Written evidence submitted by Voluntary Arts
1. Executive summary
2. Voluntary Arts
2.1 ‘Our Creative Talent – the voluntary and amateur arts in England' – a report published by DCMS in 2008 – revealed that there are 49,140 groups amateur arts groups in England with a total of 5.9 million members. An additional 3.5 million people volunteer as extras or helpers – a total of 9.4 million people taking part. See: http://www.culturehive.co.uk/resources/our-creative-talent-the-voluntary-and-amateur-arts-in-england/
2.2 Across the UK we believe there are now approximately 60,000 voluntary arts groups, regularly involving more than 10 million people participating voluntarily in creative cultural activities: this activity is, and will continue to be, a critical part of both the bedrock and the grassroots of the cultural life of our communities and nations.
2.3 The vast majority of participation in culture happens, not through organisations or projects supported by public funding, but through self-funded voluntary arts groups.
2.4 Voluntary Arts was created in 1991, in response to a need identified by government and the voluntary arts sector, to provide a universal voice for the voluntary arts across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Voluntary Arts receives regular funding from Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, the Arts Council of Wales and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in recognition of our role as the official representative voice of the voluntary arts sector.
2.5 The creative cultural activity we promote and support encompasses the activities of traditional amateur arts and crafts groups as well as wider (and emerging) definitions of the arts within differing cultures, new forms of digital creativity and other areas of cultural creativity, such as those practised in gardens, kitchens and workshops.
2.6 Voluntary Arts recognises the important contribution that creative cultural activity makes to individual and collective wellbeing. It encourages civic participation, develops learning, improves health and contributes to the enrichment of lives.
3. The Big Conversation
3.1 During October and November 2017 Voluntary Arts conducted its first national survey of voluntary cultural participation. ‘The Big Conversation’ attracted 1,003 responses from people across the UK and Ireland and highlighted the positive impact of participation in creative cultural activities.
3.2 Among those currently taking part in voluntary and amateur arts groups, there was clear evidence of positivity about the future of their groups and activities, despite some strong challenges. The average score for how positively the respondents viewed their future prospects was 4.5 out of a possible 5. Only 5% of those surveyed expressed a pessimistic view for the future, showing a remarkable trend of positivity and determination among those who are regularly creative.
3.3 The survey showed a consistent emphasis on social engagement, community, mental health and personal achievement as reasons for taking part in creative activities.
3.4 Current participants identified a wide range of benefits gained from participating but some strong themes emerged, including opportunities to engage socially with people from different backgrounds who share common interests, the positive effects on mental health and a sense of personal achievement. The same themes were also evident when those who say they are not actively participating at the moment were asked what motivates them to consider joining a group or activity.
3.5 When asked why they take part in creative cultural activity, survey respondents said:
◦ “I love being able to meet people from all walks of life through participating, people different from me but connected by our creative practice.”
◦ “Fun, meeting new people, making new friends, being creative, laughing, exchanging ideas, supporting each other, being part of something, being part of a community, improved self-esteem, feeling good after taking part”
◦ “I have a stress problem and this activity helps me relax. I also feel that it's the part of my week that's truly meaningful and I take a lot of joy in what we do.”
◦ “It helps me manage my mental illness (clinical depression and anxiety) being able to do something creative gives me the chance to concentrate on something that brings me pleasure (mostly!) and gets me out of the house and into the company of like-minded people. The creative groups I go to are an absolute lifeline for me. Without them I would be socially and physically isolated.”
◦ “Time for me. Creative space for concentration on music and singing, working together with others I don't usually socialise with. Gives me huge sense of wellbeing ... it's my food for my soul!”
◦ “Creative input. Communication. Sharing ideas. Helping to build others' creative confidence (which is wonderful). Producing original work (which is amazing). Getting to know folk in different parts of the country. Working positively and productively with a broad age range of participants (which is cool!).”
◦ “Learning new techniques, taking part in challenges, getting together with like-minded people, feeling part of something, feeling validated, enjoying myself.”
