Photo Credit: Luke Jerram's Gaia. Gloucester Culture Trust.
How can we work together to shape Gloucester’s cultural future? We’d really like your help to answer this question - because who knows better what the city should be prioritising and investing in than the people of Gloucester?
It is time to write a new Cultural Strategy for Gloucester.
The ambition for the new strategy is that it captures, supports and develops the creative energy of the city. We also want a strategy where you could remove every mention of the word Gloucester, and we would still recognise it as Gloucester’s cultural strategy. It needs to be Gloucester, through and through, like a stick of rock.
That is where you come in.
We’re inviting you to join us for the day at Gloucester Guildhall on Wednesday 30th April to imagine the future, and kickstart the process of developing the strategy. There will undoubtedly be more conversations and consultation to follow; however, this event and your involvement will be key to setting us off in the right direction.
Why do we need a (new) Cultural Strategy?
In 2016, Gloucester’s first ever ten-year Cultural Vision and Strategy was born. It set out ambitions for the city’s cultural offer and a plan for how they would be achieved. It has been instrumental to so many things, from the creation of Gloucester Culture Trust (GCT) and establishing a creative community in Kings House through JOLT and The Music Works to the growth in public investment in the city’s cultural sector, particularly from Arts Council England. Having a strategy has enabled lots of brilliant things to take place in the city from Gloucester Goes Retro to Kings Jam Festival.
2016 feels like a lifetime ago – so, as you’d hope and expect most of what that first strategy aimed to achieve has happened – or is ongoing and on track. It has done a good job for us, but we don’t want that to stop at the end of 2026, when the strategy ends. We want the cultural sector to continue to thrive, and for the people of Gloucester to be proud and supportive of what is happening in the city and in communities.
What do we mean by culture?
We mean the sum total of all of our creativity. If you’re an artist, or a producer, if you have ever exhibited work or produced a creative project, been to gig at a Gloucester venue; if you’ve met friends and shared food and stories; if you’ve ever danced, or sung, or created something either by yourself or with others then we really want you to share your thoughts and dreams with us, so that we can create a cultural strategy that enables Gloucester to continue to be a brilliant place to live, work, play and visit.
So…
How can we be sure our cultural programmes and audiences are representative of our diverse communities – that we are genuinely inclusive at our core?
How can I get paid to do the creative thing that I love, in the place I love?
How can we create more opportunities and routes for young people to pursue creative careers in our city?
How can we make more space for cultural events and activities to happen?
How can culture connect people to the place where they live?
And in your dreams, what is your ambition for Gloucester and its cultural sector?
You may well have read all of this and thought to yourself, those are not the questions I want to ask. The brilliant thing about Open Space is that we will co-create the agenda, so you can ask and discuss any question or topic you want. Read on below.
What is an Open Space event?
This conversation will be facilitated by Nick Sweeting who for many years has worked with Improbable, a theatre company who specialise in using a process called Open Space Technology (OST). OST is a simple way for groups of people to think, work and take action together around a shared interest. There is no advance agenda and the conversation will be whatever you make it. You do not have to be there for the whole day, however if you have never experienced Open Space before we advise that you come at the start, when the process will be explained and the agenda is created.
This event is for anyone who lives or works in Gloucester, or would like to, to attend. It’s for anybody interested in culture and Gloucester. It’s for everyone. The connections made, relationships formed and ideas shared at Open Space can be transformative. We hope you will join us and be part of it.
Wed 30 Apr 2025
Tickets: No charge
Time: Doors 9:30, Conference 10am - 5pm