Stoke Garden Design Covered in Magazine

This issue’s cover
star is the city’s 2014
garden design entry
for the RHS Chelsea
Flower Show.
7
BEST MOOCSFACTORYMAG PICKS OUT
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FACTORY EVENTSADVANCE NEWS OF THE
MAJOR AUTUMN EVENTS AND
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AT THE MITCHAN INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW
CEO OF THE MITCHELL ARTS
CENTRE IN STOKE-ON-TRENT
COVER STAR
POSITIVELY
STOKE-ON-TRENT
Picture:BartholemewLandscaping.Globe:MoorcroftPottery,Stoke-on-Trent.

CREDITS AND INFO
PUBLISHER:
Factory
Creative Industries Project.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Floor 3, Civic Centre, Glebe Street,
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 1HH
01782 231586
factory@stoke.gov.uk
stoke.gov.uk/factory
LAYOUTS:
David Haden
PHOTOS, IF NOT CREDITED:
David Haden
ARTICLES, IF NOT CREDITED:
David Haden
All copyrights are retained by their
respective originators.
Where opinion or ideas are
expressed, it is that of the authors,
and does not necessarily reflect
that of the publishers.
This is a quarterly publication with
ten issues. The content deadline
for the eighth issue is:
Monday 1 Sept 2014
SIGN UP FOR THE
FACTORY ALERT!
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soon as it is published. Simply
join the Factory emailing-list . . .
JUNE - AUG 2014
ISSUE 7
WELCOME to the seventh issue of a regular
quarterly publication for those working or
training in the creative industries in Stoke-on-
Trent and North Staffordshire. The publication
has been commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent
City Council to support this sector and promote
the business investment programmes funded
by the European Regional Development Fund,
Make It Your Business, and Factory.
If you would like to submit any articles for
consideration in our next edition please get in
touch before Monday 1 Sept 2014.
4
6
8
30
EVENTS LISTINGS
FACTORY: FACTORY FLOOR REPORT
FACTORY: FUTURE EVENTS PROGRAMME
FUNDING: “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”
10
14
20
INTERVIEW: ZOE PAPIERNIK
GARDEN DESIGN: POSITIVELY STOKE-ON-TRENT
SPOTLIGHT: 40 YEARS OF THE FILM THEATRE
24
28
SPOTLIGHT: ART & DESIGN GRADUATES
MOOCS: CREATIVE SUMMER SCHOOL, FOR FREE!
02

PARTNERS
UPFRONT
Welcome to the seventh (summer)
edition of FactoryMag, an online topical
magazine that has been specifically
produced for the benefit of the region’s
creative industries. The publication
focuses on the continued development
and delivery of the Factory business
support initiative and provides a diverse
range of opportunities and innovations
specific to business growth.
Finally the summer is here! It brings with
it a season of creative flair, imagination,
amateur dramatics and the hopes and
dreams of a nation. Yes, I do mean
the World Cup! But this summer also
hosts the final of the Youth Enterprise
Start-up competition. In which budding
entrepreneurs from across the region will
pitch their business ideas to a Dragons’
Den style panel, with a chance to receive
a share of £30,000 and an array of
specialist support. So get your fingernails
ready and take your position on the edge
of your seat in Stoke-on-Trent on 16 July,
as I’m sure both competitions will have
you hanging on right through to the final
minute.
For those of you actively avoiding
this summer’s football showdowns,
FactoryMag has been researching some
of the best free MOOCs (Massive Open
Online Courses) available. So why not
go to the coolest summer school at some
of the leading universities, online and for
free? For full details flip your way to page
28 and check out what’s available.
If you’re looking for an alternative to the
screens of your TV and PC , then why not
consider Stoke’s very own independent
film venue, the Stoke Film Theatre. This
September they are celebrating 40 years
of exceptional film screenings. They
offer an eclectic programme to suit all
film tastes and have a brand new digital
projection and Dolby Surround sound
infrastructure to compete with some of the
biggest multiplexes. So if you are a fan of
film, do check out their future screenings
at www.stokefilmtheatre.org.uk
Finally, for all of those who prefer a
more theatrical performance as their
viewing entertainment, FactoryMag
has an exclusive interview with Zoe
Papiernik. Zoe is the newly appointed
Chief Executive of the Mitchell Arts Centre.
Read all about Zoe’s previous experience
and why she wanted to lead one of the
most exciting venues in the City Centre.
I hope you enjoy this edition of the
FactoryMag, and all of the summer’s
festivities, and I look forward to seeing you
at a Factory event soon.
Marc Wootton.
Factory Project Manager,
Culture, Tourism and Events,
Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
03

