2022 has already seen an avalanche of damaging set-backs to social justice in the arts and humanities perpetrated by a handful of elite, entitled defenders of the status quo 🧵

Fewer places on arts courses, exclusion from loans based on irrelevant GCSE grades, marketisation of unis necessitating faculty strike action, inflation on student loans set to rise to up to 12% by September, a shift to zero-hours/gig contracts throughout the creative sector…

…news of over 10m cultural jobs lost during the pandemic, 44% of teachers planning to quit, minoritised staff leaving large institutions like the BBC over discrimination, the proposed sale of Channel 4… the list goes on far too long for this early in the year

For a generation who are set to be shafted by the cost of living crisis and oncoming recession, dreams of a secure, creatively fulfilling life feel like an inaccessible luxury

Those with money and influence want the arts and humanities to remain open only to them, their children and the children of their friends. They’re raising barriers so that other, less privileged young people eventually give up hope

For UK culture to be vibrant and speak truth to power we need to hear from ALL voices, but right now many are suppressed by the systems created by this self-perpetuating elite.

We refuse to let this happen without a fight. If you want to do your bit to reverse the damage so far, and help this community counter whatever comes next, it’s imperative to keep up a defiant insistence on hope.

Our alternative ‘Old Boy’s Network’ needs to grow and get stronger if it’s to counter the rapid onslaught of the original. We need your help to fund our fight. Just £25 will make a massive difference, please #HopeDefiantly by giving what you can today bit.ly/36XmfTH

If you can’t give (and we know times are especially hard) please share our appeal to reach those who can bit.ly/36XmfTH