Local Cultural Education Partnerships

Fusion, Barnsley’s Local Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP), is about to embark on an ambitious programme to elevate the partnership to a new level by providing capacity to drive the delivery of strategy that strengthens and embeds links with the borough’s education sector and realises our goal of firmly embedding youth voice at the heart of the partnership. Fusion is developing a network of Creativity Champions across primary schools in Barnsley who will advocate for arts and culture in their school. This will support the further development of Artsmark and Arts Award and ensure the growth of the partnership as well as feeding into the strategic development of the Festival of Joy – Barnsley’s first ever festival for children and young people.

Fusion is also developing an approach that puts youth voice at its core. The ambition is to develop a strong, clear voice in the strategic development of the arts and cultural offer in Barnsley and work to unite organisations working with children and young across the borough. This major new strand of work will improve Fusion’s two-way conversation with young people and embed youth voice in the partnership through the development of a digital platform a place where CYP can showcase their work and engage in two-way conversation with Fusion’s network of artists and cultural practitioners. This exciting development will be co-created with CYP and will provide an increased digital presence that will develop opportunities, both in and out of school, for young people who face the greatest barriers to arts and cultural opportunities.

For more information please contact Sara Mair (saramair@barnsley.gov.uk).

Currently Bradford LCEP is devising a new action plan in alignment with Bradford’s bid for City of Culture 2025 and the eight ambitions driving the district’s new 10 year cultural strategy Culture is Our Plan (2020 – 2030).

2020 saw the partnership deliver IVE’s Bags of Creativity scheme working with the social care team, 18 local creative practitioners and organisations to deliver 1000 bags containing creative activities and resources to households known to have little or no internet provision.  The LCEP has also supported Aspire i-Gen to make a successful bid to secure European funds to work with six other European cities (Bradford as the lead) to develop a handbook on best practices in cultural activity engagement across Europe, a cultural offer digital platform and a repository for place based curriculums.

This year the LCEP will focus on advocacy, skills development and a Bradford curriculum.  The partnership is chaired by Nathan Kelly, Head of Department of Arts, Education, Digital and Allied Health Professions at Bradford College

For more information or to join one of the groups then please contact Madeleine Irwin (madeleine@weareive.org).

Calderdale LCEP launched as a consortium, managed by The Creative Learning Guild, in October 2018 following a consultation and visioning exercise with the sector. Due to the winding up of the Creative Learning Guild and in the light of the impact of COVID-19, Calderdale LCEP is regrouping. IVE is currently working with the Governance Group to recruit an LCEP Associate who will lead on governance, strategy and planning in line with the outcomes previously agreed by members.

For further information or to join the mailing list, please contact Lisa Turney (lisa.turney@weareive.org)

The DCEP has developed an active and broad membership since 2016 and is embedded into local authority structures. It reports to the Doncaster Growing Together Arts & Culture Programme Board, which is helping to achieve Doncaster’s borough strategy. The work of the DCEP is responding Doncaster’s Culture Strategy to connect all people in Doncaster with great arts and culture.

The partnership is in receipt of partnership investment funds and employs a part-time cultural education manager. They are driving its plans to analyse and identify creative education cold spots to create parity of services across the borough. They aim to identify and develop teachers or school leaders to become arts champions and instigate activities that promote and raise awareness of cultural careers. Additionally, they strive to build pathways for young people to develop and progress their creativity and career aspirations.

For more information, please Website: doncastercep.org.uk

To get in touch, please contact Stevie Cairns (stevie@castindoncaster.com)

Following a recent Audience Agency led review of arts & cultural provision in East Riding this partnership is now revising plans to improve the creative and cultural offer in the region and to  develop strong communication and signposting to improve access for children and young people.

To get involved in the East Riding LCEP, please contact Nicola Dixon (nicola.dixon@eastriding.gov.uk).

