About The Partnership
The Cultural Partnership is responsible for the delivery of the city's cultural strategy as described in Manchester's Cultural Ambition.
The Cultural Partnership aligns its work to achieving the priorities set out in the local Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement. It is one of seven thematic partnerships, and is accountable to the Manchester Partnership.
Partnership Board
The Cultural Partnership Board brings together all the main strategic and funding bodies for culture to provide an overview of cultural activity in the city. It looks at the investment that is being made through a wide range of programmes and how these contribute to the Cultural Ambition. These programmes are captured in the Implementation Plan.
Board Membership
- Executive Member for Culture and Leisure - Councillor Mike Amesbury
- Manchester Art Gallery and Whitworth Art Gallery, Joint Director - Maria Balshaw (Chair)
- Manchester City Council, Director of Neighbourhood Services - Vicky Rosin
- Arts Council England – Sarah Maxfield
- Sport England - Chris Dodd
- Vision + Media - Paul Taylor
- English Heritage - Henry Owen-John
- Heritage Lottery Fund - Sara Hilton
- Marketing Manchester - Andrew Stokes
The Board is supported by two working groups:
1. The Performance and Intelligence Group
This group is responsible for monitoring performance against the cultural strategy and reviewing data collected by cultural service sectors.
Membership is drawn from the Council's cultural service departments and nominees from the Cultural Partnership Board, with Council officers holding responsibility for data.
2. The Community and Neighbourhood Advisory Group
This group is responsible for identifying issues which affect communities and neighbourhoods and informing the Cultural Partnership Board in the development of policy and strategy.
This will be established during 2010 and membership will be drawn from the Community Network, voluntary sector cultural organisations with nominees from regeneration partnerships and the Cultural Partnership Board.
Other Links
The Cultural Partnership is associated with a wide number of networks and forums which inform its work, including
- Cultural Ambition Steering Group
- Cultural Offer Advisory Board
- SPAA (Sports and Physical Activity Alliance)
- Manchester Arts Managers Forum
- Cultural Employers Forum
- Greater Manchester Creative and Digital Steering Group
The Cultural Forum
The Cultural Partnership is a virtual inclusive forum of all organisations and individuals involved in supporting and delivering cultural activities in Manchester. It offers
- network for partners across the cultural sector
- online presence and communciation
- regular series of events, seminars and workshops
To become a member of the Partnership and join the forum just contact us through the contacts page.
The Cultural Partnership will hold regular events to engage delivery partners across the sector, including an annual conference:
The first conference was held on 25th June 2010 at Band on the Wall and saw the official launch of the Cultural Ambition. The 2nd annual conference was held on 18th November 2011 at the People's Histroy Musuem, around the 'Community Inpsired theme' of the ambition. Subsequent conferences will address the other themes. Further information can be found in the conference section of the website and in the knowledge section.