Agenda item

The Forum received a presentation from the Cultural Producer.  The Arts and Culture East Devon (ACED) network met three times a year in person and the most recent meeting had been held on 10 June at Seaton Gateway Theatre.  34 people attended the meeting which was co-chaired by the ACED music champion.  Different speakers were invited to present, including ACED climate change champion, Anne-Marie Culhane on a recent project ‘Overwintering’ on the Exe Estuary that had been successfully delivered and funded through the Creative East Devon Fund.  The ACED network also heard about the new Carbon Action Programme, which community organisations could apply to for equipment that would help decarbonise their buildings.  This built on the learning from last year’s Culture, Leisure and Tourism Fund.  This fund would open in the autumn and a range of other support services would be offered, including a free energy audit to ensure that community organisations were applying for the right type of equipment to be the most energy efficient.

The inaugural ACED volunteer of the year award was given to Colin Trussell, who had been volunteering with Sidmouth Folk Festival for over 30 years.  The plan was for this to become an annual award in order to recognise the importance of volunteers as it would not be possible to deliver the festivals and events in Devon without their support.

The Cultural Producer explained the recently launched ACED mentoring scheme, whereby a young person aged 18 to 30 was paired with an experienced ACED network member who had training in being a mentor.  There were currently 10 mentors signed up to the scheme which was in its pilot phase.  Free training opportunities had also been delivered through the Shared Prosperity Fund including training specific to East Devon museums, training in bid writing, public speaking, producing live events and volunteer recruitment and retention.  The next training opportunity, which was free to ACED members was equality, diversity and inclusion co-ordinated by the Thelma Hulbert Gallery.

There were now 174 ACED members, which represented a 54% increase in membership since November 2023.  This increase was in part due to ACED membership being essential for eligibility in applying to the Creative East Devon Fund.  This fund was designed to provide discretionary financial support to local art and culture initiatives and projects that demonstrated a commitment to developing the East Devon Cultural Strategy.  Creative projects could apply for up to £3,000.  The scheme was funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

The Cultural Producer reported that she had been working on some projects around theme two of the Cultural Strategy: protecting and enhancing the natural environment.  The objective was to establish East Devon as an innovator and regional beacon of culture-led environmental protection, enhancement and activism.  The Cultural Producer was working closely with Exmouth Festival on action 2.2 of theme two – to improve the environmental practices of the district’s cultural festivals to establish them as leaders in sustainable event management.  Those involved were looking forward to sharing the learnings from this once the event had taken place as it was thought that it could be a really useful blueprint for other event organisers to take actions to lower the carbon footprints of these types of events.

The Forum also considered the report on an Arts Council bid of approximately £30,000 relating to theme 2.1.2 in the cultural strategy, to work with local museums and South West Museums Development to engage in national conversations about the climate crisis and enable displays of natural science and biodiversity collections in East Devon’s museums.  It was noted that funding bids to the Arts Council continued to be extremely competitive, with around one in ten applications being successful.  A bid was also being submitted for the Thelma Hulbert Gallery to continue the success of its current programme, engaging young people with the gallery space, with particular focus on EDI and climate.

The Vice Chair thanked the Cultural Producer for her inspiring presentation and report and commented on the extraordinary commitment that volunteers across East Devon had made to its cultural landscape.

The Assistant Director – Countryside and Leisure highlighted how EDDC’s Culture Strategy, which was only two years old, was beginning to lead some interesting thinking across the county.  He thanked the Cultural Producer and other officers involved for their hard work in getting funding into grassroots organisations and utilising the enthusiasm, expertise and knowledge within East Devon’s communities.

RESOLVED:  that the Arts and Culture Forum note and support the two funding bids to the Arts Council to support the Thelma Hulbert Gallery and East Devon museums.