Ten years is a long time. If a Strategy spanning such a period is to succeed, it needs to be flexible, not rigid; a guiding light, rather than an instruction manual. So what we have set out here is not an action plan, but a vision: of the richer, wider, deeper role creativity and culture can play in this country, and of the ways in which we believe we must all adapt, and all work together, to achieve it.

When I joined Arts Council England in 2015, I made a pledge to spend as much time as possible out of the office. In the five years since, I’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country, and stayed in towns, cities and villages from Cornwall to Cumbria. I’ve talked with artists and arts organisations, visited museums and libraries, and listened to pre-schoolers and care home residents. I’ve drunk many cups of coffee and enjoyed a lot of homemade cake. And in the course of my travels, I have learned that while the range and scope of cultural activity in this country is breathtakingly wide, there is one thing that draws it all together. Whatever shape they take and wherever we experience them, creative activities and cultural experiences improve our lives. They challenge perceptions, broaden horizons, form and transform communities, and enable us to flourish in previously unimagined ways. The bottom line is: they make us happy.

Over the past few years, I have been lucky enough to encounter more inspiring, impactful, uplifting cultural experiences than I can count, but one example, for me, stands out. In 2015, I visited the Escape Family Support Centre in Ashington, Northumberland – a part of the world that has suffered chronic economic and social challenges since the closure of its coal mines. A group of women at the centre, which assists individuals and families affected by substance abuse, had been working with a local artist, Maureen Hanley, as part of a project developed by the area’s Arts Council England Creative People and Places programme. The centre was already a much-loved community space for these women. But through the guidance and encouragement of Maureen, who supported them to make their own works to hang on the walls, the place, and their place in it, it was transformed.

As they led me down the centre’s corridors, pointing out their paintings, each and every one of them told me that through the work, they’d gained a renewed sense of pride and purpose. They discovered talents they didn’t know they had, and found new, more powerful ways to tell their own stories. Previously, they’d been a community united by the difficulties they were facing; now, they were united by something else: by a shared creative act. It is every bit as vital for the Arts Council to invest in the creativity and cultural ambitions of people in towns such as Ashington as it is to ensure that London is a capital city that continues to stand as a cultural beacon on the world stage. The vision of this Strategy, therefore, is of a country in which the creativity of everyone living here is celebrated and supported: in which culture forms and transforms communities, and in which cultural institutions are inclusive of all of us, so that whoever we are and wherever we live, we can share in their benefits.

But it’s not just our vision. When we began to think about this Strategy, I was determined that the Arts Council should do as I’ve done in my role as its Chief Executive: seek out the views of individual artists, of the people who work in our museums, libraries and arts organisations, and of members of the public of all ages, and learn from them. Over a year-long consultation, two clear, unifying messages emerged. On the one hand, people talked about the deep joys and broad dividends that creativity and culture bring – especially for children and young people. But on the other, we heard again and again that while talent in this country is everywhere, the opportunities to use it are not. The vision of this Strategy, and its Outcomes and Investment Principles, reflect and respond directly to both of these messages. This Strategy was not conceived behind closed doors. We worked together with the sector we represent, and the communities we serve, to create it. And it’s in this spirit of collaboration that we will continue, now that the Strategy is complete, and the real work of delivering it begins. Over the course of the decade in front of us, the world in which we’re operating will inevitably alter: economic, social, political and environmental challenges will shift and evolve, and new opportunities, particularly around technology and data, will arise.

In such a rapidly changing landscape, we’ll need to be nimble and responsive in the way we work, in order to navigate the risks and make the most of the opportunities. But the Outcomes that we’ve identified – the common aims of the development and support of creative people, cultural communities, and a creative and cultural country – will remain constant. And the Investment Principles that sit hand-in-hand with those Outcomes – the shared commitment to ambition and quality, dynamism, environmental responsibility, and inclusivity and relevance across all of our work – will provide us with the necessary tools to meet challenge and drive change through the years ahead.

Over the next 10 years, in order to deliver this Strategy, Arts Council England will focus more strongly on our role as the national development agency for creativity and culture. We will do so through investment: in a new generation of creative practitioners and cultural organisations, equipped to learn from and test the boundaries of new technologies, and to innovate and take risks in all areas of creative practice. We will do so through partnerships: through building connections between communities, businesses and institutions, and the creative practitioners with whom they work. We will do so through advocacy: through making the case more clearly, and to more people, for the benefits that creativity and culture bring. And finally, we will do this together, in a way that is inclusive and appreciative of the creativity and culture, and the talents and needs, of every one of us. Because if we’re going to support the cultural sector to be fit for the future, we have to make sure that everyone, everywhere, benefits from it and can be part of it. If we fail at this, we won’t succeed at anything else. We need to be an Arts Council for the whole of England – and this Strategy is our route-map.

I believe in the vision of this Strategy. I believe in the power of artists, curators, librarians, arts organisations, museums and libraries to deliver it. I believe, above all else, that people with creativity and culture in their lives are happier and more fulfilled human beings. With this Strategy, we want to build a country in which every single one of us has the opportunity to benefit from creativity and culture. So I ask you to join today in committing to the Principles and realising the Outcomes that we’ve set out here. Together, let’s create better lives.