As part of a push to improve quality of life and boost economic growth, the Mayor of the West Midlands has laid out his vision for creative and cultural sectors across the region.
Over the course of the next two years, £15 million is being committed to supporting the ambition and capacity of the two sectors. This comes alongside the launch of the West Midlands Ownership Hub, which is aiming to support an increase in the number of co-operative and employee-owned businesses.
The two aforementioned sectors will be the first to benefit from the hub, by way of a support programme for freelancers, creatives, and businesses that will look to help them move into the alternative business models. By making the switch, it is anticipated that productivity, employee wellbeing and precarious working conditions can all be enhanced.
As well as the hub, the £15 million commitment from the West Midlands Combined Authority will allow grants to unlock wider funding, with the aim being to improve physical facilities that can support innovation across the cultural and creative sectors – including in spaces such as rehearsal rooms, co-working offices, and exhibition areas. Alongside this, the Mayor of the West Midlands has pledged to continue with work that is already underway to protect and ‘breathe new life into’ the region’s heritage buildings.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said:
“I see the West Midlands as the beating heart of the national creative economy and as our region’s creatives increasingly stand tall on the global stage, they should be able to rely on the public sector to champion them.
“That’s why over the next two years we will invest more than £15 million to support the ambition and capacity of the sectors through programmes of work designed to ignite the regional creative eco-system and re-animate our local towns and places, and to provide greater opportunity for everyone to feel the benefits of engaging with culture and creativity.
“We have set up the West Midlands Ownership Hub to promote co-operative and employee ownership. These business models will pave the way for a more sustainable future for workers and help address the challenges of precarious work conditions in these sectors, recognising the vital role those people play in shaping our identity and driving our economy forward.”
Skills are also to be supported across the region this summer, with training in early-stage creative skills being delivered through the ‘Activate’ programme. Craftspeople and technicians will be also encouraged through this to take up roles in the creative sector, with these covering people such as electricians, carpenters, caterers and dressmakers.
Skinder Hundal, the West Midlands Cultural Leadership Board’s Chair, also commented:
“Imagining and collaborating is what artists do best: when they bring their ideas, enthusiasm, expertise and unique view on the world, new projects, works and exhibitions come to life.
“I’m excited to see how The West Midlands Ownership Hub will support our region’s creatives to work together to explore innovative ways in which they can take ownership of their creativity and materially benefit from it, working in solidarity as a West Midlands sector, consciously engaging contexts both locally and globally.
“This important project builds on our commitment to support the arts and the creative industries to flourish in the region, and I’m looking forward to see our artists and creatives develop with this support going forward.”
Image credit: iStock and West Midlands Combined Authority
