Case studies

Festival Bridge is one of ten Bridge Organisations working nationally with investment from Arts Council England and the Department for Education. The aim of Bridge Organisations is to connect the cultural sector and the education sector so that children & young people can have access to great arts and cultural opportunities.

FEAST invests in community and artist-led projects and events that break new ground. Its specific purpose is to generate arts and cultural activity in towns, villages and parishes across Cornwall in a way that is highly visible to the public.

Social care settings in Gateshead, both council-operated and private, could not access essential PPE as the COVID-19 emergency developed. The library service responded by developing the production of PPE visors. In total 7,500 visors were produced by the library service in 8 weeks.

On the 18th March, leisure facilities in Nottingham closed their doors. This left large numbers of staff in Nottingham unable to continue in their roles as pool attendants and gym instructors. It also meant that thousands of members could not visit services which were longer available and that buildings were suddenly empty.

Archive staff in Gloucestershire worked quickly, using their specialist professional archive skills to set up a system which enabled the scanning and sending of physical post to staff working from home.

While parks and open spaces became a place of refuge and respite for the general public during lockdown, parks staff at Rugby were focused on supporting the delivery of essential services.

The Old Courts Arts Centre is a six year old multi-arts organisation based in Wigan. They initially had no concept of the impact the pandemic would have on The Old Courts. When the pandemic hit, they needed to find a way to stay connected to the local community.

Hackney Council’s Windrush Generations programme has transformed the Council’s engagement with elders, and others, from our African-Caribbean communities. The programme directly engaged 3000 Windrush elders and their descendants across 25 activities.

Culturally, change has been driven by the textile industry, which has given rise to a diverse range of communities and music, an innovative reputation and a strong global brand. Kirklees is a real example of a place where business drives cultural activity.

ArtsTrain is a creative music programme run by leading social enterprise Mytime Active since 2008. The programme supports thousands of children and young people within communities across the London Boroughs of Bromley, Bexley and Lewisham, targeting those who are not engaged in arts and culture and face challenging circumstances.