This report updates the Committee on the activity and outcomes delivered in year two of Reading, Place of Culture and outlines plans for the final year of the programme, the current partnership working arrangements and indicative plans for the future.

Further to Minute 24 of the meeting held on 13 March 2019, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing an updated on the activity and outcomes delivered in year two of ‘Reading, Place of Culture’, which ran from December 2018 to December 2019.  The report also outlined plans for the final year of the programme, December 2019 - December 2020, the current partnership working arrangements and indicative plans for the future.

The report detailed the projects that had been delivered and commissioned in Year 2, including:

·                The culmination of the first three commissioned programmes (June 2018-June 2019);

·                The commissioning of three more programmes, funded for a total of £75,000 – including £30,000 ‘partner’ funding from Berkshire Community Foundation and Brighter Futures for Children – to be delivered July 2019 – July 2020;

·                The commissioning of three final programmes, for a total of £70,000, with match funding from Berkshire Community Foundation and Brighter Futures for Children once again.

·                Two Ageing Well Pilot programmes which explored the barriers faced by older people when accessing Arts Culture and Heritage.

·                A Young People’s Mental Health Pilot to explore how the sector could meet the needs of young people with mental health issues.

·                Rosetta Life were delivering a dance, music and spoken word project for long term conditions such as living with the effects of stroke, dementia or Parkinson’s to widen the approach for living well with neurological disability;

·                Reading Rep, Jelly and other partners were delivering theatre for young people with SEND to develop confidence and independence, develop skills and decrease social isolation;

·                Sport In Mind and Junction Dance were working with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, schools and community settings to use dance in the treatment, management and prevention of mental illness.

·                Mustard Tree, Real Time and Cranbury College were delivering a creative employment project based around film for young people with SEND to build confidence and key skills;

·                Alana House, Rahab and Reading Rep were delivering theatre for women at risk to enhance communication and conflict resolution skills;

·                Age UK Berkshire and Museum of English Rural Life were delivering a storytelling and reminiscence project for older people at risk of loneliness and social isolation to improve wellbeing.

The report also set out the Year three commissions which focused on creating a sustainable legacy of the scheme with the following plans:

·         Deliver year two and three cultural commissions and their associated action research, data collection, social impact measurement and case studies;

·         Further training to upskill the sector; e.g. RBC had commissioned MB Associates to deliver evaluation and social impact measurement training for the cultural commissions; RBC were bringing CC Skills to Reading for creative employment training for cultural organisations working with children and young people;

·         Deliver a conference aimed at local cross-sector organisations and commissioners to take place in November 2020 to disseminate learning from the research and commissioning strands;

·         Following research carried out by the Whitley Researchers and feedback from grassroots BAME arts culture and heritage organisations, the University would coordinate a BAME grassroots cultural organisation exchange to provide more opportunities for networking, peer support and exchange;

·         Complete Ageing Well pilot programmes and support Cultural Champions to advocate for older people’s engagement;

·         Continue to advocate the role of arts, culture and heritage with commissioners from other sectors, creating and publicising research and case studies to illustrate impact;

·         Set up a Business Ambassadors programme to link more local businesses to the arts culture and heritage sector;

·         Use the Reading Thames Festival as a transition to prepare for a larger celebratory year in 2021.  This would support Reading’s existing festivals and provide them with an infrastructure, which was sustainable beyond this grant funding;

·         Expand the Young Researchers programme to three new schools in Reading;

·         Build on the existing partnerships that had been developed organically, to create a strategic cultural development partnership for Reading that focused on supporting the development and growth of the arts, culture and heritage sector in Reading.

Lara Stavrinou, Culture Development Officer, gave a presentation that provided further details on the delivery of the second full year of the programme and the proposals and plans for year three.

Resolved –

(1)     That the progress made in delivering ‘Reading, Place of Culture’ in its second year, be noted;

(2)     That the proposals to further develop the programme of work in the third and final year of delivery as set out in section 5 of the report be noted.