Policies

Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

Side is dedicated to documenting and showcasing the lives and cultures of working-class and marginalised communities through film and photography. Our mission underscores the importance of sustainability in preserving these narratives for future generations.

Recognising the pressing challenges of climate change, we are committed to minimising our environmental footprint by integrating sustainable practices across all operations.

Objectives

• Energy Efficiency: Enhance the energy efficiency of our facilities to reduce carbon emissions.

• Sustainable Resource Use: Prioritise the use of sustainably sourced materials in exhibitions and daily operations.

• Waste Reduction: Implement strategies to minimise waste and promote recycling.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with artists, visitors, and partners to foster environmental awareness.

Monitoring and Reporting

We will regularly monitor our sustainability initiatives, assessing progress and identifying areas for improvement. Sustainability reporting is part of our annual and project based reporting structure to allow us to monitor our responses and maintain accountability.

Continuous Improvement

Side is committed to the continuous enhancement of our environmental practices, ensuring alignment with industry standards and contributing positively to global sustainability efforts.

Commitment to Equal Opportunities

Side values diversity and encourages fairness and justice. We want equal chances for everyone in or working for and with Side to work, learn and live free from discrimination and victimisation. Side will combat discrimination throughout the organisation, wherever possible, to help overcome discriminatory barriers.

Achieving this Vision

Amber will strive to encourage equality of opportunity for all people and actively promote good relations; eliminate any conditions, procedures and individual behaviour that can lead to discrimination even where there was no intent to discriminate, with particular regard to Race, Gender, Disability, Sexuality, Age, Religion and Belief plus Employment issues.

Whilst recognising that individuals may experience disadvantage on more than one level, Amber will:

• Offer services fairly to all people, ensuring that anyone in contact with the organisation is treated with respect, making provision for those groups within the community whose needs and expectations are less well met.

• Comply with all legislation dealing with discrimination and the promotion of equality, following the codes of practice issued to support this legislation.

• Ensure all employment policies procedures, guidelines and circulars reflect and reinforce Side’s commitment to equality.

• Ensure mechanisms are in place for responding to complaints of discrimination and harassment from employees and the public.

• Encourage disadvantaged groups and individuals to participate in the community.

• Make this policy known to all employees, job applicants, local citizens and partner organisations.

• Operate partnership arrangements that ensure others commissioned to provide services for Amber have similar policies that cover equal opportunities.

• Periodically review the Equal Opportunities policy.

Supporting Statements

Side’s commitment to egalitarianism is inseparable from its artistic activity.

• Race Equality: Side is committed to promoting a cohesive society and eliminating unlawful racial discrimination. It will promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial, national and ethnic groups.

• Disability Equality: Side will not treat a person less favourably directly or indirectly on the basis of his/her disability and will promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities.

• Gender Equality: Side will not treat a person less favourably directly or indirectly regardless of gender identity or expression, or marital status. It will promote gender equality.

• Equality of Employment: Side will through its policies and training seek to create a prejudice free and supportive working environment.

• Accessibility: Side will through its activities always seek to make work accessible to all members of the community who might wish or need to see or use it – it recognises that this can only be done on the basis of permission from the appropriate rights holders. Side seeks to make sure that employment arrangements are accessible.

• Sexual Orientation: Side will not discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of sexual orientation.

• Religion and Belief: Side will not discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of religion or belief. (This is defined as any religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief. It excludes philosophical or political beliefs unless those beliefs are similar to a religious belief, e.g. the belief has a profound affect on the person's way of life.)

• Age: A person's age will not lead to unfair discrimination. 

Monitoring and Reporting

We will regularly monitor our equal opportunities initiatives, assessing progress and identifying areas for improvement. Reporting on this is part of our annual and project based reporting structure to allow us to monitor our responses and maintain accountability.

Continuous Improvement

Side is committed to the continuous enhancement of our practices, ensuring alignment with industry standards and contributing positively to global equality and access efforts.

Accessibility Guidelines

Side works towards ensuring that its work is accessible to and appropriate for all the members of the community who might wish or need to see or use them. Side will take all reasonable steps to ensure its employment arrangements are accessible.

