GROW: Freelance
GROW: Freelance
November Club is committed to supporting freelancers and contributing to a flourishing and representative workforce for theatre in the North East.
Work with us
November Club has won multiple awards and has been recognised for dynamic and groundbreaking work in heritage spaces including Wallington Hall, Seaton Delaval Hall, Woodhorn Colliery and Blickling Hall. November Club is led by award winning site-specific theatre maker Joe Hufton.
We are on the look out for GROW mentors, if this could be you get in touch. Click the link below for full details.
The Big Survey
GROW: Survey
We know that a freelance career can be a rollercoaster of highs and lows, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. The 2022 Big Freelancer Survey found that more than half of theatre makers feel insecure about their jobs as a result of these factors, and 16% of respondents were considering leaving the industry.
In February 2023 November Club launched a survey for North East theatre freelancers at all stages of their career, working across performance, creative and production roles. We wanted to better understand the barriers to starting, developing and sustaining a freelance career in the North East, and the types of opportunities they felt would help support them.
Respondents represent a broad range of experience, from individuals who are new to the sector and those who have been working in theatre for 20+ years. You can download the document which summarises the key findings below. The data is stark; 75% of respondents feel that there are insufficient development opportunities in the region, relevant for their stage of career. The most significant barriers to career development are financial and are compounded for those with protected characteristics.
“The barriers that I come up against regularly are a lack of freelance work in the region and the low pay offered on the few available positions isn’t enough to live on. When I try to increase my skills in order to diversify the range of positions I can apply for; the training available is often too expensive and based far away from the North East.”
What would help?
Alongside more paid freelance work, respondents told us that professional development bursaries and access to opportunities such as mentoring, coaching and facilitated introductions, would help support their career development.
We would like to thank all the individuals who took the time to complete this survey and share their experiences with us. Not only has this data helped us shape our GROW offer it will also help us make a case for ongoing funding to help us better support the development of freelancers that work with November Club.
“We’re really excited to have had these conversations, they helped us to shape GROW in a way that supports the wonderful freelance workforce here in the North East.”
— Louise Taylor-Asheg, Participation and GROW Producer
Hot Desk at November Club
Do you ever feel like a change of scenery during working hours, without café-surfing or risking dodgy wifi?
Would you like to spend some time working alongside other cultural freelancers?
In summer 2023 we offered free hot desking space to cultural freelancers. Our office is based on Newgate Street, Morpeth and if ever you are in need of some free space then drop us a line and we are happy to accommodate - provided we’re in!
If you’d like us to keep you updated about the programme, you can sign up to our GROW mailing list to get direct emails about opportunities.