Reimagining where we live: cultural placemaking and the levelling up agenda
Create Gloucestershire’s evidence to the DCMS inquiry into cultural placemaking and levelling up. We share what we’ve learned from resident led alliances such as Culture Matson and Cam and Dursley Creatives, from paying artists and community producers properly, and from bringing new funders to the table, and set out why trust, time and shared decision making matter most in places without an established arts infrastructure.
Latest report on volunteering in Glos
Read the latest report on volunteering in Gloucestershire. It summarises a countywide engagement programme, led by voluntary, community, health and care organisations working together, which involved several thousand local people, groups and organisations in improving the volunteering experience.
National Volunteering Resources
Whether you’re managing volunteers, planning a volunteer programme or just want to understand the picture better, the right evidence and guidance can make a real difference. We’ve gathered reports, toolkits and good practice guides on volunteering, from the NCVO’s Time Well Spent research and a toolkit for small and medium-sized arts groups, to guidance on age-friendly and inclusive volunteering, and the latest report on volunteering in Gloucestershire.
Ripple Effects Mapping
What difference is your work really making? Ripple Effects Mapping helps you capture the wider impact of projects, organisations and your own practice, and trace how change spreads beyond the obvious outcomes. Watch our short film, download our guide to get started, and read Sophia’s tips for mapping on your own.
Creative Careers Resources
Great organisations and useful resources
Below are some of the useful links to find out more about the routes and pathways into this sector.
Stroud District: the natural place
A website showcasing Stroud District's green economy, innovation and the businesses and projects already based there.
The Place Outside CIC
Nature based practice and simple craft activities to support physical health and mental wellbeing.
Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking
A place offering high-quality, innovative creative opportunities for the arts and cultural sector, connecting them with global thinkers in sustainability and wellbeing.
Planet Cheltenham
A hybrid online and physical hub connecting people to community initiatives that tackle climate change, fight social inequality and build a sustainable future for Cheltenham.
St Paul's Vintage
A family-owned vintage store on Albion Street, Cheltenham, selling vintage clothes including reworked and screen printed garments.
Serging Ahead
Craft and sewing workshops that recycle old clothes and repurpose fabric scraps, run by Trudi Price.
Julie’s Bicycle: The Creative Freelancer’s Climate Almanac
A free seasonal companion for artists, independent creatives, community practitioners and producers, gathering toolkits, templates, wellbeing practices and case studies.
Julie’s Bicycle: Board Environmental Champions
A self-paced programme with carbon literacy training and a peer network, helping board members prioritise environmental goals in governance.
Translating Nature
Artworks by artists and scientists that use data drawn from nature as an art material, plus a taxonomy for describing data as art.
Invisible Cape
Redesigning online culture for a zero carbon web by applying sustainable design principles to digital, cutting the carbon footprint of their first website conversion by 82%.
Craftivist Collective
A slower, quieter and more intimate form of activism that uses handicrafts to encourage critical thinking and compassionate correspondence with power-holders.
The Theatre Green Book
An initiative by theatre-makers to move theatre towards sustainability, with three volumes covering productions, buildings and operations.