Since forming in 2019 we have worked with over 80 talented and dedicated freelancers and, as long-serving freelancers in this sector, our top goal is to treat everyone the way we would like to have been treated in every job we have ever done. So, we have set up the WeWorkKind Campaign …
Through the pandemic, and thinking about the BIG question of ‘What Comes Next?’, we have been thinking a lot about how we have worked, and how we want to work moving forwards. We have decided that the most important thing to us is that we work 'kind'. We wanted to show, in a very clear way to anyone we're working with and for, that we hold certain principles as central to our practice, both creatively and in how we run our business - and if you want to work with us, this is how we work.
And so, after many conversations (frequently over Whatsapp while we hid from our homeschooling children in the loo) we've created a set of guiding principles (and a badge!) - They’re on our website, in our Core Values section. (scroll down until the section called WeWorkKind).
The Principles are:
We recognise, support & encourage the fact that people have lives beyond their jobs.
We pay fairly and on time. We value ourselves and our fellow artists.
We use easily understandable language on all our documents, including our contracts.
We communicate openly & honestly and are transparent in everything we do.
We care about diversity and inclusivity, and we amplify marginalised voices.
There’s more, obviously, but we wanted to start simple - and sometimes kindness just looks like picking up the phone to a freelancer who you think might need a chat - it’s hard out there, it’s lonely, knowing someone cares about you and your practice can be just the boost a creative needs to keep on going.
There’s just two of us, juggling (as with so many other small theatre companies) a lot of projects and family life - just trying to keep our heads above water while we create pockets of joy for family audiences - like our most recent project Together/Apart for the families of NHS Front Line workers, where they meet an astronaut who is stuck in space and through playing games and talking about their feelings they help to get him home again.
So, after creating our guiding principles, we thought - well, maybe other people might like to join in with this conversation too, so we're been reaching out to folk who we think might be interested, to see if they’d like to join us - another half a dozen companies have already joined us and we’re very much hoping others will follow suit. We’ve set up a Facebook group so we can continue the conversation in an online forum, we’ll be asking folk to share their examples of ‘Kind Practice’ as well as hoping that we keep each other motivated and go the extra mile to be kind.
This is a work in progress, it's a start not an ending, it's a journey and a conversation that we'd love lots of people to be part of with us.
If you‘d like to know more, or join in with conversation email us at flyhighstories@gmail.com We can’t wait to talk to you
Jemma & Rachel