See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/news/big-conversation-2017-results
4. The Impact of Grassroots Arts Activities on Communities
4.1 In 2011 Voluntary Arts worked in partnership with the Third Sector Research Centre (hosted by the University of Birmingham and the University of Southampton), the University of Exeter and the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) on a research project funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council’s Connected Communities programme, looking at The Impact of Grassroots Arts Activities on Communities.
4.2 The resulting report: ‘The role of grassroots arts activities in communities: a scoping study’ by Hilary Ramsden, Jane Milling, Jenny Phillimore, Angus McCabe, Hamish Fyfe and Robin Simpson (Third Sector Research Centre Working Paper 68, December 2011) is available at: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/documents/tsrc/working-papers/working-paper-68.pdf
4.3 The clearest finding to emerge from the study was the fact that throughout the UK sustainable grassroots, amateur arts activities are thriving and participation is on the increase, with a considerable focus on involving young people.
4.4 Initial investigations of grassroots arts activities for the study noted a range of social impacts (individual and community development), educational impacts, economic impacts and aesthetic impacts.
5. Social mobility
5.1 While there is often a correlation between the most economically deprived communities and the areas where measured engagement in the arts is lowest, this tends to reflect what gets measured. Looking more closely at the areas of least arts engagement (as Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places scheme has been doing) reveals a huge amount of existing creative activity in almost every part of the country. But this is often unfunded, amateur, everyday creativity rather than professional arts and our habit of not counting or valuing such activity helps to propagate a sense of ‘us and them’.
5.2 By better understanding the culture people choose to practice themselves, in their own time, at their own expense, Voluntary Arts believes it might be possible to better articulate the connections between such creative activities in order to develop a more unified approach to culture – and to begin to heal some of the current divisions in society.
5.3 In 2017 Voluntary Arts embarked on a UK-wide programme of ‘Creative Conversations’ with experts, practitioners and organisers involved in creative cultural activity, with a particular focus on areas of disadvantage. We hope this work will make a major contribution to the desperately under-researched challenges of class diversity in the arts. Voluntary Arts plans to publish a report on the Creative Conversations programme in summer 2018.
6. Health
6.1 Recent research shows that arts participation and engagement has an important role to play in terms of mental wellbeing and particularly the maintenance of good mental health in later life. Christina Davies’ 2016 study shows that those who engage in the arts for an average of two or more hours per week report significantly better mental wellbeing than those with lower levels of engagement: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2672-7
6.2 ‘Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing’ (APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, July 2017) says “Millions of people in the UK engage with the arts as part of their everyday lives. As we demonstrate in this report, arts engagement has a beneficial effect upon health and wellbeing and therefore has a vital part to play in the public health arena.”
See: http://www.artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/
6.3 During 2016-17 Voluntary Arts was a partner in the Cultural Engagement for Wellbeing project which set out to evaluate the effects on subjective wellbeing and population health of engaging in mainstream cultural events and activities as part of everyday life. See: http://nickewbank.co.uk/projects/wellcome-trust-cultural-engagement-for-wellbeing/
6.4 One of the winners of the 2017 Voluntary Arts Epic Awards was the RE-Tune Project in Glasgow which aims to offer people with mental health difficulties the chance to make and play their own stringed instrument. This volunteer-led project takes place in the East End of Glasgow, at the heart of some of the most deprived communities in the West of Scotland. Regardless of experience, everyone who participates makes a stringed instrument and is taught how to play it. The project works with people affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and those experiencing loneliness and isolation, especially ex-service personnel. See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/epic-awards-the-re-tune-project
7. Education
7.1 ‘The role of grassroots arts activities in communities: a scoping study’ identified the following educational impacts of participation in creative cultural activity:
There is evidence that participation in arts activities:
◦ develops learning performance in formal settings with participants demonstrating an increase in literacy, verbal and communication skills;
◦ leads to the development and creation of knowledge and technical skills specific to those activities and also to transferable skills in other fields and potentially employment;
◦ can contribute to understandings of contemporary related but tangential issues to the art form itself that emerge from discussion and debate within their specific field or arts group;
◦ develops an awareness of the international scope of the specific field, leading to the building of international social networks and sometimes to travel abroad, extending participants’ experience of other cultures and customs;
◦ develops literacy skills among those who are no longer in formal learning settings;
◦ develops opinions and skills in argument and debate;
◦ develops skills in improvisation and experimentation frequently resulting in new discoveries and innovation.
