Thurrock Plan for Culture - Where are we now?
In 2022, the national development agency for culture – Arts Council England – identified Thurrock as a priority area.
This designation recognises that historically, drawing down funds for culture has been limited compared to other areas. Increasing investment and support for culture and creating greater impact – now and for future generations – underpins this plan and will galvanise partners to drive forward change.
Thurrock’s cultural partners have the opportunity to deliver change through culture and creativity. As outlined below, a number of significant cultural developments are underway and helping to grow our confidence in a culturally ambitious future. These developments have aligned at the same time, providing the opportunity and conditions to capitalise on new cultural capacity and optimism, and stimulate local cultural growth.
The first new development is the increase in organisations in receipt of regular funding from Arts Council England. Kinetika, Arts Outburst and CoDa Dance are part of a national portfolio of organisations who are considered leaders in their areas and are helping to develop the national arts and cultural ecology. Kinetika has been part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio for many years, leading and pioneering outdoor arts experiences that have local, national and international impact, including being heavily involved in HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant in 2022. In joining the portfolio, Arts Outburst, which has been co-creating art and cultural projects with the people of Thurrock for almost 20 years, and CoDa Dance, an award-winning, socially driven, female- & disability-led dance company, delivering participatory projects in hospitals and communities for people that experience neurological conditions and disabilities, bring greater recognition to Thurrock’s cultural leadership and ambition.
“Start Thurrock” launched in 2023 and is a borough-wide cultural programme with a difference: local people take the lead in deciding what creative and cultural experiences take place here. Start Thurrock is one of 39 Creative People and Places programmes in England, funded by Arts Council England, kick-starting a power-shift in how creative and cultural activity is selected, experienced and produced. With residents in the driving seat, the programme is enabling inclusive and relevant cultural provision to flourish in our communities. Start Thurrock employs innovative approaches to community engagement which is leading to new audiences and participants in culture.
Thurrock’s heritage assets and maritime industry connect to a global narrative of trade and migration. The Grade II* listed Tilbury Cruise Terminal was the arrival point for the famous Empire Windrush on 21 June 1948 and new investment from Heritage Lottery will anchor Tilbury’s place in the nation’s history and connect us to national conversations about our contemporary multicultural identity. ‘Back on Track’ began in 2023 and is supported by the Port of Tilbury and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The programme will restore and reinvigorate Tilbury Riverside Station with a new heritage and creative-use space. Contemporary community heritage and a celebration of the contributions of immigrants to our diverse society will be reflected in an associated programme of events, heritage interpretation and community grant making, underpinned by skills development and volunteering opportunities for local residents.
UK Shared Prosperity Funding has injected new capacity and resource for culture in Thurrock, with a project which aims to facilitate the coordination of creative and cultural opportunities, helping to anchor and weave culture across council services whilst also enabling cultural partnerships and provision to develop across the borough.
High House Production Park in Purfleet-on-Thames is a centre of excellence in the Creative and Cultural Industries, providing facilities and workspace for arts, theatre, film and digital production. High House Production Park tenants include the Royal Ballet and Opera (formerly Royal Opera House), ACME artist studios, South Essex College, the Backstage Centre and Thurrock Music Education Hub. A new site masterplan has been published, which will build a whole-site ecology and secure the long-term viability of the Park as a sustainable world-class centre for cultural production. As part of the ambition for the site, tenants and stakeholders are working together to drive up public engagement through site-specific events, cultural programming and enlivening underused spaces.
Finally, the Creative Estuary programme, funded by Arts Council England, has provided support and investment that is driving forward creative and economic growth, boosting production capacity and catalysing talent development. The programme has commissioned Thurrock cultural organisations and creatives to develop new work, strengthen creative practice and grow artist peer networks. Creative Estuary has been pivotal in helping to shape cultural infrastructure locally, co-investing in the production of a Thurrock Meanwhile Opportunities Strategy, which provides a framework and assessment tool to evaluate opportunities to bring underused buildings and land into temporary use for creative and mixed use, and culture-specific toolkits for planners and developers, creating a resource for cultural planning, a process that supports place making through considering what arts and cultural infrastructure can be secured through development, redevelopment and the land use planning process.
Collectively, the developments and progress highlighted above give us a strong foundation to build from and new optimism about our creative growth potential.
Further examples of creative people, organisations and initiatives that are part of the cultural fabric of Thurrock are woven throughout this plan. Combined, there is a shared ambition and energy to deliver a cultural renaissance for Thurrock.