The partnership has recently evolved to become Generation Hull. Generation Hull was the legacy vision from City of Culture to engage children and young people with culture in the city. The Generation Hull Steering Group has now merged with the LCEP to create a broader strategic group. It’s also working to tie together priorities and strategic aims from various groups in order to create a more efficient cross-city approach.

During the summer of 2020, Generation Hull worked with IVE to distribute Bags of Creativity, raising funds to issue an additional 1000 bags across the region to support creativity in children and young people. Their priority now is to formulate a strong Action Plan for the future direction of the LCEP.

To join the Hull LCEP, please contact please contact Lisa Wedgner (hello@generationhull.com).

Evoke has improved visibility of and participation in the arts and cultural offer for young people through collaborative work on Our Brilliant Roadshow, Our Biennale Festival, YARN and Woven Festival.

Evoke now has a physical footprint in central Huddersfield thanks to the Children’s Art School’s pop-up Maker World in the Piazza. Evoke successfully applied for Partnership Investment (PI) funding in 2019 and appointed its first Network Manager in early 2020. This post is funded by the PI to build capacity and enable Evoke to expand its scope. This includes developing Evoke’s Creative Health and Creative Careers strands alongside its wider cultural offer.

Website: evokekirklees.org 

Twitter: @CulturalEvoke

To join Evoke, please contact Greg Bond, Network Manager (greg@evokekirklees.org)

Established in September 2017, LeedsCEP brings together a diverse and growing membership of more than 50 organisations from the arts, cultural and education sectors which cover all geographical areas of Leeds, providing a collective voice within the city to ensure every child and young person in Leeds has access to high-quality arts and cultural education.

In 2020 LeedsCEP and LEEDS 2023 formed a partnership to ensure that children and young people are at the heart of the city’s landmark year of culture. LeedsCEP was awarded partnership investment in 2020, which funds a full-time Children and Young People’s Partnership Manager, who joined Leeds 2023 in January 2021. This role takes a strategic lead on developing LeedsCEP alongside growing Leeds 2023’s partnerships with schools and other organisations working with children and young people in Leeds. LeedsCEP is developing a delivery plan, co-created with members through a series of workshops, against our priorities: Advocacy & Access, Youth Voice, Skills & Progression and Health & Well-being. We have been successful in getting funding through the University of Leeds to support a Communications Intern and are looking to develop opportunities for youth voice within the CEP. For 2022 we are working towards a Youth Summit and developing partnership clusters to develop school activity aligned to LEEDS 2023 as well as developing work around place-making and 15 minute neighbourhoods.

Website: artformsleeds.co.uk/networks/leeds-cultural-education-partnership/

Twitter: @LeedsCEP

For further information about LeedsCEP, please contact Kathryn Welford, Children and Young People’s Partnership Manager at Leeds 2023 (kathrynwelford@leeds2023.co.uk)

North East Lincolnshire has a highly engaged group of people – ready to move the partnership into its next phase. Over the last couple of years, one to one work with partners has been taking place to build a picture of the landscape and to ensure the partnership forms a sustainable model and structure. In parallel, many wider positive developments in North East Lincs have created a new energy and strengthened relationships.

The Cultural Development Fund award to the area, the exciting Kasbah redevelopment, and North East Lincolnshire’s new arts strategy role will strengthen the cultural scene, and offer an even wider base and foundation on which to build a partnership.

To find out more or to get involved, please contact James Trowsdale (James.Trowsdale@nelincs.gov.uk)

The North Yorkshire Cultural Education Partnership (NYCEP) unites diverse, county-wide, cross-sector partners working with children and young people (CYP). Their co-created vision is to realise the potential and support the mental health and wellbeing of all CYP in North Yorkshire, guided by principles of community engagement, equality, diversity and inclusion, and youth voice. Their ambition is that Partnership Investment from IVE will grow the partnership over the next three years and build future sustainability.

