Cross artform

About £3.9m has been awarded to increase volunteering opportunities in the sector.

Arts and culture organisations received most of the grants distributed by Arts Council England from the £4.6m Volunteering Futures Fund on Wednesday (April 13).

Beneficiaries included Bureau Centre for the Arts in Blackburn and Darwen, which will roll out a new two-year volunteering programme, Redcar's Festival of Thrift, which plans to collaborate with 12 partners on volunteer recruitment, and a consortia of local organisations led by Barnsley Museums.

The 19 lead organisations being funded are expected to work with more than 160 partners.

Just two grants have gone to London-based organisations, with eight given to awardees in the North of England.

A newly-formed entertainment industry taskforce will assess the social and cultural impact of its content.

The Entertainment Industries Taskforce on Social Impact includes representatives from the BBC, Meta, Netflix and Spotify and is convened by global charity OKRE.

OKRE Director Iain Dodgeon says the taskforce seeks to understand and build on the real-world impact of engaging with entertainment content.

“Real change is measurable change, and this is an important step towards demonstrating the breadth of social and cultural impacts that entertainment content can have.”

The announcement coincides with the launch of the OKRE Summit, a new annual event bringing together the entertainment and charity sectors to advance cross-sector collaboration.

The first summit will take place in London on June 15.

Middlesbrough has set its sights on becoming the UK’s most creative town after investing £5m in cultural development.

The town secured £4.25m from the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, which will be topped up by match funding.

Financed projects expected to create almost 90 jobs include a fabrication laboratory within the Central Library and a £1m renovation of artists' space the Auxiliary. 

During the developments, Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership will rotate its chair to ensure equitable representation and pay every artist involved in the works.
    
Middlesbrough Council Head of Culture Charlotte Nicol said collaboration will be at the heart of the partnership, and key to achieving its ambition.

“This more equitable approach is what will help set us apart, providing an accessible platform for creativity, as well as additional pathways to opportunity and success for people living in and around our vibrant town.”