Commission Available

‘This is Shropshire’ Partnership Commission: £15,000

Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact has secured funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to commission a programme of arts and cultural activities that make up a countywide festival under the banner of ‘This is Shropshire’.  

This brief is for a partnership of arts and cultural practitioners to deliver a programme of cultural activities that helps overcome barriers to participation in culture and the arts at multiple locations in Shropshire. 

This is a single commission with a maximum value of £15,000. The compact will contract with one lead organisation, who will act as the accountable body on behalf of a partnership of at least three cultural practitioners. 

Key dates: 

Proposals must be submitted by 12 noon Monday 9 June 2025 

The programme must be completed and reported on by 31 December 2025. 

Background:

Vibrant Shropshire, the county’s Cultural Compact, is a cross-sector partnership bringing together culture, business, education, healthcare and allied sectors. It is currently facilitated by Shropshire Council and a volunteer board and is working to deliver the cultural strategy for the county to help increase health, wellbeing, resilience, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability through arts and culture.  

Click here to view the Cultural Strategy.  

Click here for more information about Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact 

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.  

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) proactively supports delivery of the UK Government’s five national missions pushing power out to communities everywhere, with a specific focus to help kickstart economic growth and promoting opportunities in all parts of the UK. For more information, visit: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.  

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukshared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-2025-26-technical-note  

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-2025-26-additional-information#uk-shared-prosperity-fund-branding-and-publicity 

Project Brief: 

Vibrant Shropshire wishes to commission a programme of cultural activities that breaks down barriers to participation in culture and addresses one other priority (listed below). 

The programme should take place across multiple locations (at least three) around the county and incorporate collaboration with other cultural providers (at least three in the partnership) to deliver the project.  

Activity must: 

• involve partnership working; you should collaborate with at least two other cultural providers to deliver the proposed activities, i.e. there should be at least three practitioners in the partnership 
• take place across multiple locations in Shropshire (at least three) 
• be a cultural activity 
• overcome barriers to participation in culture, particularly for one of the following groups with protected characteristics; 
  • Young people (0-25) 
  • Older people (50 plus) who are at risk 
  • Isolated rural communities 
  • Members of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community 
  • Financially disadvantaged members of the community 
  • Resettlement communities, including refugees, asylum seekers and Guests from Ukraine 
  • The armed forces community 
  • Members of the community with other protected characteristics 
• The project must also address one of the following: 
  • Increase the delivery of cultural initiatives that have a positive impact on health and wellbeing. 
  • Increase the number of people working in the cultural sector through the provision of volunteer or work experience opportunities and development opportunities for existing staff. 
  • Engage more children and young people in cultural activities. 
  • Use culture to raise awareness of climate change, encourage the cultural sector to operate in a more environmentally sustainable way and celebrate and care for Shropshire’s natural environment. 
  • Enhance cultural organisations’ long-term financial resilience and their impact on the local economy. 

We appreciate that the timescale is tight, however the programme of activities must be delivered and reported on by the end of December 2025. 

Priority will be given to projects that: 

• actively engage people from the specified communities in cultural activities and actively target one of the other listed priorities 
• demonstrate best practice in supporting the additional needs of the community 
• evidence the need or demand for the activity through engagement with members of the community 

Eligible activities include: 

• cultural festivals 
• cultural exhibitions 
• performances 
• concerts and other musical performances 
• cultural talks 
• cultural workshops and classes 
• cultural activities 
• the creation of a new piece of cultural work 
• sporting events/ activities 
• enabling sustainable access to green space 

This list is not exhaustive and if you are not sure if your activity is eligible, please contact us. 

We define culture as: visual and performing arts, music, dance, crafts, museums, literature, heritage, history, archaeology, archives, architecture, libraries, open spaces, countryside recreation, sport, hospitality, cafes and restaurants, visitor attractions and locally produced food and drink. 

