National Programmes
RECENT
Delivered by Clare Thurman, Richard Watts, Zara Rush, Annette Corbett, Michele Taylor, Sandeep Mahal, Vicki Igbokwe
people make it work has developed a programme, funded by Arts Council England, to support a national movement of Cultural Education Partnerships to connect, learn and reimagine their future role collectively. With 162 participants and 97 CEPs represented, this marks the first national gathering of these place based partnerships and has been entirely co-created with the participants themselves and with Bridge Organisations, recognising the ecology of cultural learning provision across the UK.
The programme is entirely subsidised for those taking part and over a 8 month period there are 6 core workshops and 8 elective Action Topic sessions. In response to the needs of the CEPs topics include Evaluation, Diversity, Fundraising, Governance and Strategic Partnerships. As a thread running through the programme and the focus of the final report we are exploring and rearticulating the role, purpose and future shape of Cultural Education Partnerships in England.
RECENT
Delivered by Clare Doherty, David Micklem, Richard Watts, Zara Rush, Shreela Ghosh, Gregory Nash, Vicki Igbokwe, Michele Taylor, Annette Corbett, Sandeep Mahal, Hardish Virk, Judith Knight, Thanh Sinden, Becca Pelly-Fry, Samenua Sesher, Raidene Carter, Anisa Morridadi, Claire Antrobus and Mimi Findley
people make it work identified a need for a development programme to enable cultural producers to explore what is needed now – their own version of relevance – during this time of change (Covid, Race inequity, Climate Emergency, Let’s Create, Economic uncertainty) and created the Culture Reset programme during the summer of 2020. Designed as an urgent programme to reimagine the future of arts and culture, and with £100,000 funding from Gulbenkian Foundation to contribute to it’s £150,000 cost (the remainder coming from people make it work funds and colleagues’ time) the programme was insitigated by Richard and designed by Claire Doherty and David Micklem.
It was delivered by a wonderful team of facilitators and included an 8 week process, commissioned resources – videos and podcasts – a cohort structure and an immersive experience. We had nearly 1,000 applications in 10 days when the programme was announced and 192 people took part in the process, free of fees. 50% of participants were freelance, more than 25% identified as black or from a minority or minorities community, more that 17% identified as disabled and the programme was fully captioned, signed and responsive to access requirements as they emerged. Highlighted by many cultural leaders as a standout feature of 2020, we are proud of the response and depth of impact the programme achieved. The resources and process can be accessed on the website at
CURRENT
Delivered by Clare Thurman, Richard Watts, Zara Rush, Annette Corbett, Vicki Igbokwe, Sandeep Mahal, Kamaljit Poonia
people make it work is one of many partners working with Jerwood Arts to deliver the 4th edition of the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries programme. The programme supports 50 salaried jobs in arts and cultural organisations across the UK, for individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds. We work in collaboration with the Jerwood Arts team to develop the programme with a particular role in leading the Organisational Development strand that supports and enables organisations to lead change in relation to inclusive practice as well as a Professional Development programme for Fellows as they start their new roles with the organisations.
Each host organisation has committed 2 senior team members and 1 trustee to the OD programme, which includes 16 workshops delivered over a 12 month period. As with all of our programmes, there is a strong focus on peer learning and our belief in the principle that ‘we are all experts’.
RECENT
Delivered by Richard Watts, Laura Twemlow
Change Creation, our second programme, now in it’s second year is working with 45 organisations of different scale and art form across the UK to lead and embed lasting change.
In 2020 the programme adapted to provide urgent support for organisations facing uncertain futures, focussing on iterative business planning, social injustice and inclusion, new working practices, income and value, and understanding and meeting emerging audience needs in a changed environment. Alongside this shift in the curriculum we have evolved the model to adapt to online delivery, noticing that organisations needed new ways to connect and build peer relationships, more support 1:1 support, a change in pace, a broader range of opportunities to engage with the programme.
Despite the challenges being faced across the sector, we’ve supported and witnessed some incredible change leadership across the cohort – Bristol Beacon’s transformational promises, capital development programmes shaped around community needs, bold shifts in power and inclusion, the remodelling of organisations with ambitious and relevant business plans, new programmes of work reaching new and international audiences.
We are therefore confident in the revised approach and model for Change Creation, a peer based leadership programme. Our learning, particularly from the last 12 months, will shape the development of future programmes.
CURRENT
Delivered by Richard Watts, Tam Kaur (within the Trust) and Vicki Igbokwe
people make it work was asked to co-develop a Transforming Leadership bid to ACE with the City of Culture Trust, and is now the delivery partner for the Coventry City of Culture Leadership Programme. The cohort of 15 City Leaders who have or are experiencing barriers to accessing or progressing in the Cultural Sector are paid to be part of this 18 month long programme. We have co-created a curriculum for the programme that combines shared and individual objectives. The group reflect the city and come from all artforms, areas of Coventry, levels of expertise, ages and backgrounds. Many of the group have characteristics that are under represented in the sector including being disabled, having mental health conditions, being neuro-diverse and having a migrant experience. The programme was to be delivered within a co-working hub that we rented (which remains empty) and now runs within a virtual model.
Together with speakers including Alan Lane, Hannah Pool, Anisa Morridadi, Dave Moutrey, Kully Thiarai, Patrick Fox, Parminder Dosanjh, Suzanne Alleyne, Chenine Bhathena Judith Knight and Sandeep Mahal, they have a programme of learning, shaped by them, that will enable them to Lead the City in the future. The programme is co-ordinated by Tam Kaur who is in our team but sits within the trust and Vicki Igbokwe has recently joined our team to provide individual support and development for the cohort.