It can be tough to stay up to speed with all these fancy-sounding cultural organisations, steering groups and funding bodies.
Especially when all you really want to know is some combination of; what’s going on? Can I get involved? And is there any money for my project?
Whether you’d heard of the HCP prior to clicking on this admittedly very clickable headline, the Herefordshire Cultural Partnership is Kind Of A Big Deal for arts and heritage locally – and that’s why we’re going to answer those three questions for you, and few more.
First up, is it like a civil partnership?
No. No, that is something entirely different.
Short-version it for me – what is the HCP?
It's an organisation that’s set on proving to the world that Herefordshire’s arts, culture and heritage does not begin and end with antique cider presses.
That means cheerleading for what's already there. But it's also about helping spark what isn't, and supporting those already in the creative industries get done what they want to get done.
Who's on it?
It’s headed up by various members of some of the county’s cultural heavyweights – but is open to everyone.
Currently involved are:
The National Trust
The Courtyard
2Faced Dance
Hereford Cathedral
Rural Media
Hereford College of Arts
Herefordshire Council
Chamber of Commerce
and
The Cider Museum
A Culture that Grows from Rural Media on Vimeo.
Does it have something to do with the City of Culture 2021 bid last year?
Yeh it does. Good knowledge.
It sprung in to life as a way of helping kickstart and gather support for Herefordshire’s bid. Even though that failed – despite some praise (“better than some of the shortlisted cities”) – the partnership already learned a lot about what people thought about arts and heritage locally. They held public meetings, made a short film and commissioned a report into what the future of culture might look like [check it out on our About page here].
HCP also secured £750k in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England’s Great Place scheme.
£750k? How do I get a piece of that?
The easiest way is to check out some of the grants available through Herefordshire’s a Great Place here.
That’s only part of it though. Over the next 18 months there is going to be a whole programme of youth summits and creative training and unique events and free ice cream.
Okay, not free ice cream – but there’s a lot of good stuff that you, and any groups or projects you are part of, could get involved in.
What’s next?
Well, The Shire just launched (clue: you’re on it right now). We’ll be covering loads of those interesting ideas and cool projects happening around the county. It’s a good place to find out what’s happening with the Cultural Partnership.
Then, in 2019, HCP is going through a bit of restructure, opening up a membership scheme to any artists, cultural or heritage groups that want to get more involved.
Follow HCP on Twitter here.