since 2017
Who wants to make this neighbourhood more creative, more joyful, more full of possibility?
Anyone can answer. Create Local begins with a question, not a plan, and with the people who are already here.
Where it starts
In every place, something is already bubbling beneath the surface: people and organisations doing meaningful work, often quietly and often under-recognised.
Create Local begins by finding them, and the people who want to make change but do not yet have a space to do it. Since 2017 we have grown creative and financial power in Gloucestershire's neighbourhoods, with the people and places that make them.
Where it's growing
Across nearly a decade, that invitation has grown into open table networks we call Neighbourhood Creative Alliances, gathering citizens, artists, young people and partners from across health, education, housing, police and local government. There are three currently live:
Stroud district
Cam and Dursley Creatives
An alliance of artists, residents and partners.
Visit Cam and Dursley Creatives →
We want to spread Alliances across the county and are developing models to enable us to do this, including a new emerging Women's Creative Health Alliance. If you are interested in how this might work in your neighbourhood, contact us at connect@creategloucestershire.co.uk
How it works
We do not arrive with answers. Our role is to gather, convene, help communities to channel resources and think differently about power. We connect what is already there and add what is missing: a neutral convenor and Creative Catalyst, a long timeline, community-owned funds, and a route into bigger systems. Money flows differently, held and decided locally, and the cultural ecosystem grows more rooted in people and place.
Neighbourhood Creative Alliance
An open table of citizens, artists, young people and partners. There is no tick list of who should be in the room. The question stays open: who else?
Join an open table →
Creative Catalyst and Convenor
Two key roles, one who listens, energy-maps, connects and invites, and one who facilitates and bridges into wider systems. Deliberately not delivery roles.
Read the explainer →
Creative Piggy Bank
A community-owned fund, owned by no-one, decided locally by whole-group consensus. Our say, our spend.
See how decisions are made →Our working principles
How the CG Mix builds creative power.
Centre culture and creativity
Artists unlock new ways of thinking and are central to a strong alliance.
Belonging before boundaries
Define neighbourhoods through connection across people and place.
Invitation not instruction
Start with open questions and shared hopes.
Dialogue over delivery
We prioritise conversation and co-creation over quick outputs.
Possibilities not problems
Focus on what is strong and possible in a place.
Equity first
Address barriers and amplify under-represented voices.
Holding the space between nothing and something
Give time for ownership to emerge.
Agility with guardrails
Keep processes light while protecting safety and accountability.
Join an open table
So far…
Culture Matson has had a massive impact on my confidence and belief in myself.
Alliance member
Partnership working enabled the joining of the dots. Problem solving happens around the table, nothing is done in isolation.
Alliance member
Create Local in numbers
What’s happening at Create Local?
Join the journey
Create Local is one answer to a question many places are now asking. If this sounds like your neighbourhood, or you are thinking about how power and resources can sit closer to the people they affect in Gloucestershire, we would love to hear from you.