INCLUDE: using an action plan to build inclusion

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make music in their community. This resource is for music groups that want to build a plan for making their group more inclusive.

Music groups often have an aspiration to make sure that everyone who wants to can take part in their activity. 

This might be to:

• increase their membership,
• remove barriers for anyone in their community who might want to attend,
• make sure the current members of their group can continue to be involved when their circumstances change,
• bring new artistic and creative ways of doing things,
• create a friendly and enjoyable environment where people want to spend their leisure-time.

This doesn’t happen by accident, so we tried a method of strategically planning and taking action to make music groups more inclusive through our INCLUDE programme. This 18-month project involved four of our member groups (a choral society, a community choir, an instrumental group, and a promoter group) and you can read about it here. We wanted to see how planning and proactively making changes would differ from expecting change to happen organically or having to react when things came up, and what actions had the most impact.

Music groups that are run by volunteers are short on time and resources, so planning needs to be straightforward and actions manageable. We used an action plan to break larger goals into achievable actions and measure progress.

From our experience, we’ve created this resource so you can create an inclusion action plan that will map out the actions you will take on your journey to becoming a more inclusive group. We’ve also created 'Insights from INCLUDE' documents that share some of the actions the groups tried, and suggestions for things you can try yourself. 

What is an inclusion action plan?

An inclusion action plan is a document that outlines the steps your group will take to become more inclusive and accessible to a wider range of people. It will include your goals and practical actions that you plan take. It’s a document that you can review and update regularly, and can be as simple or as complex you like. 

Here is a template that you can use to get started: 

Inclusion Action Plan Template

Sample page of Inclusion Action Plan

Insights from INCLUDE

Through the INCLUDE programme we found that to make a group truly inclusive, action needed to be taken in a range of areas from connecting with new people to making changes to better include existing members. The groups we worked with involved their whole membership in making changes and decisions to embed inclusion across everything they do. 

Including even a small action from each of these areas in your inclusion action plan will make sure you are working holistically, so change within your group can be successful and permanent. 

• Working strategically: insights from INCLUDE 
  Start here! Find out about how and why to approach your access and inclusion work strategically. 
• Making connections and reaching new people: insights from INCLUDE
  Find out about designing activity specifically to reach new people and groups. 
• Communicating with and welcoming people: insights from INCLUDE
  Find out what you can do to improve the early interactions people have with your group. 
• Adapting and developing your group: insights from INCLUDE
  Find out how to approach longer-term changes that will make your group more inclusive. 

How to use it

Gather a team of people who have an interest or expertise in access and inclusion to work together on your plan. This doesn’t need be members of your committee, it could be a sub-group of your members. We’ve created the template to guide you but feel free to use another format if you prefer; the most important thing is that it is a usable document for you and your group. 

Using the INCLUDE insights for inspiration, set goals that you will work towards. We recommend choosing one or two things to focus on from each insight area. 

Each insight has four to five sections. We’ve labelled these as 'short-term' (within 12 months), 'long-term' (12 months+) and 'ongoing' to help you structure your plan. We suggest choosing a mixture of long- and short-term actions. 

Start with small, achievable actions and build from there. Use it as an annual action plan that you review and update each year. Use the review stage to talk about what you’ve learnt, change any actions you don’t think are working and add new ones. 

Talk about what you’re doing with the rest of your group and remember to thank your volunteers. 

This resource was created by Making Music with learning from our INCLUDE programme that ran from September 2023-March 2025. We were supported using public funding by Arts Council England as an Investment Principles Support Organisation. Thank you to the INCLUDE groups for their contributions: Great Bowden Recital Trust, Luton Choral Society, OutSingCancer Choir, and Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire Concert Society.