See: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/documents/tsrc/working-papers/working-paper-68.pdf
8. Community engagement
8.1 Since November 2017 Voluntary Arts has been publishing a weekly series of articles on its website on the theme of ‘Our Cultural Commons’ – looking at new approaches to sustaining creative cultural activity in local places.
8.2 The introductory article, by Kevin Murphy & Denis Stewart (Why Cultural Commoning Matters, 1 November 2017) noted that “We live in an era when the consequences and effects of dominant economic, social and political paradigms are pressing upon people, damaging democracy and fomenting feelings of frustration, helplessness and despair. It is now when creating together, wisely and hopefully, matters most.” See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/Pages/Category/our-cultural-commons
8.3 One of the winners of the 2017 Voluntary Arts Epic Awards was Goldies Cymru which runs weekly singing sessions across South Wales, providing the opportunity for people who may be otherwise isolated to enjoy Sing and Smile sessions and build confidence and friendships. An intergenerational schools programme encourages communication between age groups. One regular attendee said “I used to sit at home and didn’t want to come out. Now I’m a part of a group that meet regularly, go on holidays together (wearing Goldies t-shirts) and support one another.”
See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/epic-awards-goldies-cymru
9. Diversity
9.1 During 2015-16 Voluntary Arts undertook a major research programme looking at participation in creative cultural activity in black, Asian and minority ethnic communities across the UK. Members of the Voluntary Arts BAME Advisory Panel conducted interviews with experts, practitioners and organisers involved in BAME creative cultural activity in a variety of communities across the UK. The interviews helped to build Voluntary Arts’ knowledge and understanding of creative cultural activity in different communities but also practically increased the organisation’s network of contacts in these communities.
9.2 Key comments from the interviews included:
◦ Common interest is something that brings people together across diverse communities. This often is a common creative interest (e.g. dance, craft, painting, music etc).
◦ Creative cultural activity in general is a good way for people and cultures to get introduced – especially creative cultural activity involving food, celebrations and craft.
◦ Health and wellbeing is very important to us. Since 2010, we’ve organised dance classes for people of all ages. In the longer term, we would like to accept referrals from heath services – arts on prescription if you like.
◦ The voluntary sector has great potential, we can offer real value for money as we do not have the bureaucracy of public sector organisations. We are flexible and much quicker to respond to issues.
See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/News/open-conversations
9.3 As result of this programme of work Voluntary Arts won the Board Diversity & Inclusion award in the Charity Governance Awards 2017 – becoming the first arts organisation to win a Charity Governance Award. See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/news/winners-board-diversity-inclusion-at-charity-governance-awards
9.4 The winner of the 2017 Voluntary Arts Epic Award for Celebrating Diversity was Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance which set out to counteract the negative perceptions of the town through an inclusive, creative project entitled Love is Louder.
9.5 Love is Louder worked with people from all across the borough and engaged with over 75 different organisations to challenge intolerance and division through creativity. The project initially used arts as a vehicle for engagement to create influential pieces that could be used as educational tools. The work focused on people with protected characteristic including race, faith, disability and LGBT communities.
9.6 The ‘artbomb’ concept saw thousands of handmade textile pieces made by hundreds of people brought together to form installations in the town centre, bringing together all sorts of groups within the community to create colour and positivity. A huge crowd of over 90 people were involved in spraying hoardings to create a community art piece.
9.7 The Festival of Angels project again involved hundreds of people creating their interpretations of angels, which were displayed throughout the borough for the winter period as means of creativity, innovation and positivity to the area.
9.8 Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance told Voluntary Arts:
“Rotherham has been hit by negative press and high numbers of far right marches which has seen a large disconnect in communities and high incidents of hate. We wanted to challenge this creatively and develop something that everyone could be involved in and bring some positivity back to the town.”
See: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/epic-awards-rotherham-ethnic-minority-alliance
February 2018