Stephen Lightbown and Natalie Adams join South West Area Council

Arts Council England has today announced two new appointments to its South West Area Council, which plays a crucial role in both local and national decision-making.

Area Council members are drawn from different roles across and beyond the arts and culture sector. They include an array of people from the sector and local government including creative practitioners, arts administrators and local authority representatives. Members use their expertise and grassroots knowledge of local issues to help us create and implement our strategy, Let’s Create. 

The South West Area Council board, which is chaired by Helen Birchenough and made up of fifteen members, works to ensure that Arts Council develop creative talent and the creative and cultural ecology in the area.  

Area and National Councils help us to ensure we invest public money effectively, and they are collectively responsible for making decisions on applications to our National Portfolio.  

The two new South West Area Councillors that we are delighted to welcome to the South West Area in 2021 are Stephen Lightbown and Natalie Adams. 

Stephen Lightbown 

Stephen is a Blackburn born, Bristol based poet. Paralysed following an accident in 1996 when he was 16, Stephen uses his poems to give a voice to his disability. He has spoken at events across the UK and at festivals such as Shambala, Womad, Camp Kin and Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival. Stephen is the author of two poetry collections The Last Custodian and Only Air and in August 2021 he performed his first commission for theatre, a piece about applying for the PIP disability benefit. Stephen is also trying to find a home for his first middle grade novel and is the Chair of the international dance company Candoco. He can be found via most social media channels via @spokeandpencil. 

Of his appointment, Stephen said:  

“I am delighted to be joining the South West Area Council. This is a pivotal time for the Arts with urgent and necessary pieces of work needing to be created and shared. With many organisations and artists across the board in need of support more than ever before I believe the Area Councils have a crucial role to play in providing that support and I look forward to contributing to the essential work of Arts Council England.” 

Natalie Adams

Natalie is a creative producer and Co-Director of Trigger. She leads on the programming and delivery of Trigger’s large scale outdoor performances and live events. The company premiered The Hatchling – the world’s first and largest puppet to roam a city and fly over sea – in Plymouth and are producing a new work of scale as one of the 10 teams selected as part of Festival UK* 2022. Driven to create accessible, inclusive and boundary pushing work, Natalie believes passionately in the importance of free, outdoor, and sited work.  

Natalie is a Board member of the Independent Theatre Council representing the independent theatre sector. Previously, Natalie has worked for organisations including Paines Plough, Coney and nabokov and has produced experiences for the Imperial War Museums, National Trust, Chester Zoo and Museum of London. She is an alumni artist of The Point Theatre and Creative Access alumni. 

Of her appointment, Natalie said:  

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining the South West Area Council and being part of a vital link between the arts and the community. At Trigger I’m driven to create work that sees people from all walks of life come together and do something extraordinary. My hope is that I can share my experience both as a creative producer representing the independent theatre sector and as a woman with Filipino heritage, adding to the breadth of perspectives on the SW Area Council.” 

Phil Gibby, Area Director, Arts Council England, South West, said:  



“We’re thrilled to have made two new appointments to our South West Area Council. The wealth and breadth of experience and expertise that Natalie and Stephen bring to the role is remarkable. Arts Council, the creative and cultural sector and the south west region are lucky to be able to benefit from their knowledge, skills and perspectives. We very much look forward to working with them as we continue to tackle the challenges and develop the opportunities in the sector over the coming months and years ;  as we move forward with the delivery of our ten year strategy, Let’s Create, their insights will be crucial to our decision making, particularly for the upcoming National Portfolio process. 

“We’re enormously grateful to our two outgoing members – Clare Hodgson and Jaswinder Singh – for sharing their unique talents and for their commitment and dedication to arts and culture over their two four year terms on Area Council.”