Your correspondent Lesley Scoble (Stage Talk, March 15, page 9) accuses Equity of not caring about children because the open meeting of members in London decided not to support a call for Equity to join the Council for Dance Education and Training’s new Recognised School Status mark. I would like to give some background to that decision.
Equity was being asked to allow its considerable reputation in the entertainment industry to be used by schools for children up and down the country. If we had agreed, any parent considering sending their child to one of these schools could reasonably suppose that Equity had visited the school and could vouch for the standard of its training and for its safety record. However, Equity simply does not have the resources to take on this work. Our organisers out in the field are fully engaged in visiting workplaces to ensure the well-being of our members and colleges with vocational courses preparing young adults to enter the industry.
If we had allowed our logo to be used we would have run the risk of misleading parents and their children and promising something we simply could not deliver. It was not only the members in London who took this view, but also Equity’s Council. This matter has been on the Council agenda twice and twice the Council has decided not to join the scheme.
We wish the Council for Dance Education Training every success with its Recognised School Status mark, but for the reasons above they will have to promote it without Equity’s involvement.
Christine Payne
Equity general secretary
Guild House
Upper St Martin’s Lane
London
WC2H
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