The Charter for Children's Arts:

Action for Children’s Arts believes that not all areas of the UK have met their obligations under Article 31. Too many children, particularly those growing up in under resourced communities, have little or no access to high quality arts and creative experiences.

This is not acceptable.

This Charter sets out what we believe must change and invites everyone who agrees to stand with us.

"Every child has the right to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. Governments shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity."

Article 31, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

"State Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike."

Article 42, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY CHILD

• Has the right to experience the arts in all their forms, theatre, music, visual art, dance, literature, digital creativity and more, regardless of where they live, their family income, or their background.
• Deserves arts provision of the highest quality, made with ambition and respect for young audiences.
• Should never be excluded from cultural life by cost, geography, disability, or any other barrier.
• Has a voice in the arts experiences that are made for and with them.

WE CALL ON GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE UK TO

• Embed Article 31 in national policy and make long-term financial provision to support it across all four nations.
• Ensure that creative education is protected in schools and early years settings, and that testing regimes never come at the expense of children’s creative lives.
• Guarantee that transport and geography are never barriers to children accessing cultural activities.
• Ensure that arts teacher training and support reflects the importance of creativity in every child’s development.

WE CALL ON ARTS COUNCILS AND FUNDERS TO

• Give work for children and young people equal status and equivalent funding to work for adult audiences.
• Develop specific, long-term strategies for children’s arts that explicitly address the equity gap in high-deprivation communities.
• Commission and publish research into international models of children’s arts provision and commit to bringing UK standards up to the best in the world.
• Make equitable access to children’s arts a condition of public funding across all art forms.

WE CALL ON ARTS ORGANISATIONS TO

• Make work for children and families a central strand of programming, not an afterthought.
• Ensure children and families are genuinely welcomed, with the facilities, pricing, and environments they need.
• Represent the interests of children and families at board level and include young people’s voices in governance.
• Actively reach into under-served communities, rather than waiting for those communities to come to them.
• Commit to equity in access, measuring and reporting on who they reach and who they don’t.

WE CALL ON SCHOOLS AND EARLY YEARS SETTINGS TO

• Give children regular time for creative play, artistic exploration, and cultural experience.
• Build meaningful partnerships with local arts organisations, especially in areas where children have least access.
• Celebrate and value children’s artistic achievements alongside their academic ones.

WE CALL ON THE MEDIA TO

• Provide high-quality, ambitious creative content for children across television, radio, and digital platforms.
• Reflect the full diversity of children’s lives, languages, and cultures.
• Give serious critical attention to children’s arts, treating it as the significant cultural field it is.

WE CALL ON LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO

• Recognise children’s arts as essential infrastructure, not a discretionary service.
• Fund and facilitate arts opportunities for children and families outside school, particularly in areas of highest deprivation.
• Support and broker partnerships between schools, arts organisations, and communities.

If you believe every child deserves a creative life, please sign The Charter. By adding your voice you will help us call on those with the power to change things to act, for every child, in every community, across the whole of the UK. Thank you.