Achieving this vision

We will strive to:

• Facilitate physical access into the buildings in which it delivers – if unable to, it will provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service in question available to all groups;

• Monitor and evaluate accessibility in order to make improvements – in particular using consultation to understand the needs and expectations of audiences, users, potential users, participants and the workforce;

• Use communication methods that are appropriate and sensitive;

• Publicise the variety of ways in which services can be accessed;

• Improve the accessibility of employment arrangements or physical features of the workplace to meet the needs of staff and applicants with disabilities or other needs;

• Work with partner organisations and agencies delivering services on behalf of Side, to enhance access to work.

• Listen to voices within our community about needs and appropriate accessibility accommodations; never to assume we have the right answer and to be open to all actionable feedback openly and fairly.

• Periodically review the accessibility policy.

Supporting Statements

• Disability Equality: Side will not treat a person less favourably directly or indirectly on the basis of their disability and will promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities.

• Equality of Employment: Side will through its policies and training seek to create a prejudice free and supportive working environment.

• Accessibility: Side will through its activities always seek to make work accessible to all members of the community who might wish or need to see or use it – it recognises that this can only be done on the basis of permission from the appropriate rights holders. Side seeks to make sure that employment arrangements are accessible.

Monitoring and Reporting

We will regularly monitor our equal opportunities initiatives, assessing progress and identifying areas for improvement. Reporting on this is part of our annual and project based reporting structure to allow us to monitor our responses and maintain accountability.

Continuous Improvement

Side is committed to the continuous enhancement of our practices, ensuring alignment with industry standards and contributing positively to global equality and access efforts.

Safeguarding & Protection Policy

• Side is committed to ensuring the safety of all who work with us, including employees and Board members, creative practitioners, artists/arts organisations, education programme participants and volunteers (including work placements).

• Side promotes a positive safeguarding culture and believes that children, young people and adults have a right to be safe and happy in the activities in which they participate.

• Side recognises it has legal and moral obligations to promote best child and vulnerable adult protection practice.

• Side will ensure that clear, accountable lines of responsibility are in place for all programme activity taking place and that any allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

• Side is committed to sound recruitment procedures for all individuals working with the organisation whether in a paid or voluntary capacity and will ensure that training appropriate to the individual’s position or role is in place.

• Side will regularly monitor the effectiveness of policy and procedure provisions in place.

Further Details

For AmberEducation programme or more detailed safeguarding policies specific Side's work please contact: [email protected]

Monitoring and Reporting

We will regularly monitor our safeguarding initiatives, assessing progress and identifying areas for improvement. Reporting on this is part of our annual and project based reporting structure to allow us to monitor our responses and maintain accountability.

Any safeguarding concerns should be directed to: [email protected]

Continuous Improvement

Side is committed to the continuous enhancement of our practices, ensuring alignment with industry standards and contributing positively to global equality and access efforts.

Memory & Personal History Informed Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy

Side acknowledges and recognises that the exploration of community history, working-class lives, international working conditions, environmental issues, and/or other themes from within our programming, carry a duty of care as the content of our work can bring up memory of negative experiences. In recalling past experiences (which may go back as far as childhood), we are aware of the potential for this to potentially trigger trauma memories.

We also acknowledge that whilst an engagement with resources from the AmberSide Collection and Side programming may focus on one particular subject or theme e.g. the mining or shipbuilding industries - an exploration of history can trigger trauma memories of anything, not just linked to specific themes presented.

We also consider prevalent, the potential existence of trauma memories specifically linked to industrial and other working practices represented heavily within the AmberSide Collection including, but not exclusive to the Shipbuilding, Mining and Fishing Industries e.g.

• Having had, or witnessed a serious industrial accident

• Workplace relational stress e.g.bullying

• Job insecurity or wages being lower than required for basic needs

• Emotional trauma related to job loss and the closure of industry which happened in the 1980’s and 1990’s

Moving forward with continued community engagement with the AmberSide Collection, we seek to adopt a trauma informed approach.

Further Details

For more detailed outlines of Side's wellbeing practices please contact: [email protected]

Side also suggests review of useful community resources including the animation; Opening Doors : Trauma Informed Practice for the Workforce as useful tools for understanding a trauma informed approach.

Monitoring and Reporting

We will regularly monitor our initiatives, assessing progress and identifying areas for improvement. Reporting on this is part of our annual and project based reporting structure to allow us to monitor our responses and maintain accountability.

Continuous Improvement

Side is committed to the continuous enhancement of our practices, ensuring alignment with industry standards and contributing positively to global equality and access efforts.