25 JUNE 2014
Cyber Security
This ERDF funded evening
workshop at Staffordshire
University will explain how to
protect your business against
cyber crime and to detect it via
forensics. The intended audience
is firms “supplying goods and
services to other businesses”.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www. goo.gl/gU27Ra
26 JUNE 2014
Hello @ Social
Enterprise
Staffordshire
This free afternoon networking
event at Staffordshire University
is for recent and established
social enterprises and their
supporters in Staffordshire,
especially those who want
contacts in the world of charities
and other social enterprises.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/wQk056
10 JULY 2014
Factory:
Taking On An
Apprentice
Noel Dunne, Director of Creative
Alliance, will be talking about
what creative apprentices can do
for your creative business, and the
wage subsidy schemes available
via the UK government.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
16 JULY 2014
‘The Start-up’
Finals
An evening event for newly
established business less than
12 months old. See six finalists
in ‘The Start-Up’ competition
compete live for a share of
£30,000. Hear inspirational talks
from other entrepreneurs.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/CORtuO
26 JULY 2014
Crunch & Dust
This event may especially interest
recent creative graduates who
intend to stay in the city. It will be
“an opportunity for connectors
to get together and nurture a
network. At a presently secret
location in Stoke town, an event
called Crunch & Dust aims to
bring artists, musicians, creative
thinkers and local people together
for a day and night of art, music,
dancing and talking.”
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/tZDL2h
3 SEPTEMBER 2014
UKTI: Alternative
Routes to
Market
A UKTI Masterclass in choosing
the correct route to your
export market, using agents or
distributors, and licences and
collaborative arrangements. To
be held at Acton Trussell.
PRICE: £ 240
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/Oh363D
10 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory: Brand
Development
Learn the essential and practical
steps in brand development,
at this free Factory workshop.
2-5pm. (This will also run again
on 3 December 2014)
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
10 SEPTEMBER 2014
Grow North
Staffs
The annual enterprise and
business growth conference
organised by Stoke-on-Trent City
Council. Invitations will be sent
out to local firms soon, so keep
your diary free!
PRICE: £ Enquire
MORE INFORMATION:
business.growth@stoke.gov.uk
15 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory: How
To Attract Press
Interest
Learn the essential and practical
methods to attract the attention
of local and national journalists,
at this free Factory workshop.
on 8 December 2014)
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
events
creative networking
26 JULY 2014
CRUNCH & DUST
“An opportunity for connectors to get together and nurture a
network. At a presently secret location in Stoke town, an event called
Crunch & Dust aims to bring artists, creative thinkers and local people
together for a day and night of art, music, dancing and talking.”
MORE INFORMATION: www.goo.gl/tZDL2h
LOCATION: “presently secret”, Stoke-on-Trent.
04
EVENTS CALENDAR

18 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory: CRM
and Networking
Find out how networking can be
used to develop business and
access new markets, helping you
grow. Discover the fundamentals
of Client Relationship
Management (CRM), and how
they can be applied to your
business to increase productivity.
on 13 December 2014)
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
24 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory:
Assembly 2014
At this major one-day conference
you will hear about the latest
sector trends, developments in
new markets, fresh opportunities,
and how to grow your business.
This year’s theme is ‘the business
lifecycle’. Speakers from a variety
of sectors will share their unique
journeys through each stage of
their business development. Full
details will be released soon.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
25 SEPTEMBER 2014
BIC: Profit From
Innovation
This is a one day workshop
from Staffordshire BIC, on how
to use innovation to find viable
new markets and develop new
products. The venue is in Longton.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.thebic.co.uk/events/
26 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory:
New Product
Development
Learn the basics of researching
and developing a new product
to meet a market need. 2-5pm.
(This workshop will also run
again on 5 December 2014)
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
29 SEPTEMBER 2014
Factory: Build
Better Websites
Learn what website visitors need,
and how to give it to them in a
well designed and up-to-date
manner, at this free Factory
workshop. 2-5pm. (This will also
run again on 15 December 2014)
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
1 OCTOBER 2014
BIC: New
Product
Marketing
This one day workshop from
Staffordshire BIC will help you to
learn the research methods and
tactics needed for successful new
product launches. Includes free
workflow templates. The venue is
in Stafford.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
2 OCTOBER 2014
Factory: Your
Intellectual
Property (IP)
Learn about intellectual property,
and the practical steps to take
to protect it via copyright and
other means, at this free Factory
workshop. 2-5pm.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
14 OCTOBER 2014
Blogging
Mastered
This one day masterclass from
Destination Staffordshire is aimed
at those working in the tourism
and visitor attraction business.
Learn about content creation for
blogs and podcasts, how to keep
producting regular content, and
how to turn your online visitors
into customers. The venue is
Beechenhill in the Peak District.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/hPV2OF
15 OCTOBER 2014
Marketing To
The 50+
This one day event from
Learn how to talk to the age 50+
market in the UK, and encourage
them to book and visit with you.
The venue is in Stoke-on-Trent.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/VrjSPM
5 NOVEMBER 2014
BIC: What IP Do
You Own?
This workshop will give an
overview of intellectual property
and how it impacts on smaller
businesses. The venue is in
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
12 NOVEMBER 2014
Newsletters
Mastered
This one day event from
Learn how to create an e-mail
newsletter and use it to develop
and grow your business. The
venue is Keele University.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION:
www.goo.gl/XIpx3N
24 NOVEMBER 2014
North West
Women’s
Enterprise Day
Back for its fifth year in 2014,
this event is a major one day
conference with a practical
programme and networking
opportunities for women in
business. The conference venue
is Cranage Hall, near Crewe.
PRICE: £ 50 plus booking fee
MORE INFORMATION:
www.nwwe.org.uk
WANT TO SEE YOUR
2014 EVENT LISTING
HERE?
Please email your
event details to:
creative inspiration
16 JULY 2014
‘THE START-UP’, FINALS
EVENING
Hear inspirational talks from successful entrepreneurs, as finalists
compete for £30,000 in prize money! Network with other start-ups.
PRICE: £ Free
MORE INFORMATION: www.goo.gl/CORtuO
LOCATION: King’s Hall, Stoke-on-Trent.
05
EVENTS CALENDAR

