Funding success for Culture Declares

Culture Declares is delighted to have been awarded £20,000 from the Gulbenkian Foundation UK for a six month programme of activity. The funding will support continued development of our Regional Hubs, public engagement workshops in partnership with Letters to the Earth and core costs, including our Social Media Coordination Zahrah Vawda and an additional day a week for our National Coordinator Victoria Burns.

Culture Declares now has five Regional Hubs, in Kirklees, the South West (Bristol & Bath), Birmingham & the West Midlands, the North East, and the newly launched South East Coast. This activity at local level has become a key driver for engaging people in the climate and ecological emergency. Over the next six months, we will strengthen the five existing hubs and aim to develop two further hubs.  If you want to get in touch with any of the Hubs, or are interested in starting one in your region, get in touch at culturedeclares@gmail.com

We’re excited to be continuing our long-term partnership with Letters to the Earth, and the grant will support 10 workshops around the country in the run up to, and beyond, COP26. The team behind Letters to the Earth has created a bespoke workshop to engage communities on their relationship to the climate and ecological emergency. Through dialogue and creative prompts people are invited to share their hopes, ears and visions for the future and to write their own letter – to or from the Earth, other species, a person in a position of power, or future or past generations. People are invited to give voice to what matters to them most and consider perspectives other than theirs, and other than human.  Workshops will be co-hosted by Declarer organisations and also by cultural organisations yet to declare, so as to support the growth of the declaring movement and the development of Regional Hubs.

If your organisation is interested in hosting a workshop, or if you know an organisation who might be supported towards declaring, contact Kay Michael at kay.s.michael@googlemail.com.

Zahrah started working on our social media in May 2021 and we’ve seen a 5-10% increase in followers, and up to a 30% increase in engagement, across our platforms. This work can now continue particularly in the run up to COP26 through our strategy to amplify the work of Declarers and other partners and showcase the power of culture to contribute to a more regenerative future. If you have a project or story that you want to share, contact Zahrah on culturedeclares.socialmedia@gmail.com.

So this will be an energising six months for Culture Declares, with the ongoing support of the Gulbenkian giving us a strong foundation to build on. As the country and particularly the cultural sector continues to recover from the pandemic, awareness of the climate & ecological emergency and the need to respond, has never been higher. Culture Declares will continue to harness the power of culture as a leading contributor in creating a regenerative future that protects the planet and sustains everyone, everywhere.

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