Cultural Citizens: a case study
The Cultural Citizens programme aimed to make a real difference to young people’s lives by fusing ambition with impact. Designed to give over 600 young people across England increased access to arts and culture in areas of low cultural engagement, a series of three pilots took place. Read more about the Barking and Dagenham pilot below.
About the programme
The London pilot was led by A New Direction, in partnership with the Barking and Dagenham Cultural Education Partnership, and delivered locally by Studio 3 Arts and Creative Barking and Dagenham. Local context was important to A New Direction, an organisation committed to working in outer London where possible, particularly in places where young people may lack the space or facilities to create or access to London’s amazing cultural offer.
“What made Cultural Citizens a stand out programme was its potential to catalyse change in the way that young people see their personal, and social geographies. Places can become great hives of creative potential, as well as offering routine. If we listen hard enough, young people will tell us what London really looks and feels like. If there is enough space to explore this for them now, imagine the transformative potential for the cultural, social and educational landscapes of tomorrow.” - Lou Barnell, Programmes Manager at A New Direction.
A pilot location with unique challenges
Barking and Dagenham is an outer London borough with a population of 186,000. Barking and Dagenham is ranked the third most deprived local authority in the UK, with 29% of children living in poverty compared to 23% in London. In recent years, there has also been significant growth in the school age population - 26% of the borough’s population is aged 0-15 compared to 18.9% for London as a whole.
The pilot activity worked with 300 young people from across five schools in Barking and Dagenham: Eastbrook School, Eastbury Community School, Dagenham Park CoE School, Robert Clack School and Sydney Russell School. Pupils co-designed their own programme of high-quality visits and workshops, working across a range of art forms with some of London’s most innovative and exciting cultural organisations. Activities included a trip to the Royal Opera House, a visit to the Giacometti exhibition at Tate Modern, a street art exploration in Shoreditch with Alternative London, and an evening out at the Vaults to see Alice in Wonderland by Les Enfants Terribles Theatre Company.
Young people also attended clubs with professional artists, and were supported by local Cultural Connectors - a network of local adults who work to engage Barking and Dagenham residents in the arts. All pupils also worked towards achieving an Arts Award Bronze qualification through the process.
The numbers
The project was large and ambitious in scale - including:
- 100 creative after-school sessions
- 20 trips
- 25 cultural venues/partners
- 12 artforms
- 208 Bronze Arts Awards
The individual pilots also created their own unique artworks and events:
- 3 short animated films, created by Dagenham Park School with artist Kirsty Reynolds
- 12 spoken word pieces and accompanying movement works, created at Eastbury with artists Emily Bray and John Akinde
- An immersive theatre piece, devised and showcased by Robert Clack students with artist Pedro Vaz
- A celebration event, hosted by Sydney Russell students
What did the participants say?
98% of all participants rated the programme ‘good’ or ‘very good’. 51% said they would visit arts and cultural venues in the future and 46% said they would consider a future career in the arts.
It was great to see the effect on the young people involved… I saw their growth and eagerness to learn more about the arts… I can honestly say they truly were cultural ambassadors
- Ify Obanye, Cultural Citizens intern at Studio 3 Arts
I wasn’t confident before, but I am because of the workshops
We’ve become closer as a group
- other participants
What next?
Sydney Russell School has set up its own culture council for students to steer arts and cultural happenings for the future.
Dagenham Park and Eastbury schools are also now working with A New Direction to embed Arts Award Bronze and Silver into their offer for students.
Lou Barnell says: “It’s not always easy on a project of this scale to ensure that young people’s voices are heard in a meaningful way. Studio 3 Arts, Creative Barking and Dagenham, Kids in Museums, and Creative Minds all achieved this in spades, and this pilot proved there is a great appetite from partner schools in Barking and Dagenham to continue in this vein.”
Find out more
Find out more about the North West pilot:
