Daneka Etchells

Daneka is an actor, writer and an ALRA 2018 graduate. She has worked extensively across film and theatre with National Theatre, Northern Stage, Theatre by the Lake, CAST Doncaster, Northern Broadsides, The Customs House, Liverpool Everyman, BBC and StudioCanal. As a writer, she’s written for Paines Plough, Theatre by the Lake, Emmerson and Ward and has had poetry published nationally and internationally. She is very passionate about her queer, working class identity, championing it in all of her work, and wants to inspire other students to find the strength of their individuality within their art. "The LGBTQ+ Working Group is an independently chaired group to give space and voice to ALRA's current LGBTQIA+ students. The cross-campus student group meet 2-3 times a term in a safe, confidential environment. The chair feeds back on the progress and actions on the proposals from the previous meetings, followed by an open discussion to raise/highlight anything else, finding kindredship and inter-community support. As the chair of the group, I work as a liaising point with ALRA, consulting on change to queer policy and framework such as discussing events, texts and other work celebrating queerness, embedding thinking on sexuality and gender within ALRA’s pedagogical future, facilitating capacity for achievable and equitable excellence for LGBTQIA+ students, and holding ALRA accountable to equity, appropriate behaviour and inclusion."