24 SEPT: FACTORY
ASSEMBLY
Stoke-on-Trent’s second creative industries
conference. A free one-day event, not be missed.
Sign up with Factory now, for details in due course!
10 SEPT: GrowNorthStaffs
CONFERENCE
The annual enterprise and business growth
conference organised by Stoke-on-Trent City
Council. Invitations will be sent in due course,
keep your diary free!
FACTORY
16 JULY: ‘The Start-Up’,
FINALS EVENING
See six finalists compete live for a share of
£30,000 prize money plus other great prizes. Hear
inspirational talks from successful entrepreneurs.
In the late summer and autumn of 2014 Factory
and partners will deliver a range of events and
trips, in support of the creative industries in
Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.
LEARNING
Factory members can visit a
series of leading tradeshows
and cultural initiatives, this
coming autumn. Be sure to
register your interest soon, as
places will fill up very fast.
Photographs, from top, across spread: Ramnath Bat; William McInnes; David Haden; Stoke-on-Trent City Council;
stoke.gov.uk/factory
JOURNIES
06

Marcus Wemyss; Factory; Quinn Dombrowski.
To keep up to date with all
creative opportunities and
events, please subscribe to
the Factory mailing list:
SUMMER CRAFT FAIR
In partnership with the Make It Your Business
programme, Factory invites designer makers from
across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to showcase
their work at the first summer craft fair to be held in the
City Centre. A series of marquees will be prominently
positioned on Saturday 9 August 2014, enabling you
to sell work directly to potential customers. All stands
will be offered free! www.goo.gl/tDMpmx
£1,500 GRANT
Get up to £1,500 (match funded) to
spend on new business equipment.
See the “Show Me The Money!”
section, at the end of this magazine,
for full details.
Please note: this event is only for those
who are running a newly established
business less than 12 months old, or
those who are planning to start a new
enterprise. This is also an opportunity
to engage with enterprise support
services, and network with other new
business start-ups.
King’s Hall, Stoke-on-Trent
07

Factory held its quarterly
Factory Floor creative industries
networking event at the Burslem
School of Art, Stoke-on-Trent,
on Thursday 8 May 2014. Marc
Wootton of Factory introduced
Helen Palmer, Director of
Palmer Squared, cultural and
tourism marketing specialists.
Helen is also the Joint Head of
Marketing & Development for
the British Ceramics Biennial in
Stoke-on-Trent, and has worked
with all three Ceramics Biennial
events in the city. Helen gave a
talk on: “What branding really
means, why it’s important and
how branding can make a real
difference to your business”.
Helen began by pointing out
that most people think of the
consistent logo and the ‘visual
brand’ when they think of
marketing. Helengavea number
of such examples that she had
worked on. The rebranding of
the Stoke Your Fires film festival
sought to encapsulate the scale
and ambition of the event in the
visual communication for the
event. With a design agency
Helen had recently developed a
range of consistent Stoke Your
Fires marketing materials.
by the designers, and Helen had
to work with that, and to make
it work. It gets slightly adapted
for each festival, reflecting how
the brand is changing over the
years. But however flexible a
logo is, brands today are now
more than that just a logo.
Brands can also be people. As
an example Helen mentioned
her work with MrMasters, who
did fitting out work ahead of the
Biennial. He produces bespoke
work that always has an edge to
it. She discovered he also runs
whacky events, and she felt that
he is very much an example of
someone who “embodies his
brand”. Certainly the nature of
marketing is changing, with new
techniques being developed in
both business and politics to
devise messages that strongly
resonate with people. But
marketing is still a very human
Helen then turned to her major
work with the British Ceramics
Biennial (BCB) from 2008
onwards. She worked with a
design agency to help create
the identity of the Biennial.
The look had to be simple,
contemporary, and to stand out.
The strong magenta pink colour
for the Biennial was given to her
“Judiciously show
the build-up process
of each event to your
potential customers,
via social media...”
FACTORY FLOOR
08

