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The People
KindleCo successfully bid to Arts Council England’s work for the DfE and DCMS, to design and deliver a sector-level stakeholder consultation, along with a brief to develop potential new organisational models, to help shape the future of the Government’s “Creative Partnerships” Schools initiative in the South East region.
The Challenge
To provide an exit strategy for the end of this centrally-run Government programme both for the sponsoring agency, Arts Council England, Arts Council, England South East, and the multitude of strategic and operations partners engaged in the Programme since inception. Sectors engaged were Arts, Culture and Creative Industries, Tourism and Audience Development, Economic Development, Learning & Skills and Business support. The project ran over 9 months in 2005/6 and engaged regional public agencies, local authorities, organisations, artists of all disciplines (music, dance, visual and more) and importantly, 100s of schools in the four Creative Partnership locations and their individual regional Directors in Hampshire / Isle of White, Slough, Hastings and Margate.
My Response
Leading a small Team of specialists, recruited bespoke for this project, I set out by agreeing ans sharing a core aim for the contract, of making every action work towards helping to ensure a legacy for the investment the Government and all the programme participants, had made in it through not just funding, but time an, passion and engagement. It was important to me, to make my values live through the contract work in support of the contracting agency to ensure the programme’s end -beneficiaries (Teachers, Artists and Children & Young People themselves) would benefit long after the centrally- run programme ended in the region.
Key deliverables included: successful completion of regional consultation with high levels of participation across all major stakeholder groups; formulation of a route map for lead agencies to follow through the exit phase and beyond as a transition bridge to the future; researched, and establish financial tolerances in potential business models; scoping of future potential operational partner types and shared mission.
The Success
In short, KindleCo provided a clear structure on which to hang next steps for the regional Directors and contracting organisation (ACE South East) to move forward with, thus providing momentum for all stakeholders and helping to safeguard a return on investment for public funds.
KindleCo worked extensively across the region to bring the education, learning, culture, business and economic development communities together in an integrated approach to support the creative learning infrastructure for children & young people in schools. With multiple stakeholders, KindleCo worked with the national programmes four regional leaders to generated models of how best to grow Creative Partnerships beyond its original constituencies.
To see an example of outcomes of the recommendations KindleCo generated for this project, visit: http://www.cultureshift.org.uk
We helped build relationships that continue to the present day!
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