To find out more or get involved please contact Christine Rostron – North Yorkshire Cultural Education Partnership Manager (christine@hello-arcade.com)

Imagine Rotherham has a vibrant cross sector board with representatives from education, arts and culture, voluntary and community and the local authority. Schools are at the heart of the ambitions of Imagine Rotherham, who aim to create an LCEP that is truly child-led and young people arts-friendly. In partnership with Rotherham School Improvement Service (RoSIS) and IVE, over 40 Rotherham schools are going through their Artsmark journey together. Teachers from the schools regularly attend an IVE led peer learning network and CPD sessions are on offer for teachers.

The LCEP is also part of Rotherham’s plan to become the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture in 2025.

For more information, please contact Emma Mathew Aspinall (emma@imaginerotherham.com)

COAST are now working to support Scarborough Borough Council in the delivery of their new Cultural Strategy, prioritising the provision of creative and cultural activity for children, young people and communities across the borough. COAST are also focusing on the development of their governance structures and membership to ensure effective and sustainable delivery of their strategic priorities and increasing accessibility and support to the cultural sector.

For further information, please contact Jaye Lewis (jaye.lewis@sjt.uk.com)

In 2019 the partnership became Create Sheffield, a company limited by guarantee, and in May 2020 was awarded charitable status. Create Sheffield was awarded partnership investment in 2019. Through that investment it employs a Programme Manager and an Administrator who both work 3 days a week.

The partnership action plan has enabled it to develop its website, gather city-wide data from schools in Sheffield, develop a membership offer for arts & cultural partners and a Special Schools creativity network. With additional support from IVE, 31 Sheffield schools have signed up to Artsmark and plan to go through their journey together over the next two years. Two of its key ambitions are to establish Sheffield Adventures, a series of activities for young people to explore the city, and City of Young Makers will allow Create Sheffield to identify limited provision across the city, and to assist with filling these gaps.

For updates, sign up to the monthly newsletter on the bottom of the website homepage: createsheffield.co.uk

Twitter: @CreateSheff

Facebook: @CreateSheffieldAdventures

Instagram: @createsheffield

For further info about Create Sheffield, please contact Daina Heaton (daina@createsheffield.co.uk).

SPARK Wakefield is supported by a steering group made up of representatives from; The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield Museums and Libraries, The Theatre Royal Wakefield, Wakefield Music Education Hub, The National Coal Mining Museum, Long Division Festival, Wakefield College, Yew Tree Youth Theatre.

For the past two years, SPARK Wakefield has delivered the youth-led literature festival, Wakefield Lit Fest. The festival is co-created with local young people and the learning from this has been widely disseminated. It has led to a new and ambitious work to put co-creation at the heat of its strategy and delivery; it will also support partners to embed youth voice across their organisations.

For more information or to join the mailing list, please contact Rachel Newman (racheln@weareive.org).

REACH has like all LCEPs had a torrid time over the last two years but working with IVE, UNESCO Creative Cities, The University of York and York St John University the Partnership has produced two sets of Bags of Creativity, Doodle Books and taken part in Drawing with Denmark. We have reached over 5000 of the most disadvantaged and hard to reach children and young people in the City. We have also become the delivery partner for the children and young people section of York’s Creative Future, the City’s new cultural strategy. However, we recognise that we have more to do to ensure the sustainability of REACH going forward and we are working with IVE to secure Partnership Investment to build capacity and further develop the strong partnership that exists in the City.

The partnership has a new Steering Group, we have revised and further developed our strategic plan and activity plan and through the PI investment we are looking to recruit a REACH Manager, and working with a small group of target schools we aim to pilot Cultural and Creative Champions in schools working with Cultural and Creative Leaders from the Partnership and developing Cultural and Creative Ambassadors to ensure that the voice of young people drives our work going forward. We are also working to develop a digital hub, working closely with ‘Make it York’, which would become a ’One Stop Shop’ providing a co-ordinated offer across the City.

For more information and to join REACH, York LCEP, please contact Allison Freeman (allison.freeman@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk).