Skills & Enterprise
What do we mean by Skills & Enterprise?
Projects which teach people new skills, let people enhance and hone their existing talents and skills, and which offer new pathways into employment in the cultural and creative sector.
What projects are we working on?
We’re working with Creative Guild to support its growth and development as a creative business in North Northumberland. Creative Guild will deliver a peer-to-peer, self-directed skills development programme for creatives.
Creative Guild started in 2019 and its aim is to connect creative practitioners and independent artists who are living and working in Berwick, North Northumberland and the Borders.
We’re working with Ceri Hand and her team to give creatives and cultural leaders the chance to receive mentoring and coaching to enhance their career.
The programme has supported over a 35 artists and arts professionals in Berwick in 2024.
The course aims to empower with customised mentoring and coaching to cultivate innovation, leadership, and resilience within the creative community.
Our Creative Action Fund is a rolling grant programme supporting innovation and enterprise. We offer grants between £1k and £5k to creative practitioners, creative industries, community groups and cultural organisations to grow their businesses and test new ideas.
Click here to find out more about the Creative Action Fund and see if you are eligible to apply:
Berwick Community Radio is an ambitious plan to deliver a youth training scheme linked directly to a new community radio station for Berwick.
To bring this to life we’re working with Berwick Academy and a host of partners, including Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, English Heritage, Generator and Creative UK to set up a pilot project for 2024.
Attracting Visitors
What do we mean by Attracting Visitors?
Projects which attract visitors, tourists, artists, and makers from all over the world to Berwick. We want Berwick to be one of the UK’s most distinctive, must-see cultural destinations. Known for its welcoming, inclusive, and creative atmosphere, where there’s something for everyone.
What projects are we working on?
Working in partnership with cultural organisations and the creative community in Berwick, we will establish a town-wide marketing and communications network. The network will support people and organisations to share information and work together to maximise our reach and impact in promoting Berwick as a cultural destination. Meaning more local people will hear about and join in with cultural events.
We’re also planning Annual Art Events and Living Heritage Festivals, see more details about these projects in our Engaging Communities section below.
Engaging Communities
What do we mean by Engaging Communities?
Projects for everyone! We’ll be working in partnership with venues, cultural organisations and creative businesses in Berwick to create new opportunities for everyone to be creative and enjoy cultural in our town. We’ll be celebrating and focussing on all the things that make Berwick unique – from the history to our landscape and coastline and inviting everyone to join us.
What projects are we working on?
We’re working with local and national partners to produce an ambitious annual arts event inspired by Berwick’s history, people and landscape which will attract new visitors and engage local people.
We will support two community or volunteer-led festivals or events each year, for example Berwick Literary Festival, Salmon Queen and Ride the Bounds to work with creatives and communities in celebration of Berwick’s rich heritage and traditions.
We will also support museums like Kings Own Scottish Borderers and Museums Northumberland to work with artists’ and residents to explore heritage.
The first project partner is Bridge400 who will the host a series of events celebrating the 400th anniversary of The Old Bridge in 2024.
Creative Spaces
What do we mean by Creative Spaces?
Projects which celebrate the matchless landscape and history of Berwick are essential to honouring our town. And we’ll also drive forward projects which increase the amount of physical space there is for artists, cultural collectives, and creative businesses, such as studios, exhibition spaces and co-working areas.
What projects are we working on?
Our aim is to create more spaces across Berwick where people can enjoy creativity, arts and culture in different ways.
Whether it’s participating in creative activities, watching films, hosting exhibitions or performances, having meetings or hot desking, our Cultural Resource Hubs will be for everyone.
- Berwick Film & Media Arts will set up a Young People’s Film Lab on Hide Hill.
- Tortive Theatre will set up a new cultural space in Straw Yard Studios.
- 27 Art House will establish a programme of creative masterclasses and events on Bridge Street.
We know how important affordable workspace is for artist and creatives. We’re working to establish new creative workspaces in in Berwick Barracks with our partners English Heritage. In the meantime, we want to support creative practitioners find spaces to work in Berwick.