Project deliverables: 

The successful candidate will project manage and deliver the entire commission and: 

• develop a full programme of activities that are appropriate and relevant for the identified community in Shropshire. 
• deliver a programme of activities in multiple locations across the county (at least three) 
• collaborate with cultural partners to deliver the project 
• market the activities to the community 
• handle all bookings 
• deliver the activities 
• maintain a project budget 
• be responsible for the legal compliance of the programme including the health and safety and safeguarding of staff, volunteers and participants 
• have in place and adhere to: 
  • safeguarding policies and procedures 
  • Health and Safety policies and procedures 
  • risk assessments 
• have appropriate levels of insurance in place 
• evaluate the success of the activities 
• produce an evaluation report including a review of and evidencing: 
  • the number of events delivered 
  • the number of participants engaged 
  • the number of volunteers involved (if appropriate) 
  • any learning from the project 
  • any outcomes/legacy from the project 
  • the final budget 

About you: 

Vibrant Shropshire is keen to work with individual artists, cultural practitioners, consortia of practitioners, companies or charities. For this brief we are looking for a partnership of at least three cultural partitioners. The proposal should be submitted by one practitioner, on behalf of the partnership, who will be the accountable body. 

To be a lead organisation you must: 

• be registered, constituted or has some form of governance framework.  
• be based in and / or deliver the project in Shropshire (unitary area) 
  • This does not include Telford & Wrekin which is a different local authority 
• be a partner of Vibrant Shropshire. Become a Vibrant Shropshire partner for free here. 
• hold a UK bank account in the name of the entity that they’re applying in  
• have experience delivering similar programmes of activity 
• have a portfolio of work detailing similar cultural activities they have previously delivered 
• either have in place or will have during the life of the project: 
  • appropriate levels of Public Liability Insurance 
  • Safeguarding and Health and Safety Polices 
  • risk assessments for all activities 

You cannot submit a proposal if:  

• your activities do not benefit cultural participants or cultural audiences in Shropshire (unitary area).  
• your activities take place outside of Shropshire local authority area. NB Activities delivered in Telford and Wrekin are not eligible. 
• your activities are not related to culture or do not support the delivery of our priorities  
• you are delivering a political or religious activity 
• you are submitting a proposal for a capital project 

Next Step: 

Please submit a proposal outlining: 

• why you are interested in the commission 
• how your proposal matches the theme of ‘This is Shropshire’ 
• the skills and experience of all members of the delivery team  
  • include all partners that will help deliver the project 
  • an overview of the proposed programme of cultural activity including: 
  • the exact nature of the activities 
  • how your project overcomes barriers to participation in culture and one other priority 
  • the audiences you will work with 
  • where activities will take place 
  • how many: 
    • activity sessions you will run  
    • volunteers you will work with (this is not essential) 
    • participants you hope to engage with (approximately) 
  • a project budget 
• how you will engage with your potential audience and market the opportunities presented by your project 
• contact details for two referees we can approach to comment on your work 
• a website link or PDF document giving examples of your work 

Your application should be no more than 3 sides of A4 paper. 

Please submit your application to culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk 

Please title your email ‘Vibrant Shropshire Partnership Commission Proposal’ 

Please note: Applications in different formats, such as video, will be welcome from applicants with additional access needs. 

Please contact Alice Machin, the Cultural Compact Officer, via email culturalcompact@shropshire.gov.uk to discuss your access needs or if you need any clarification about the application process. 

Timescales: 

• Deadline for applications: Monday 9 June 2025 at 12 noon 
• Application results will be announced by the 20 June 2025 
• Project completion and evaluation must be by 31 December 2025 

Applications will be reviewed by members of the Vibrant Shropshire Board and scored against the following criteria: 

• the quality, creativity and suitability of the programme of activities 50% 
• the experience of the team of running similar projects 10% 
• how closely they align with the project brief 20% 
• how closely the proposal aligns with Vibrant Shropshire’s priorities 10% 
• value for money 10% 

This is a competitive process and only one applicant will be commissioned. 

We will let all candidates know if they have been successful or not. 

This commission is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and administered by Shropshire Council.  

All contracts will be managed by Shropshire Council.  

If this brief is not for you, check out- ‘This is Shropshire’ £5k Commissions 

If you have a smaller arts or cultural project that you are looking to fund. Please consider our series of £5,000 commission briefs which are available for targeted cultural activity throughout Shropshire. Find out more about the commissions by clicking here. 

Please note: whilst you are welcome to submit a proposal for the £5,000 and the £15,000 commissions, it is not possible to be awarded multiple commissions.