activity. Soit’simportanttorealise
that you are your brand, and that
people who work with you are
your brand representatives. It’s
also important to realise that
marketing increasingly needs to
be a 360-degree activity. Every
‘touch point’ you have with
clients and customers has to be
consistent. A 360-degree brand
can also help you keep in touch
with potential and past clients,
who may one day buy from you
again. Helen felt that a good
example of ‘touch points’ was
to judiciously show the build-up
process of each event to your
potential customers, via social
media, to slowly raise their levels
of excitement and interest in you.
Helen talked of the tone of voice
needed when conversing with
your audience on social media.
It is vital to use a consistent cliché
free manner when talking with
your customers through social
media. To get the tone right, ask
yourself: what are your brand
values? Quality, accessibility,
speed, uniqueness, insight?
How can you embed these in the
tone of voice you use with social
media? Cow&Co was given as
an example of a “really nice”
tone of voice, via social media
and their newsletter. They also
hook their messages into timely
events, such as Easter, Father’s
Day, and suchlike. That’s a
technique which perhaps gets
overused, but it can be valuable
for those who are starting
out. Manchester City Football
Club get their voice right, and
as a consequence are seen as
very grassroots, as being “in
the city” rather than hovering
somewhere above it or outside
it. Learning what you’ve got that
people value is also important:
Manchester City give away
signed player shirts in exchange
for “the best picture” on social
media.
In the questions Helen was
asked for tips. “Never publish
your rates” was one. “Don’t
chase the money” was another.
You may not even need a logo,
if you can just consistently
demonstrate what you do.
Such as the BCB being able
to demonstrate measurably
changed opinions about the city.
Scott Grindey, from the
Competitive Intelligence Team
at Stoke-on-Trent City Council,
followed Helen Palmer’s talk.
Scott explained the full range
of market research and other
free business research services
available to all local businesses,
the full details of which can
be found in an article in the
previous issue of FactoryMag.
FACTORY EVENT REPORT
8 MAY 2014
Above: Helen Palmer, Director of Palmer Squared.
Above left: Helen talking to Scott Grindey, ahead
of the event. Pictures: Gillian Cale.
BY DAVID HADEN
09

POSITISTOKE-ON-TRENT
The city of Stoke-on-Trent entered a
bold and energetic garden design in
the 2014 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The city of Stoke-on-Trent’s innovative garden
design won a prestigious Silver-Gilt Flora award
in May 2014, at the world-renowned Chelsea
Flower Show. The Royal Horticultural Society
award was given to the “Positively Stoke-on-
Trent” garden designed by a Stoke-on-Trent
City Council team of horticultural workers.
The creative garden design was delivered
in detail and built on site by Bartholomew
Landscaping, aided by various staff from
Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Also on site to
assist were young apprentices from the city,
and from Rodbaston agricultural college in
Staffordshire. Despite heavy rain during the 18
day construction phase, the team strived ahead
with the job and finished on time.

IVELY
Picture: Bartholemew
Landscaping, of London

The Stoke-on-Trent garden was led for
the city council by Annita Gibson, Team
Manager for Landscape Development, and
attracted support from a range of industries
and services in the city. The team also
worked closely with other leading firms
from Staffordshire and around the UK. The
stainless steel arches feature, and the roof
support for the pavilion’s solar panels, were
supplied by PCT Engineering Ltd of Stoke-
on-Trent. The PCT steel arches also served to
support a remarkable Perspex water cascade
feature, which offered the illusion of an arc
of water magically curving through the air.
The fountain technology was supplied by
Fountains & Features Ltd of Oldham, and the
flow of water was powered by photovoltaic
panels on the pavilion roof. Thick clear
Perspex sheets from Perspex Distribution Ltd
and Talbot Designs of London were also used
to glaze the central pavilion. Talbot created
innovative bespoke tooling in order to mold
the Perspex sheets into a complex parabolic
cone shape, so as to match the clean, curved
lines of the garden. Behind the pavilion was
a background screen of trees, large Birch and
Taxus saplings grown at the specialist Van
den Berk Nurseries in the Netherlands.
Westmorland Green paving — 500 million
year old stone quarried in the Lake District
— supplied through Burlington Stone, was
used in the path to the pavilion. The stone
also served as heat-absorbing backs for the
seating. Local schools’ visions for the future
of the city were engraved directly into the
paving stones. The curves on the pavilion,
path and arches were echoed among the
informal foliage by the garden’s ceramic
globes, which were hand painted and finished
by Moorcroft Pottery of Stoke-on-Trent.
The completed garden offered an ensemble
of naturally energetic lines, solar power
water flows, and high tech materials. These
reflected the current technological revolution
in new materials and shape design, the
successful exploration of which is now vital to
the future of the city’s ceramics industry.
Planting colours offered a graduation
among the flowers from white informal roses
through to natural pinks and rich wine colours
with more formality. The abundance of
meadow grassland habitat in Stoke-on-Trent
was evoked by the lush planting of dark pink-
red peonies and washes of tall native grasses
and clovers surrounding the pool and its
steel arches. Three varieties of white English
roses bred by the veteran Staffordshire rose
breeder David Austin added final flourishes,
with their heads rising above the swathes of
lower planting. Taken together the garden’s
plantings gave a glimpse of how all cities
will one day look in summer, as they take
up ideas of sustainable and edible planting,
green walls and roofs, urban woodlands
and meadows, new parks, and ecosystem
restoration along greenways and waterways.
Teenager Lewis Millington, of Brown Lees
in Stoke-on-Trent, was among the group who
worked to create the garden. Lewis recently
completing level two of his apprenticeship.
“It’s a good learning curve to see how the
gardens are put together,” the 17-year-old
said; “It will increase my knowledge of new
plants along with picking up more skills in
horticulture.”
Fellow council worker Carlo Marchionne,
aged 54, who is currently studying a level
two in horticulture, said: “I’ve got plenty of
experience planting bedding and things like
that, but you don’t get many chances to build
something like this — and at Chelsea as well.”
Barry Burrows, the lead Chelsea site worker
from Bartholomew Landscaping, said: “It
has been a delight working for the people
of Stoke-on-Trent on this garden – I feel so
proud to be representing a city with so much
energy and drive.”
Local children played their part in the
delivery of the garden. Molly Bishop and Cory
Stone, both age 13, travelled from Thistley
Hough Academy school in the city to act as
ambassadors from the city. Classes of pupils
from Thistley Hough Academy also visited
Moorcroft Pottery of Stoke-on-Trent, to see
the garden’s ceramic globes being made.
Roses and selected other flowers will be
replanted in the Queens Park in Longton,
Stoke-on-Trent, during summer 2014.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show ran from 20 to
24 May 2014. www.goo.gl/nE2lZI
012

