STAF was founded as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in 2019, through the support of a Wellcome, Culture and Society Discretionary Award. It is an amalgamation of the work of two organisations: In Company Collective, and The Sick of the Fringe, which have their own short but distinct histories (2015-2019). 

In Company Collective (ICC), supported step- changes in the careers of artists including Split Britches, Le Gateau Chocolat, Hunt & Darton, and HighRise Entertainment. This included supporting organisational development, developing new contexts for their work, expanding their networks and partnerships to increase impact whilst supporting their sustainability.

ICC also provided strategic producing support for performance works by artists including Liz Carr, Tim Crouch and The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein, in addition to mentoring and support programmes for emerging and mid-career artists. 

The Sick of The Fringe (TSOTF) is our continuing, leading international artistic development programme, engaging with artists and audiences with lived experience of chronic ill-health, disability and socio-economic disadvantage, and addressing questions of access across the creative industries. 

TSOTF works with festivals, artists and communities and has achieved a reputation as a go-to resource for ground-breaking programming and artist support strategies.

Together ICC and TSOTF secured investment of over £2 million in public subsidy for projects, reaching live audiences of over 500,000 and more than 8 million online. This success led to the formation of STAF, which has built on both of those initiatives in new ways. 

WHAT WE DO→

VALUES→