29 arts and cultural organisations across Shropshire have secured grants from Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact to deliver projects that overcome barriers to participation, improve health and engage young people.
Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact was established by Shropshire Council, with support from Arts Council England (ACE) in 2022. Under the leadership of its chair Paul Johnson, Theatre Professor and Deputy Provost at the University of Chester and its cross-sector board, it has secured additional funding from ACE and Central Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to deliver a series of training events and manage a grants programme for cultural and arts organisations.
Applicants were invited to apply for grants of between £1000 – £5000 for projects that would help deliver the county’s cultural strategy by overcoming barriers to participating in the arts and culture and using culture to address health and social issues in the county.
Paul Johnson commented “We were delighted by the diversity of the grant applications from all over the county and the quality of the projects that were proposed.”
All of the projects increased opportunities for communities across the county to engage in the arts and culture. These included creative workshops and exhibitions to support people living with mental health issues, mass participation arts projects for rural community groups, intergenerational creative workshops, cultural activities for young members of the Special Educational Needs and Disability community, school-based drama activities in an area with high levels of deprivation and inclusive dance workshops.
Other projects were designed to use arts and culture to improve the health and wellbeing of the community and included wellbeing yoga workshops in isolated rural areas, creative activities to support the wellbeing of expectant and new mums, art and nature activities for young people impacted by a cancer diagnosis and wellbeing music workshops in rural communities and care giving settings.
Initiatives to enable young people to become active participants in the arts were also well represented including training for young people to write reviews of the arts, participation in a film making academy, a youth fringe festival, creative and conservation activities in natural landscapes and stage combat workshops.
As a large rural county, lack of access to arts and culture is an issue for many of Shropshire’s residents. This was addressed by projects including a multicultural performance at a community festival, Chinese Culture workshops and performances at different locations, a film festival in a rural town and musical performances in rural areas. All of these initiatives helped isolated communities have a richer cultural experience.
Rob Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Digital and Culture commented “Arts and culture play such an important part in addressing many community needs and issues and I am delighted that Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact secured the funding to help support so many different community focused arts projects.”
Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact has received £163,950 from the UK Government funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, distributed by Shropshire Council.