Top picture: Karen Roe. Other pictures; Bartholemew Landscaping.
“the garden’s
ceramic globes
were hand painted
and finished by
Moorcroft Pottery
of Stoke-on-Trent.“
Above: Moorcroft globe on the site. Below:
Moorcroft globe being created in Stoke-on-
Trent. Left, centre: workers celebrating on
completing the building of the garden. Left,
bottom: water cascading across Perspex.
013

ZOE PAP
David Haden talks arts marketing with the new
CEO at the Mitchell Arts Centre. ‘The Mitch’ is
located in the City Centre of Stoke-on-Trent.
014

David Haden: Zoe, congratulations on recently
becoming the new Chief Executive of the Mitchell
Arts Centre in Stoke-on-Trent City Centre, moving
from your former role as Head of Marketing at The
Lowry gallery in Salford. But you grew up in the
city, I understand?
Zoe Papiernik: Oh yes, I consider myself a
local girl, with my roots firmly cemented in the
area. As a child I spent nearly every Saturday in
the Potteries Museum, usually getting lost in the
costume and natural history collections! But by
the time I was heading off to University, it was the
pull of the stories behind the museum’s objects
and artwork which really interested me. That was
what led to my study of Art History, and then
Museum Studies.
DH: And then you took a strong interest in
audience development, reaching new audiences
via marketing and other means?
Zoe: Yes, I started my career at a time where
there was considerable investment in access to
the arts, and a focus on how the arts should offer
something to everyone. So that fuelled my interest
in audience development work, and wanting
to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to
experience high quality arts. I still believe that
the arts can have a very positive influence in a
person’s life, but as I’ve got older I realise that not
every engagement has to be life changing. It’s just
as important to have an enjoyable experience, or
to see something that makes you think or talk
about a subject in a new way. It can be momentary
or long-term.
DH: Before Salford you were Head of Audience
Development at Wolverhampton Arts & Heritage,
covering four arts venues in the city for seven
years. Do you see similarities between Stoke and
Wolverhampton?
Zoe: Wolverhampton is like a second home
to me. I found an honesty and openness in the
people there, that reminded me so much of
Stoke-on-Trent. As post-industrial conurbations
both places have a shared history. The impact of
PIERNIK
The Mitchell Arts Centre
offers an air conditioned
304-seater theatre
auditorium; meeting rooms;
a dance studio; and a new
licensed Cafe Bar. It opened
in 1957 and quickly became
the main venue for amateur
dramatic societies and the
home for theatrical youth
groups. The entire building
was fully refurbished a few
years ago, with funding
from UK Government,
the Coalfields Trust, and
the National Lottery.
The Mitchell welcomes
enquiries from volunteers,
youth groups, business
sponsors, and conference
organisers.
Picture:WolverhamptonMuseums
015

