A group of volunteers for a Shropshire arts centre has been branded ageist, sexist, homophobic and racist by the woman who runs the venue.Paula Redway, Ludlow Assembly Rooms director, attacked the behaviour of a small group of helpers in a report and mediation experts from ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, were called in.
Miss Redway said most volunteers were excellent but a few were difficult and needed to be retrained.
The venue depends on volunteers for work such as box office, stewarding and administrative tasks.
A small core has been criticised by Miss Redway in a report to consultants about the Ludlow Assembly Rooms Volunteer Project.
She wrote: “Some volunteers have a negative attitude towards training and development.
“Some volunteers are in dire need of diversity training but consider this to be unnecessary ‘political correctness’.
“There have been undertones of ageism towards younger people, sexism, homophobia and racism.
“Customer care, especially towards children, is sometimes lacking. Some volunteers are very vocal in their objections occasionally even verging on bullying behaviour.”
She added: “There have been incidents of volunteers ignoring instructions from and undermining the volunteer manager and director.
“Unexplained volunteering absences are now being queried but, as they have not previously been addressed, this has led to resentment.”
Miss Redway said there were also difficulties between volunteers and people from the Friends of Ludlow Assembly Rooms, which raises cash for the centre.
Her report said: “Most volunteers are not paid up Friends and there are historical difficulties between these two factions.”
Today Miss Redway said only a handful of volunteers had been problematic and there had been a positive response following the ACAS intervention.
The venue has 95 volunteers.
Jaelith Mahoney, the venue’s volunteer manager, was unavailable for comment today.
The report will go to consultants who are assessing the volunteers at Ludlow Assembly Rooms.
By Andy Richardson
4 Comments
Ageist, sexist, homophobic and racist ?!!.
Is this group of volunteers in question, really that bad - or maybe someone has got themselves into a ‘p.c’ frenzy.
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There is no room for homophobia, sexism and racism in todays society and if this lady is right in her allegations, then the volunteers either need to be retrained or told where to go!
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I fail to see why the requirement to treat other humans with dignity and respect rather than abuse should be derided as ‘PC’. Is one to assume that if Nelson had a special-needs family member he would not object to that person being an object of derision and/or discrimination to others? Am I alone in wondering exactly what has gone so wrong with this society that abuse of others is peddled as ‘entertainment’ (Borat, Don Imus for example) and seen as acceptable? Necessary for one’s sense of self-worth? The Director of the Ludlow Centre - quite rightly in my opinion, feels there is no room for bigots, volunteers or not, in her publicly funded and publicly used centre. Good luck to her.
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Miss Redway should be congratulated having the spirit to speak out about these sensitive issues. Racism & other forms of discrimination are rife throughout all walks of life. They are alive & kicking in all political parties & Catholic, C of E & other religious factions, yet politicians & churchmen prefer to keep such debates ‘under the stairs’. It is a fact of life in every European country as much as corruption. At least there are people like Miss Redway trying to do something about the problems when they do rear their nasty heads. Shame there is friction between volunteers & Friends, such a pity when both sides contribute to the same cause, only in different ways.
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