The Difference

Here’s just a glimpse of what your funding support has helped us to achieve over the last ten years. From survival to new work and new audiences. The impact over and above our core delivery cannot be underestimated.

Artistic Innovation & New Audiences

• BEAM Light Festival (2023–24): Attracted over 70,000 people to a free, community-wide spectacle

• Carabosse, Luminarium, Museum of the Moon & 1571: Major outdoor installations engaging over 60,000 people and generating national media coverage

• In Memoriam, The Waters That Made Us, Fire & Light: Reopening the town to live arts post-pandemic with powerful, place-making performances

• Projector Bikes & Talking Heads: Creative, mobile, and accessible storytelling for families and schools

Digital Access & Legacy

• HIF Player: Reached over 100,000 people worldwide, offering free digital culture when live events were impossible

Access for Young People & Communities

• Significant resource and investment in young musicians, schools, free concerts, and first-time arts experiences for those with least access

• Dorothy Parkinson Memorial Awards: a new platform to support the next generation of musicians

• Programming Chineke! Orchestra & Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho: Representation and inspiration for diverse audiences — “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”

From Survival to Growth

• We did not go dark during the pandemic, we created a digital platform, developed new networks and continued to deliver the arts in our community during this time, addressing issues of loneliness and fear.

• Created capacity to move from survival to ambition post pandemic. We continue to rebuild the team and our programmes