ABOUT JEAN

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AN ACTIVIST FOR PERFORMERS' RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY

 

Jean is a former Vice President (10yrs) of Equity and is currently an Equity Councillor.  She has recently been made an Honorary Life Member of The union.

As a Vice President she successfully chaired West End negotiations; was Chair of the Anti Censorship Working Party when "Jerry Springer the Opera" was under attack; Chair of the Advertising in New Media working party which after many years of stalemate has, with the IPA, resumed documented co-operation for recording of advertising material; and she was the first Chair of the New Technology working party, looking at the growing area of games.

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From 2006- 2014 as a member of the Federation of International Artists (FIA) Gender Equalities Steering Group she was involved in compiling data on the portrayal of women, with a special emphasis on the older woman, and was part of the Equity/FIA audiovisual social dialogue between European unions and broadcasters. Research constantly reveals that for every two male roles in a drama there is just one female, a situation infinitely worse in films, and one that clearly shows actresses have a sell-by date.

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Because of this experience Jean has been a member of the Equity Women’s Committee since 2011 and represented Equity on the TUC Women’s Committee since 2013.  As of July 2021 she has been re-elected onto Equity's Women's Committee.

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In 2017 she won the TUC Women’s Gold Badge award for her work for the trade union movement and the community.

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And in 2021 the new Equity General Secretary invited her to present a policy paper on gender equality to the April Council.

Click here to download the paper...

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Jean has been Chair of BECS - the British Equity Collecting Society - since 2008.    BECS is a separate organisation from Equity but was set up by Equity in 1998 for the collecting of monies for UK audiovisual performers from collecting societies abroad.

@Becs_Performers

 

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CHARITY

 

Jean is currently Chair of the Equity Charitable Trust.

equitycharitabletrust.org.uk

@ECT_performers

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ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

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Jean has been President of the Royal British Legion Sussex County since 2019.  This arose after writing, narrating and directing a piece to celebrate the centenary of armistice and our local lads, which indirectly raised £6500 for the Poppy Appeal.

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This video is Jean's tribute to the Royal British Legion on its 100th birthday.  And she's invited a few friends along too...

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AWAY FROM THE SCRIPT

 

When not studying her lines or appearing in front of an audience Jean has a very active lifestyle. She has a keen interest in painting and has recently sold some of her work. Her creative skills also extend to the written word in both prose and poetry.

 

Through the BBC School's TV programme Watch, presenting Radio 4's POETRY CORNER and writing scripts and presenting LISTEN WITH MOTHER for nearly ten years, as well as raising her own family, Jean has developed a great insight into the world of the pre-school child. This fuelled her involvement with the Pre-School Playgroup Association as well as other charities notably Leukaemia Research and Mencap. Jean presented a filmed documentary for Mencap alongside Sir Brian Rix.

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Here is some of Jean's artwork...

Click Here