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How we organise ourselves

DIY Theatre is a Community Interest Company (CIC) with a voluntary Board.

As a member- led organisation it is very important to us that our board is mainly made up of people with lived experience of learning disability.
DIY’s board meets about every 6 weeks to discuss company developments, projects and finances.
We hold an AGM every year when we elect our board.

We aim to make our board meetings as accessible as possible. For example:

• we do different activities, like visual arts activities, to help us understand complicated ideas.
• we work in small groups so we can all express ourselves and get our points of view across.
• we create accessible agendas and minutes using Easy English and Photosymbols.
• we set up sub-groups, like our policies sub-group, to help us look at things in more detail.

The DIY Board

• Makes Decisions
• Solves Problems
• Reports Concerns
• Gives Feedback From Projects
• Checks Money

We often split into smaller groups at Board Meetings to look at things in detail.

DIY’s current Board members are:

DIY’s Advisory Group

The Board is supported by an unpaid Advisory Group of 4 members who have expertise skills and knowledge.

The Advisory Group offers advice on:

• how to get more people involved.
• how to link with other groups
• how to make access better
• how to get funding

The Group has an advisory role and are non-voting members. The members are: Mark Dooris, Joanna Goodfellow, Jude Bird, Lindsey Brook.

Professor Mark Dooris

Professor in Health And Sustainability, Co-Director Healthy and Sustainable Settings Unit, University of Central Lancashire

Mark works at the University of Central Lancashire where he is Professor in Health & Sustainability, Co-Director of the Healthy & Sustainable Settings Unit and Co-Director of the Institute of Citizenship, Society & Change. With a background in health promotion, public health, community development and environmental policy, he has worked within the health service, voluntary sector, local government and higher education – and is passionate about social, economic and ecological justice.

Mark is Co-Chair of the International Health Promoting Universities & Colleges Steering Group, Chair of the UK Healthy Universities Network, a member of Universities UK’s Mental Health in Higher Education Advisory Group, and an expert witness to the Climate Commission for UK Further and Higher Education. Over the past three decades, he has been on numerous governance and oversight groups at local, national and international levels – including: Preston Community Arts Project Management Committee; Lancashire Development Education Management Committee; North West Improving Mental Health & Wellbeing Taskforce; Food Research Collaboration Advisory Group; Sustainable Food Cities Expert Group; UK Healthy Cities Network Steering Group; and International Union of Health Promotion & Education (IUHPE): Global Working Group on Healthy Settings.

Lindsey Brook

Engagement and Development Officer, NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group

Lindsay is a font of all knowledge in Salford regarding Salford City Council and Salford CCG’s engagement with adults with learning disabilities. She established and facilitates the Salford Listening to People forum which meets once a month and is involved in shaping plans and actions for Salford, Greater Manchester and nationally in relation to people with learning disabilities.

Jude Bird

Executive Director of Learning & Workforce, Curious Minds

Jude is currently an Executive Director for Curious Minds, an arts and education charity based in the NW region.

Her original art form practice is dance and she has worked as an artistic director, performer, teacher, choreographer and community practitioner. Jude’s  studies have focussed on the intelligence of the lived body through somatic practices. She set up and ran Dodeka Dance Co for 10 years. This was a company for people with learning disabilities which toured to the International Festival in Adelaide Australia and was commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall to develop on site work. Jude has also written and co-written training courses in the arts and is interested in different ways of facilitating and assessing learning.

Jude worked with DIY as part of the 3d initiative that was set up through Trafford Council’s Disability Arts Worker and has previously evaluated work for the company. She has sat on a number of Boards of arts organisations and is currently a Trustee for Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre. She has also been a school governor for several schools.

Jude believes the arts have an important role to play in positive social change in order to create a society where all contributors have value and add to the richness of the cultural and social ecology.

Joanna Goodfellow

Deputy Headteacher, Manchester Hospital School

Manchester Hospital School provides education for children and young people who cannot attend their usual school because of their medical or mental health needs.

MHS is a unique school with a national and international reputation for excellence in its field. As a Hospital School, it is classed as a community special school because all the young people it works with have ill health; physical, mental or both. The schools operate across a number of sites, teaching children of all ages and abilities. It also works with schools across Manchester and beyond, offering advice and practical assistance on how they can best support any students who can no longer attend school for health reasons.

DIY’s Theory of Change

DIY’s Theory of Change guides all our planning and development. It has been developed through extensive consultation and visioning sessions involving DIY members, staff,  Board & Advisory Group.

We have created it to help us evaluate how individual creative projects contribute to longer term impacts. We are using it as a framework for planning & evaluation. It was adopted in February 2022 & covers a three year time-span starting April 2022. It is a working document and will be reviewed at regular intervals.

Click to view Our Theory of Change