Halifax art school provides vital support to help with cost-of-living crisis

Artworks, the Everybody School of Art, has made the commitment that will see everyone working at the organisation receive a minimum hourly wage of £10.90, significantly higher than the government minimum for over 23s of £9.50 per hour.

Artworks has also developed a new pricing structure to enable more people to experience the social, economic and wellbeing benefits of engaging with the arts.

Participants can select one of three pricing options: a concessions place, a standard place which reflects the true cost of delivering the course or workshop, or a supporter place which directly funds a concession place and helps people who would otherwise be unable to access a place due to financial pressures or other circumstances.

Lauren Iredale, artistic and managing director of Artworks, said: “As a community interest company, we don’t work for profit and have always used the income we generate to support our communities and pay our artists a fair rate. However, in light of the cost-of-living crisis and the precarity of the cultural sector, we wanted to go further to signal our commitment to fair and sustainable pay. We’re delighted to officially become a Living Wage Employer and will continue to do all that we can to support our staff through these difficult times.

As an organisation, we believe that learning in general, and arts education in particular, should be available to all. Despite this, we understand that engaging in arts activity is expensive and often unaffordable for many people. Our new pricing model will ensure that we can continue to provide inclusive access to the arts, no matter what a person’s personal or financial circumstances.”

The real living wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum.

Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 300,000 people and put over £1.6 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.