Zoe: There certainly isn’t a magic formula
and wouldn’t things be boring if there were!
One of the exciting things about working with
people is we’re all slightly unpredictable. Of
course there’s the ‘common sense’ things,
the usual practicalities that we need to bear
in mind when programming or delivering a
project. Working at The Lowry meant I had
access to huge amounts of audience data,
and through this you do start to see patterns
emerging. But any arts professional must
remember that there are always nuances, and
audiences are often contradictory in how they
think they behave and how they actually do
behave. In terms of proven strategies, those
are pretty simple: read between the lines
(data, research, consultation); don’t be afraid
to ask (the public, peers); and stick to your
goals — it’s easy to get caught up in other
people’s agendas.
DH: At Wolverhampton you had the major
collection of Pop Art paintings and prints
in the main gallery, including famous Andy
Victorian philanthropy meant that cultural
provision in both cities was and continues to
be excellent. However engagement in the arts
in both Stoke-on-Trent and The Black Country
are currently within the bottom twenty places
in England. This statistic should be surprising,
given the richness of the cultural offers. So
that lack indicates that something isn’t
working as well as it should be.
DH: Or perhaps it’s partly that these
regions retain a certain strength in terms of
autonomous culture and tastes. I was once
at an Arts Council event in Birmingham
where a TV executive caused a bit of a stir
by revealing that TV companies had good
metrics showing strong regional variations
in taste, at least in terms of TV viewing. That
was circa 2005, and judging by the audience
grumbling I think it upset a ‘one size fits all’
assumption about how public arts work.
Zoe: One size certainly doesn’t fit all. As
consumers we’ve got used to choice, and
having access to something which meets our
individual needs. So as arts professionals
we need to start to look for themes, for
similarities, anything, which connects
people. From my experience, these days the
influence of popular culture and the media
does increasingly shape a lot of the general
public’s artistic tastes. Wolverhampton’s
two most successful exhibitions, in terms of
visitor numbers, were: Thunderbirds Are Go!
The Worlds of Gerry Anderson, back in 1992
— that was back in the days of the famous
Blue Peter model and Matchbox Thunderbirds
toys; and the 2012 From The Tiger who Came
to Tea to Mog & Pink Rabbit; A Judith Kerr
Retrospective. Both those exhibitions had
very differing artistic values, compared to say
a cutting-edge contemporary art show. But
measuring quality is a very difficult thing to
do, it’s subjective to the audience.
DH: What would you say are the top three
concrete strategies that you’ve found ‘really
do work’, in terms of encouraging people in a
working class city to freshly engage with an
arts venue or arts experience? Or is there no
formula, is it always that the appeal needs to
be tailored to a variety of factors?
016

Warhol works. At the Lowry you had the
hugely popular ‘matchstick men’ paintings
of Lowry. Can The Mitchell have something
similarly useful, for audience engagement?
Zoe: Having great collections like those is
always going to help to draw attention and
interest. But that art got created, and that
creation process can happen anywhere, then
a few decades down the line it’s bringing
in coachloads of tourists. Sometimes it
even gets rediscovered: look at how the
Staffordshire Hoard continues to spark such
excitement internationally. For The Mitchell
Arts Centre — or ‘The Mitch’ as we like to
call it — understanding the heritage of the
building is a valuable asset. In my short time
here I have seen firsthand how it emotionally
connects to people, I’ve seen people have
been moved to tears when visiting for the
first time in 30 years, and I’ve listened to
how it made a lasting impression on their
life. Although we’re looking to the future, this
heritage is also important.
DH: Historic emotional connections as
‘collection’. I like that idea.
Zoe: One of the projects we’re currently
fundraising for is to tell the story of ‘The
Mitch’ and our relationship to R. J. Mitchell
and of course to his famous Spitfire airplane
design from the Second World War. And
working with the Potteries Museum we’re
aiming to play our part in retelling an
important piece of modern history that has its
foundations in the city.
DH: What have been your most interesting
projects to date? Or interventions, or
‘challenges that became opportunities’?
Zoe: One of the most interesting projects
I worked on was to increase the number of
C2DE (working class) audience members
engaging with museums. We worked on this
across the West Midlands, with an integrated
strategy that covered all aspects of our
museums. It was a huge success, with all
partners exceeded our targets for increasing
C2DE visitors. But unusually there were
“ensuring that you meet your existing audience’s needs is as
important as meeting those of the new” — Zoe Papiernik
The roof of the Cafe Bar at The Mitchell Arts Centre is
based on R. J. Mitchell’s design for the Spitfire wing.
017

