Welcome to the East Anglia Branch!
We are the Branch for members who live and work in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. We are an active Branch with a calendar of events from meetings, social gatherings and workshops with career development and networking activities.
Do you receive regular newsletters from us, your local Branch, by email?
If not, check the settings in your profile via the Equity website. This means you have to sign in with your Equity number and then change your settings.
Branch Newsletter and updates
You can also send us your email address direct to make sure you're kept up-to-date. Email Joseph
History of the Branch
The Branch originally began as the East Anglia Variety Branch in 1983, with Peachy Mead as founding Branch Secretary. Peachy served as Branch Secretary til he passed away in 2021. You can read more about Peachy and his career here.
The Branch used to host a number of Variety shows to raise money for the regional benevolent fund, a tradition which was brought back in 2023 with The Big Variety Show at The Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich.
In 2023 the Branch was renamed to the East Anglia Branch, in line with the Branch Reform.
In May 2023, Joseph Ballard, our Branch Secretary (and also Variety, Circus and Entertainers Councillor on Equity Council) was awarded the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award at the Equity Conference. This was for his services to the Branch, contributions to upholding Variety as an art form, his activism with his own situation in mind regarding Storytime and the attacks upon him, and administering our Benevolent Funds in lockdown and raising more funds for them to help more members.
Suffolk County Council threaten growth with 100% cuts
Equity have today released a statement on the devastating arts cuts proposed by Suffolk County Council