Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Mair George, Villages in Action.

Mair George, Creative Director, Villages in Action explained that Villages in Action (VIA) had been in existence for over 30 years.  It was an arts charity working across rural Devon.  There was a small team of four part time workers – the Creative Director, two producers and a finance manager.  Since 2021 VIA had embarked on a new journey to shift the way that rural touring in Devon was thought about, with a network of volunteer promotors and co-curators, re-imagining how and why towns and villages engaged with culture, and opening up the way that rural communities enjoyed and grew new creative opportunities.  The aim was to strengthen the voice of towns and villages in both hosting and creating work that reflected changing communities in the wider world.  This was done by growing a network of locally rooted co-curators who imagined and shaped new creative projects with VIA, inspired by what their community wanted and needed.  The aim was that over time this culturally driven action network would grow meaningful.  Agriculture was a way of thinking about rural touring differently.

The Creative Director highlighted four main points of VIA work between June to October 2024 and the positive audience and promoter feedback received:

·        Love Riot, by Miracle Theatre at Goran Farm, near Stockland, 28 June 2024.

·        Those in Glass Houses, by Matt Pang and Owen Reynolds at the Strand, Exmouth, 16 August 2024.

·        The Goat Show, by Running Dog Theatre at Farway Village Hall, 6 July 2024.

·        Blind Spot, by Alright Mate? At Awliscombe, Axminster and Exmouth during June 2024.

VIA were most known for their community touring.  Box office income in East Devon had increased, along with the number of performances and attendees.  Overall there was a range of work for all ages across a number of different community spaces with positive feedback received. 

The VIA Creative Director explained that a proposal had been submitted to EDDC for an uplift of £5,000 to support the recruitment of a (Agri) Culture Network Lead (current EDDC funding was £10,000).  The aim was to galvanise the East Devon network - to act as a local support for new promoters and members of the network, offering on the ground support for first-time events, risk assessment and other event management training.   The Network Lead would represent Villages in Action at co-creation meetings with partners, wider networking events, meeting representatives from other organisations to better collaborate, plan and co-design shared projects with a focus on community-based asset development. It would offer paid employment opportunities, and a chance to grow the team in line with the longer-term ambitions to grow the East Devon hub of Villages in Action.

Members of the Forum questioned the Creative Director over whether there would be key performance indicators (KPIs) in place to measure the difference made within the East Devon specifically for the role of a (Agri) Culture Network Lead.  A request was made for more specific details on what value would be added to East Devon from the investment.  The Forum acknowledged the need to measure risk against the impact of health and well being.  The Creative Director replied that she would investigate metrics around audience attendance and who was going to the events, and that she would present annually to the Arts and Culture Forum.

The Creative Director was thanked for an interesting presentation and the great work that was being carried out.