exactly the same number of people visiting
the venues overall. Which puzzled us. What
had in fact happened was that we had simply
replaced our regular audiences with our new
ones! By putting all of our energies into new
audiences, we forgot to communicate with
our existing ones! The biggest shock was
the decline in cups of tea being sold in our
museum cafes. It sounds simple, but ensuring
that you meet your existing audience’s needs
is as important as meeting those of the new, a
lesson that always stays with me.
DH: Is it possible to measure the long-
term outcomes from such engagements and
encounters? I know it’s difficult to get funding
to follow impact through in the long-term, once
a project finishes. But sometimes people come
back to you and say: “you changed my life”.
Zoe: I was really fortunate to see some great
examples of this. We had a young man who
started to hang out at some of our events, and
we encouraged him to come along to our youth
artforum. He had come to the UK seeking
asylum and had dreams of going to University
to study a B.A. degree in Graphic Design. Over
the course of two years he built his confidence
through engaging in our youth artforum.
Following this we offered him some paid work
as a junior graphic designer, and in 2012 he
successfully got a place at the prestigious
Central Saint Martins in London, which he was
finally able to take up.
DH: Is “femininity a marketing strategy”
for culture, in terms of smoothing away the
rough industrial legacy of a city? I’ve heard
that said, of places such as the rough port city
of Rotterdam, and Belfast. I suppose the risk
there is that some unimaginative people could
take that to mean: “the cultural offer must be
family friendly, business as usual”.
Zoe: It comes down to a couple of things,
ensuring that the cultural ecology of a city is
balanced and knowing who your audiences
are. For the cultural ecologies of a place to
work, it means having a varied offer that
connects to different people. I agree there
has been a big movement toward meeting
the demands of families, they are powerful
consumer group and have a lot of influence.
DH: And the UK’s ‘new baby boom’, now
becoming the ‘new under-5s boom’, is
understandably a strong factor in that.
Zoe: However, ensuring that there are
options for all sorts of people, their interests
and their levels of engagement, is vital. ‘The
Mitch’ is a family and youth charity, so it’s part
of our remit to promote family friendliness.
But youth theatre performances are not for
everyone, and for some I think it’s been seen
as a quick fix.
DH: So there may be scope to do more.
Talking of ‘more’, just a few yards up
the hill from the Mitchell is the AirSpace
contemporary art gallery, which has a strong
focus on intellectually challenging work from
young Fine Art graduates. Are there synergies
between the Mitchell and AirSpace, that might
be explored? Is creativity a way that the very
different types of young people at these two
venues can ‘speak the same language’?
Zoe: Arts language is a huge barrier. I
remember being asked, during my interview
at The Lowry: how I would find the transition
between visual and performing arts. I said
it all came down to language and knowing
how to learn it and how to use it. The UK arts
research shows that — apart from a small
number of very culturally engaged people
— there isn’t very much cross over between
visual and performing arts audiences. They
have different motivations for engaging with
the arts, and with this comes a difference in
language. AirSpace does do a really great job
of meeting the demands of a contemporary
art literate audience, and that’s an important
part of the cultural ecology of the city — as
the percentage of graduates here increases.
But there are always opportunities to
connect, at the moment we’re supporting
an artist residency with AirSpace, which is
looking at the old ABC Cinema site, which
is sandwiched between the two venues and
currently unused scrubland. Ideally you
introduce contemporary arts to a performing
arts audience in a way that means it’s on the
audience’s terms, in a venue they trust and
that they already have a dialogue with. The
rest is just words.
018

DH: How do you see the Mitchell engaging
with the autonomous media and cultural
activities in the city? I mean those that are not
generally public or publically funded. Which
are grassroots and ‘just happen’ in strong
communities, albeit with lots of untracked
volunteer hours put into them.
Zoe: It’s important for ideas and projects
to manifest and develop outside of an
area’s governance structure. But often
those grassroots projects and groups then
emerge over time to influence local policy, as
audiences demand changes and need new
types of arts and cultural provision. However I
don’t think professional organisations should
shy away from carefully collaborating with
grassroots organisations, because we often
have useful access to different resources and
experiences. Ultimately it becomes a trade.
DH: What do you see as the role of business
in outreach and accessibility work, in a working
city of this type? Can firms do more than offer a
£1,000 cheque to boost the marketing budget?
If so, what works in that regard?
Zoe: The best examples I’ve seen are
where businesses can offer their specialist
knowledge. This is often far more valuable
than money, although that does help too!
We had a great partnership with local firm of
solicitors, Manby Bowdler. We pulled together
a programme of lunchtime talks for their staff,
which helped them to manage stress levels.
In turn we had access to advice and money
to help us build our daytime trade. Local
companies are a critical part of any outreach
strategy, by giving us direct access to their
staff and customers, it allows you to build a
relationship on their terms.
DH: Stoke-on-Trent is surrounded by affluent
places: Buxton and Leek; Keele and parts
of Newcastle-under-Lyme; South Cheshire;
Shrewsbury; and Stone, Trentham and
Barlaston. But sometimes the people there
don’t view our city in a very positive light. How
can we get them in, to enjoy the City Centre’s
culture and arts?
Zoe: Well, changing made-up minds isn’t just
going to be achieved with a marketing exercise.
Communication is key, of course. But it has to
extend beyond this, to change perceptions,
which are often embedded throughout
a lifetime. It’s not just about perceptions
from outside the city either, as local people
aren’t ones to gloss over their views. With a
consistent approach, we can all start to make
small differences. But places like ‘The Mitch’
can help in practical ways. For instance, by
bringing in talented performers and quality
touring companies we help to reinforce the
message that companies from the rest of the
UK are happy to come here, they know we
give them great audiences.
DH: Yes, and that’s not always the case
elsewhere. Theatre people have long said
that some of the best audiences you can
have are to be found in Stoke-on-Trent and
Wolverhampton. Where would you like to
see the ‘cultural offer’ of the city centre in ten
years’ time, and what role do you hope that
the Mitchell might play in taking us there?
Zoe: Stoke has already achieved a really
great cultural provision, with much of that
coming from the artists and the grassroots.
But in 10 years it would be nice to think that
we have an engaged local audience and
we’re not trailing along in the bottom 20 in
England. One of my goals at ‘The Mitch’ is to
attract smaller touring companies, some of
whom have traditionally bypassed the city,
leapfrogging over us to Derby or Buxton. But
for this to be sustainable we will need to build
local people’s appetite for small-scale theatre.
Going to see something intimate — where
you can see a performer’s finest expressions
and feel up close to the action — is one of
the major attractions there. That’s especially
true when you see theatre companies and
performers in the early stages of their careers,
which can be something quite special. By
focusing on work with children and young
people at the Mitchell we hope to provide
lifelong engagement with the arts, and an
appreciation of culture that we hope our
audiences will pass onto their children.
DH: Zoe, thank you.
The Mitchell Arts Centre is online at:
www.mitchellartscentre.co.uk
019

