Imagine! Belfast

Two people holding the Living Wage Employer sign and smiling at the camera.

Imagine! Belfast is an independent, non-profit, registered charity (NIC 101004) based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Imagine’s core mission is to provide high-quality showcases for the discussion of contemporary political and societal issues, including new ideas on politics, culture, and activism, through an annual festival each March. The organisation has one Full Time Director and a delivery team of seasonal freelancers, volunteers and a Board of Trustees. The organisation’s goal is to encourage participation from under-represented groups and stimulate reflection on difficult and controversial issues.

Motivation for Living Wage Accreditation

Accreditation aligns directly with our core mission to promote an equitable and just society, which includes addressing low pay and in-work poverty—a significant issue in Northern Ireland. As a non-profit organisation that encourages debate on political and societal issues, paying the Real Living Wage is a practical way to demonstrate our values and commitment to our minimal staff and contracted workers.

It's about respect for our team, ensuring they receive a wage based on the actual cost of living, which helps their well-being and financial stability. We hope our commitment will also encourage our partner organisations and the wider arts and charity sectors to follow suit.

Implementation Process

The process was quick and easy!

As a small, mission-driven organisation, our decision was straightforward: ensure all directly employed staff are paid the Real Living Wage and create a formal plan for any regularly contracted staff to be paid the same.

The formal process involved submitting our details to Living Wage NI, which confirmed our pay structures. For smaller charities like ours, this review and accreditation can be completed in just a few weeks. We found the resources available were very clear, making the implementation process efficient.

Additional Workplace Changes

Yes, the accreditation process prompted us to formalise our commitment to being a Good Employer beyond just pay.

We took the opportunity to review several existing practices and new initiatives:

Formalised Flexible Working: We introduced a clear policy promoting a flexible, hybrid work model to improve work-life balance for our small team.

Enhanced Well-being Focus: We committed to incorporating more health and well-being initiatives into our yearly planning, including promoting mental health support resources.

Challenges and Barriers

The main barrier was financial constraint and onward financial sustainability due to the under-resourced arts funding landscape in Northern Ireland, where like many arts organisations, we operate on a small budget.

We managed this challenge by leveraging our small structure:

  • Agility of Small Size: As an organisation with only one core member of staff, we were exceptionally agile. This small size allowed us to commit to the Real Living Wage without the need for complex, large-scale payroll adjustments.
  • Strategic Repositioning of Funds: We performed a rigorous internal financial review to identify non-essential costs that could be redirected. We also now frame the Real Living Wage as a core commitment to "Good Jobs" in all new funding applications, embedding the necessary salary costs into our future sustainability strategy.

Benefits of Living Wage Accreditation

The reputational and moral benefits have been most significant for us as an arts organisation.

  • Enhanced Reputation: Accreditation signals our commitment to social responsibility, which is key to securing ethical partnerships and engaging a values-driven audience.
  • Staff Well-being and Morale: Although we have one core staff member, the commitment guarantees financial stability, significantly reducing financial anxiety (a key issue cited by 84% of low-paid workers in Northern Ireland) and promoting greater dedication to our mission.
  • Competitive Advantage: The accreditation differentiates us, making it easier to attract high-quality, mission-aligned freelance and project staff over the long term.

"Committing to the Real Living Wage wasn't just a cost to absorb; it was an ethical commitment that reflects our festival’s core values. In a Northern Ireland arts sector plagued by underfunding, ensuring fair pay for our one core staff member and regular freelancers is the most powerful way we can invest in the sustainability of our people, and demonstrate that arts workers deserve dignity."

- Mags White-O'Kane, Festival Director