Year: 2021

The Pink Singers is the longest running LGBTQ+ choir in Europe. Established in 1983 to march in Gay & Lesbian Pride we’ve been singing ever since. Our aim is to share the joy of music and singing within our community and use our voices to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues and fight for equality. 

We are looking for two new people to join our group of trustees to help support and grow the choir as we celebrate our 40th birthday and think to the future!

Who we are looking for

We don’t have one ideal person in mind, but rather are looking for fresh and diverse voices to join us who can bring new perspectives, experience or expertise that would help us achieve our ambitions for the charity.

Some of the opportunities and challenges we see for us ahead:

• Making our music and performances more accessible
• Reaching more diverse audiences 
• Embedding inclusive cultures within the choir 
• Growing our community outreach and charitable impact 
• Strengthening our voice on LGBTQ+ rights issues and campaigns
• Improving how we manage the choir and its finances

If you feel motivated to help with just one of those, we’d love to hear from you. As a group of trustees we already have members with a breadth of expertise. We feel that people with experience in any of the following would complement our skills: performing arts, education, communications, campaigning, activism, accounting, financial management, fundraising, charity governance, youth work, and diversity and inclusion work could complement our skills. But most important is just a passion for our mission.

Representation matters to us too. We exist as a choir for the whole LGBTQ+ community so would really love to hear from people that are less well represented with us right now, including Trans and Non-Binary people, Black people and People of Colour, people with disabilities, and young people.

What we offer in return

Community – First and foremost, joining us as a trustee means becoming a ‘Pinkie’ and being part of a hundred-strong community of beautiful, diverse, inspirational LGBTQ+ people and allies who come together to sing, share and spread joy. We are our own chosen family.

Impact – As a trustee you get to influence the high-level and long-term direction of the choir and ensure that it is meeting its charitable objectives to share the joy of music among the LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness of LGBTQ+ rights. Our choir makes a real difference to people’s lives in the UK and around the world.

Growth – The trustees are a friendly and supportive group of seven people, all with skills which we are happy to share. The role would give you the opportunity to develop things such as leadership, governance, management, finance and communications skills and also increase your experience in the music, performing arts and charity sectors. We are happy to mentor people with little or no experience of being a trustee.

Trustee roles are unpaid but we will cover reasonable expenses including travel.

Key responsibilities

• Attend trustee meetings and contribute to discussion bringing your particular skills or experience to the table
• Support the volunteer leadership team who run the choir with advice and support
• Lead on actions or workstreams, engaging with volunteer working groups from the choir members where needed
• Be a visible and responsible representative of the charity and choir
• Ensure the charity operates in line with its constitution and meets its legal and financial duties as set out by the Charity Commission

The trustees currently meet monthly for 90 minutes. We mostly meet virtually but do get together in person in London on occasion. Attendance at the AGM and the occasional visit to a choir Sunday rehearsal or performance are also expected.

Expectations

We are not setting any essential skills for the role as we want it to be as open to anyone as possible, but we expect our trustees to:

• adhere to The Pink Singers vision, values and constitution
• contribute the necessary time and support to the choir
• be committed to equality and inclusion for everyone
• abide by The Seven Principles of Public Life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership 

Recruitment Process

To express an interest or apply for this role please fill in our Pink Singers Trustee Recruitment Form

If you are interested in finding out more about the role you can use the form to start an online dialogue or arrange an informal conversation with one of the trustees.

If you are ready to apply, complete the form filling out the three simple questions which will ask about your motivations for applying, what you will bring to the role, and what you hope to get out of it.

Applications close on Tuesday 28th February

We will then shortlist and invite candidates to interview if needed during early March We hope to have new trustees in place by the end of March in time for our AGM.

If you have any issues with the recruitment form or need to apply in a way that better works for you please email trustee.secretary@pinksingers.co.uk.

To understand more about The Pink Singers please read the About Us section of our website where you can find information about our history, our charitable aims, the current trustees and leadership team.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a trustee of The Pink Singers.

As part of our Pride Month celebrations we have been highlighting the brand new feature film Rebel Dykes, which is a documentary set in 1980s post punk London. It tells the unheard story of a community of lesbians who met doing art, music, politics and sex and how they went on to change their world. It has been recently shown at BFI Flare and the Fringe Film Festival at the Genesis Cinema in Bethnal Green and will be making its way around the film festival circuit this year.

The film is a fantastic portrayal of a fiercely strong group of lesbians, proudly identifying as dykes, who were finding their place in the community and using their voice to fight for the rights of others. The film features interviews with some of the key figures of the community and also plays footage from some of the clubs and main events that occurred at the time. Some of the Pink Singers went to the first cinema showing at the Genesis earlier this month and were extremely excited to meet some of the film’s leading protagonists.

Sally-Anne Smith, Pink Singers Soprano 1, was around in the 1980s and was aware of the group and even features in the film. We asked her for a few words about her experience and what led to her exciting cameo appearance:

“The Rebel Dykes is about a loose knit community of lesbians in London in 1986. Many were also involved in the anti-nuclear protests at Greenham Common in Berkshire. Many lived in squats in London. I suppose they would have been viewed as “outsiders” at the time. They lived according to their own politics and beliefs, being a lesbian was not widely accepted. Some of the film is set in “Chain Reaction” which was a Woman Only SM (sado-masochism) bar in Vauxhall. The “SM Dykes” were a visible presence on the Gay Pride marches in the 1980’s. At the time, I think they would have been considered a “sub culture” in the lesbian scene, they were certainly not universally accepted (not that that would have worried them). Lesbian SM was a very contentious issue at the time, it may well still be, I honestly don’t know. Coming from my own personal standpoint of feminism and non-violence, it was not something I really understood. WAS it “Violent” or “Anti Feminist”? So to try and get some dialogue going, there was a debate on the subject with a panel of “Pro” and “Anti” SM woman and a mixed audience. It was a woman only meeting and I went with a bunch of friends (of varying opinions) and when I got there Sheila Jeffreys (if my memory serves me correctly) who was supposed to be on the panel giving the “anti SM” viewpoint was walking out of the building. This left an empty chair and a request for someone to take her place on the panel. My friends seemed to think I would be a good candidate, so I walked up and sat in the empty chair. Can’t remember much of what I said. I was interested in reconciling an issue which was causing contention in the lesbian/feminist movement. I wanted to find out where the “other side” was coming from. This blog ONLY represents my personal impressions of something that happened over 30 years ago. I do not claim to speak for anyone else. But that is why there is a very fleeting clip of myself in the film. Oh, and I did get to go to “Chain Reaction” after all”

The Directors of the film, Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams, were interviewed by LesFlicks (a social enterprises raising the visibility and support of lesbian and bisexual films and film makers) during the premiere online showing at BFI Flare earlier this year. Check out the video of the interview and find out more about how they pulled the film together and the importance of the film to the LGBT+ community.

To coincide with the release of the film, the Rebel Dykes community have pulled together the Rebel Dykes – Art and Archive Show which is being shown at Space Station Sixty-Five in Kennington, London, SE11 4PT.  The exhibition opened on June 25th and goes on until September 17th 2021 (Thursday – Saturday, 12-6pm). The gallery describe the exhibition as celebrating “past and present dissident voices, those who stood boldly against homophobia, Clause 28 and a heteronormative, deeply divided and sexist society. And they did it with style and swagger”. Admission is ticketed. Please go along and support and find out more about this wonderful period in LGBT+ history.