YEARSOF THE STOKE
FILM THEATRE
The Stoke Film Theatre is celebrating
its 40th birthday in September. The Film
Theatre was established in September
1974, a time of great vitality in world
cinema, and it has continued to thrive.
The Film Theatre is located at the edge
of the Staffordshire University campus
in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, where it
serves as the public ‘art house’ cinema
for both the campus and the city. It is
committed to showing a wide range of
films to the public, without the need for
any membership or university affiliation.
Anyone is welcome, not just students and
their lecturers.
The Theatre’s regular schedule is split
into three parts: the Main Programme,
Screen Monday and Screen Wednesday.
The Main Programme comprises new
films. These can be independent and
foreign language, or films which have
seen a wide release. Tickets cost £6, or £5
for a concessions ticket.
Screen Monday showings are free and
vary in content. The latest Monday season
was in tribute to the late Philip Seymour
Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War and
others).
Screen Wednesday, which is also free,
offers an outlet for the Staffordshire
Film Archive which was founded by
Ray Johnson MBE and is situated in
How well does this
contemporary cinema
serve film fans today?
Jack Hawkins, a student
at Staffordshire University,
investigates for FactoryMag.
021

Film Archive shows carefully curated themed
selections of vintage home movies and old
newsreel and TV footage, all related to the
history of Stoke-on-Trent or Staffordshire.
This range of programming regularly offers
adults a wealth of opportunities to see the
interesting, original and challenging cinema
that is currently being produced. In the past
couple of years the Film Theatre has had
packed audiences for The Hunt, Captain
Phillips, 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, The Act of
Killing, Rush and Blue Jasmine, to name only a
few from the Main Programme.
These screenings could not run without the
efforts of the volunteer team, many of whom
are veterans of the art of cinema programme
curation. A key volunteer is Grace Jordan, who
has worked with her husband John Jordan at
the Film Theatre in a voluntary capacity for 40
years. She said: “The Film Theatre evolved
from The North Staffordshire Film Society
in September 1974. It’s a non-profit charity
organisation run largely by volunteers, the
only paid members being manager Alexandra
Scott and administrator Gill Yates. There are
eight teams of volunteers, each with six people.
They run the front-of-house, manage ticket
sales and run the bar. We also have several
volunteer projectionists. Our anniversary is
in September, we plan to celebrate this with a
collection of films that were shown way back in
1974.”
Peter Hames has been a governor of the
Stoke Film Theatre since 1974 and was also
the head programmer at the cinema for over
30 years. Peter, who now lives just south of
the city in the town of Stone, was also involved
in the creation of the B.A. (Hons.) Film Studies
degree course at Staffordshire University.
Peter said: “It’s the function of the Film Theatre
to provide a considerably wider range of
films than others do, both in terms of country
of origin and in terms of subject matter.
Commercial cinema is there to maximise profit
and is therefore not going to experiment with
unusual or foreign language cinema — and this
is where places like our theatre come in”.
Peter said: “Originally the Film Theatre was
set up in association with the British Film
Institute (BFI), which advised on film availability
Peter Hames has been a Stoke Film Theatre
governor since 1974, and a head programmer
for over thirty years.
and programme selection. We’ve also always
had an advisory programming committee.
The booking of films is done through the
Independent Cinema Office, which negotiates
directly with film distributors. Peter said:
“There have been occasional problems with
distributors, but generally relations have been
okay.”
The Stoke Film Theatre is now part of the
Europa Cinemas Group (ECG), which is a
theatrical release network that focuses on
handling European cinema. ECG is a vast
organisation comprising 1,182 cinemas and
3,194 screens in 682 cities in 69 countries.
Europa’s objective is to provide ‘operational
and financial support’ to cinemas like the
Stoke Film Theatre, art house cinemas that are
committed to screening European films.
Peter specialises in Slavic cinema, having
written a scholarly book titled Czech and
Slovak Cinema: Theme and Tradition
(Edinburgh University Press, 2010). He is
also the Russian and Eastern European film
programme advisor for the BFI London Film
festival. When asked about his favourite films,
Peter named the five films he selected for
Sight and Sound magazine’s ‘best films of all
time’ in 2010: The Man in the White Suit (UK),
The Searchers (USA), A Tale of Tales (Russian
animation), Celine and Julie Go Boating
(France), