GRANT FROM THE Linbury Trust ENABLES Create to expand access TO CREATIVITY in the North West
I am delighted to announce that The Linbury Trust has awarded Create a grant of £150,000 over three years to support the expansion of our work in the North West of England (NW) and beyond between 2024 and 2027. This incredible grant will enable us to extend our programme, taking the power of creativity to increasing numbers of those children and adults in the region who need it most.
Expanding our reach in the NW, a region with multiple areas of high deprivation and low arts engagement, is a key strategic objective for Create. Since launching our Manchester hub in 2021, we have increased our work there, with 21% of all Create workshops now taking place across the NW region.
On awarding the grant, Stuart Hobley, Director of The Linbury Trust, commented: “We’re pleased to be supporting Create and its programme in the North West, working with local people and artists to encourage and excite involvement in a wide range of creativity, and the deep, lasting value arts can play in everyday life.”
THE NEED IN THE NORTH WEST
Create’s NW hub is enabling us to access many areas in the first and second most deprived deciles according to the Multiple Deprivation Indices. Having a presence in the region makes it possible for us to deliver our entire portfolio of projects in the area (as it does in London) in the most cost-effective, efficient way. It also provides high quality work to professional artists across the region.
Since launching our hub, we have established partnerships with 20 organisations across the region, delivering 602 workshops. These have reached 1,015 disadvantaged participants, positively impacting local communities.
Key relationships include Dementia Friendly Festival, Manchester City Council, Manchester Literature Festival and a wide range of community organisations, including mainstream/SEND schools; young/adult carer services; older people’s day centres; a prison; and an adolescent psychiatric hospital. We launched a new project with children looked after in April 2024.
“A participant made a comment at the end of the project that her family had commented on how much more relaxed and happy she appeared to be after the workshops, which took her mind off other difficult things in her life.”
Partner service staff
how grants are making a difference
“Before the project, I got stressed easily and I didn’t know what to do, but now I am calmer. This has really helped my stress recovery.” “I don’t have many opportunities to be creative, so I enjoyed doing it here.”
Participant
The grant from The Linbury Trust will contribute substantially to our continued expansion in the region, giving increasing numbers of vulnerable children and adults the opportunity to use the creative arts to build skills, make connections and enhance their wellbeing.
In addition, the funding will enable us to recruit further experienced professional artists to our diverse pool across a range of artforms. From 2025, it will also support an emerging artist in the NW to take part in our professional development programme, Nurturing Talent, giving them the skills and confidence to lead workshops in challenging community settings.
Our sincerest thanks to The Linbury Trust for investing in our participants, our professional artists and our key strategic aim of expanding creative arts access across the North West. We are excited about this important new partnership.
Nicky Goulder ~ Founding Chief Executive
PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIES
Our participants’ stories speak volumes about the life-changing effects of our programmes:
