Starting in 2009, we secured responsibility for Creative Partnerships in the East Midlands and rapidly developed a rich portfolio of additional programmes with the MLA, Big Lottery and other funders. This broad and ambitious body of work has given TMC and our partners the opportunity to engage with:
• Over 75,000 children and young people
• Over 350 schools
• Over 5,300 families/parents
• Over 4,500 teachers/creative practitioners
• Over 1,100 participants from community groups
[Source: “Evaluation of The Mighty Creatives”, November 2011, FOCUS]
As many of you will be aware, Creative Partnerships came to an end in the Autumn of 2011, concluding £6.9m of investment in the region’s schools and creative economy between 2009 and 2012. At our recent “Creative & Connected” open space event in Derby, delegates asked the question: “Was Creative Partnerships worth it?” The answer appears to be: “Creative Partnerships was definitely worth it! But we collectively want to ensure that the legacy is accessible and the knowledge and learning is not lost.” Now that we have undertaken the complex task of closing this world-leading programme, we will turn our focus on its legacy, evidence and impact.
But we have needed to secure and change TMC first.
In 2011, we were successful in securing Arts Council England’s new Bridge role, joining Arts Council’s national portfolio to help meet its goal of ensuring every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts and culture. Starting on 1st April 2012, we will work with artists, arts and cultural organisations to help develop their work with children and young people to ensure more children and young people experience the benefits of the arts. In order to get ready for this position, we have worked with Arts Council and our development partners, Arts Learning East Midlands, to agree what needs to be done. We have also needed to restructure our organisation, resulting in a number of loved and valued colleagues leaving TMC in 2012.
Preparation for the Bridge starts now with a period of fact-finding, intelligence gathering and analysis about the state of the arts in the region and what the priorities should be for enabling broader, deeper and higher quality access for more children and young people. Karen Birch will be leading this work as our new Programme Director and will be communicating with our partners very soon about these initiatives and opportunities.
Alongside our Bridge building work, TMC will also pursue Planet TMC, our business strategy focused on young people’s creativity in all its forms. 2012 will see us making a significant contribution to the Cultural Olympiad through somewhereto_, Journals, Big Dance, Dress the World and WEYA. We will also advocate for young people’s participation in enterprise through our work on the Bank of TMC, provide vocational training through Mobile TMC and promote the new Social Enterprise Qualification. Our work with learning settings continues through collaboration with a number of school clusters across the region and the direct delivery of services in Nottinghamshire and Northwest Leicestershire. And our commitment to empowering young people to make positive change happen strengthens through the launch of our MyWorld platform and associated leadership programmes.
If we had a New Year’s resolution, it would be twofold: to help more children and young people influence our organisation; and, to establish stronger collaborations with our many partners in the region and beyond. Despite the challenges around us, our combined passions can deliver even greater results for children and young people in 2012. And that isn’t a bad way to start the year.
Richard Clark
Chief Executive, The Mighty Creatives
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