Plymouth Music Zone has been taking to the London stage speaking about equality and diversity at one of the biggest fundraising conferences in Europe. PMZ’s Chief Executive, Debbie Geraghty, was invited to join a host of speakers from different sectors who are all leaders in their field and keen to generously share their wisdom and top tips to boost support for the arts. The Annual Culture Sector Network Conference was held at the London School of Music and Dramatic Arts on 12 March and Debbie was involved in 2 of the sessions on offer. The first involved Debbie chairing a panel with the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre, two of the UK’s foremost cultural organisations. Debbie was tasked with exploring how the immense experience and networks of such large institutions can help the much smaller arts organisations outside of London to gain more financial support. Debbie followed this up in the closing plenary session where she was on the panel asked to discuss the topic of Breaking Down Barriers looking at the issues around lack of diversity in the fundraising, arts and charity sector. Around 300 arts and cultural fundraisers attended the sold out conference exploring the theme of how to learn from other sectors.
PMZ’s Chief Executive, Debbie Geraghty, says having smaller organisations invited to such large conferences is immensely valuable and should always be encouraged:
“It’s always great to see Plymouth Music Zone being invited to go out and about on the national stage to show the positive power of smaller organisations and the compassionate approach and diversity that drives them. Thank you to all those who fund our involvement in those kind of sharing learning activities including Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales Youth Music, Arts Council England and the National Lottery Community Fund. We consider the values that underpin our work as important as the work itself so we are always keen to learn from others and share our own experiences around the importance and challenges of inclusive leadership.”
You can find the Institute of Fundraising’s Change Collective campaign to increase diversity within the profession here: https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/championing-fundraising/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/change-collective/