Entire board departs NPO arts producer

Six trustees of an Arts Council England-funded producer and festival in Manchester have left their roles in a mass departure from the organisation.

All board members for SICK! Productions have been removed from the organisation's website with two new appointments being made.

The organisation, which explores mental, physical and social challenges through art, hasn’t officially announced the change and did not respond to requests for comment on the reasons for the board’s exit.

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Arts Council England (ACE), which funds the combined arts producer as part of its 2023-26 National Portfolio, told Arts Professional it had been “made aware of recent changes at Sick! Festival”.

ACE said that the “day-to-day governance and operation of our funded organisations” is the “responsibility of the board and leadership team”.

"The Arts Council works closely with National Portfolio organisations that are going through periods of change to support them to continue to deliver the activities in their funding agreements,” a spokesperson said.

Until last week, the board at SICK! was listed on the organisation’s website as consisting of interim Chair Paul Ferry, as well as Peter Bulkley, Charmaine Connor, John McCluckie, Sandeep Ranote and Joseph Strickland.

Bulkey, Conner and Ferry have indicated on social media that they ended their trustee roles in September/October.

During the weekend, all six trustees were removed from SICK!’s website and replaced with two new board members – Christine D’Cruz, who is Chair of Same Sky, an arts charity in the South East, and Paul Russ, the CEO and Artistic Director of FABRIC, a dance organisation in Birmingham.