Residents to decide West Cumbria’s cultural spend

A new initiative in West Cumbria will enable residents to determine the future of culture and creativity in the area and how money is spent.

Launched by the Arts Council England (ACE)-funded Everyone Here project, Jury for Joy (JfJ) will establish a citizens' jury comprising 30 local individuals who will make decisions on cultural projects and budgets across the West Cumbria region.

The first JfJ will be in May and aims to create a "vision" for Everyone Here’s future work and input on existing collaborative projects with ACE's Creative People and Places (CPP) partners. They will also advise and create a new cultural project with a budget of £100,000.

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JfJ has been developed with Citizens In Power (CIP), a not-for-profit organisation, co-directed by former Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre David Jubb, that designs people-led decision-making strategies.

CIP claims that JfJ will be the first time in the UK that a citizens' jury has devised and chosen an ongoing creative and cultural programme.

The jury selection process will see 9,000 randomly selected households receiving an invitation to participate weighted towards areas likely to have a lower response rate. From the people who respond, there will then be a second lottery aiming to match the jury's makeup with the area's demographic composition.

The 30 jury members who end up participating in the scheme will receive a gift of £200 in shopping vouchers for participating.

After its initial meeting this spring, JfJ will be held twice a year to continue making decisions about creative and cultural activity in West Cumbria.

Co-creation

Cultural organisations are increasingly embracing co-creation leadership models involving input from across their communities, audiences, and artists.

CIP is currently developing a Citizens Assembly project in the West of England in partnership with the West of England Combined Authority, Trinity Bristol, and St Pauls Carnival to shape a cultural delivery plan for the region, which is due to be launched in 2024 and to take place in 2025.

CIP said it also had 40 expressions of interest in a callout at the end of 2023 for organisations considering transitioning toward citizen-led decision-making.

Meanwhile, Coventry’s 2021 City of Culture programme previously implemented a citizens’ assembly, while Birmingham Museum plans to create an advisory citizens’ jury from August 2024 to January 2025.

In recent weeks, Norwich Theatre and The Belgrade in Coventry have both launched new co-creation strategies involving a degree of community input.

'Everyone has a right to a cultural life'

Everyone Here was founded by Action with Communities in Cumbria to tackle participation inequalities in the region. It receives £277,000 per year as part of ACE’s CPP 2022-2025 portfolio and works with several other regional partners, including West Cumbrian Arts, Allerdale Borough Council, and Copeland Borough Council.

“We think that everyone is creative and has a right to a cultural life, however they define that," said Everyone Here Co-Director Sam Hunt.

"We want to work to help bring in sustained, long-term investment for culture here, and we think that the best people to make decisions on how that investment is made are the people who live here.”

Backed by the National Lottery, ACE's CPP aims to support the public in shaping local arts and culture with a total investment of £38.3m in 38 places across England. Only organisations in 142 selected regions are eligible to apply for the funding.

“At the heart of our Let’s Create strategy is that everyone should have access to creativity and culture wherever they live,” said Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England.

"It is important that the local community has a voice in determining what this looks like for them."