is established we may apply for external funding. We didn't want to wait months/years until funding came, we want to get things going now.
How will the outreach worker decide what projects and workshops to run?
They will involve you. Similar to how we have responded to the BLM movement we will involve our whole audience and be transparent about what we do and involve as many people as possible in deciding where to bring improv fun.
Can I fund a specific project or workshop?
Yes, just contact us and we will be able to discuss that with you and allocate that donation to a specific project or workshop.
I love improv, but it needs shaking up. I see improv as something for everyone. So I would live if it truly represented a slice of society. If you don’t see yourself represented we need you!
DTRS at Hoopla are all super friendly; they make you feel instantly at ease and really included; if you're looking for a clique full of mean girls this is the wrong place. I felt completely supported on stage and there is a really different experience from performing with others from a similar background to you.
Do The Right Scene at Hoopla host one of the best comedy nights in London. The atmosphere onstage and off is always electric. It’s always a joy to perform alongside their stellar lineup of talented stand-ups and improvisers.
I've been going to DTRS at Hoopla for about a year and it is consistently one of the most welcoming places to perform and watch improv. I didn't know many Asian performers before joining and feel incredible comfort that there's a space for us too.
One drop-in class with Hoopla and four and a half years later I have gone from student to an improviser who performs with multiple groups.