£399,000 Arts Council England funding secured for Staines 

Transforming local arts provision & increasing creative career pathways for young people 

A new place-based partnership, including Surrey County Council, Spelthorne Borough Council, Ashford Youth Club and Artswork, have been successful in securing £399,000 from Arts Council England towards a new ‘Culture Hub’ in Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey.  

The two-year project aims to bridge the gap between creative education and employment in the area and create a step change in how young people design, engage with, work in and enjoy culture in the community. 

Using Staines’ new flagship Surrey County Council library, which is set to open in Spring/ Summer 2025, the Staines Culture Hub, will establish a programme of creative activities and performances, in partnership with a wide range of organisations. The programme will provide accessible pathways into the arts, support improved wellbeing and contribute to the cultural, social and economic growth in the area.  

Project highlights include: 

• Establishment of a regular Youth Collective of 10 – 18-year-olds to gain experience in leadership, event production, arts programming and design 

• Bespoke training for library staff and young people by Artswork, to support youth led delivery of events 

• A 22-month programme of library events engaging over 1,000 young people in creative taster sessions and short courses 

• Arts performances and a workshop programme across the wider Spelthorne area, including £1-2k for commissions from local emerging artists  

• Schools programme partnering 10 schools and settings with creative organisations to engage 1,650 children and young people through co-designed arts activities.  

The Culture Hub programme has been developed to address needs identified in the Surrey County Council Community Vision, Health and Wellbeing Strategy, Surrey Skills plan, Spelthorne Borough Council Corporate Plan and Surrey County Council Libraries and Cultural Strategy. It has also been informed by Spelthorne Borough Council and Ashford Youth Club’s Kick-Start Your Creativity programme and their respective Arts & Culture and Youth Surveys.  

In these surveys 59% of children and young people in Spelthorne felt they were not asked their opinion on local arts, and 69% felt they would do more activity if it was available.  

The project will build on the Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival which took place in Staines-upon-Thames and Redhill in 2023, which delivered 30+ activities, by over 25 organisations, engaging 1295 young people. This year’s festival will take place in Camberley on 1^st & 2^nd November 2024 and will return to Staines-upon-Thames in 2025.  

In addition to the funding from Arts Council England, the project has received match funding, and in-kind support from Spelthorne Borough Council, Artswork, Surrey County Council and other organisations, bringing the total value of the project to over £500,000. 

Mira, a budding film maker in Staines age 14, said: “Creative Arts projects to be funded provide a safe environment for us young people to be involved in the creative world. They will help jumpstart our future careers options and let us try different areas. They will provide us with entertaining activities and we hope to learn skills that we don’t even know we need.  We recently had a flavour of this through a funded film making project which opened opportunities for 30 local young people – this new funding can only expand such opportunities to many more. Love that they want to involve us in the planning!!!” 

Denise Turner-Stewart Deputy Leader of Surrey County Council and Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities said: “In Surrey we believe that culture, heritage and creativity are essential to our county’s prosperity and wellbeing and that cultural activities can greatly improve our quality of life.  We welcome this investment in The Culture Hub, which will expose young people to the possibility of skills and employment within this sector, hopefully inspiring them to continue their employment journey within arts and culture and ensuring we have future arts provision in the county for the benefit of all. There is a strong appetite locally for this wonderful cultural offer and the opportunities, pleasure and joy that this project will bring to the young people of Spelthorne.” 

Surrey County Council will lead the partnership through Culture Box Surrey, the Counties Local Cultural Education Partnership, which aims to facilitate a vibrant cultural offer across the County that all children and young people can access. To keep up to date with activities taking place as part of the Staines Culture Hub programme, visit www.cultureboxsurrey.org.uk.