Remaining positive during a year like no other

Remaining positive during a year like no other

TORBAY CULTURE

This year has been unlike any other. As the COVID-19 pandemic extends across the planet, we witness the serious difficulties - and loss - so many people face. For the creative and culture sectors - from heritage to sport, film to participatory arts, and across so many other aspects of our lives - there has been a profound impact. Economic, social and cultural life has changed dramatically, and the viability and wellbeing of cultural organisations and individuals remain extremely fragile. 

Torbay Culture was established to progress Enjoy, Talk, Do, Be - the ten year cultural strategy for Torbay and its communities. With our partners we have achieved a lot, but there is so much more to do. We have worked as hard as possible throughout this period to support our local culture and creative sectors, whilst ourselves facing uncertainty about the future. Like everyone else it’s simply been a matter of rolling up our sleeves and getting on with it. Maintaining hope, encouraging others, and always striving to do our best.

Over recent months we have responded to numerous calls and emails for advice; kept in contact with partners including Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England and others, to make sure they have as clear a picture as possible about the impact on Torbay’s people and places. 

Some of the other actions we have taken include:

Thanks to Arts Council England’s COVID-19 emergency response funding, we initiated Create To Recover. That programme is supporting Torbay creative practitioners to re-start their work, making art in cultural settings and spaces with local communities. These activities have continued, and grown, whilst adapting to social distancing rules, building morale and community goodwill in Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

We have continued to deliver the Great Place Scheme as our partners and external funders would expect us to, adapting to circumstances as well as we can. That has been possible because the Heritage Fund, as lead co-sponsor for the Scheme, has been flexible, responsive and supportive. 

To everyone involved in the many areas of our activity - thank you for your hard work, and for continuing to achieve the best possible outcomes for people in Torbay. Work has continued despite the complexities and challenges. To our outgoing Great Place Scheme Programme Manager, Anna Matthews, who has worked so very hard, keeping things together, and on track, a huge thank you and a fond farewell as you move to your new adventures in South Somerset. Claire Gulliver is working with us on the evaluation and analysis of the Scheme as it enters the final months. We look forward to sharing the impact and learning, from across three years of incredible achievements, early next year.

Finally, and most importantly it is worth reflecting that this exceptional year is yet one more spin of the globe, one more chapter in life. Things change, they always do. How we navigate change - or encourage it depending on circumstance - often defines us. We do the work we do because we believe that culture and creativity makes the quality of people’s lives better. However you define it, whatever your interest. Without it, life is ‘less’: Less rewarding, less rich, less inspiring, and less healthy.

Throughout these months, many of us have lost people close to us, directly or indirectly from the pandemic, or from other causes. It’s especially important that we give ourselves time to honour their memory as we build a better place. Our place. Our home.

Image: Looking across the bay towards Berry Head National Nature Reserve (D Ros)

Poetry and partnership in action at the Palace Theatre Paignton

Poetry and partnership in action at the Palace Theatre Paignton
Creative Transitions – Creativity helps wellbeing for vulnerable young people in Torbay

Creative Transitions – Creativity helps wellbeing for vulnerable young people in Torbay

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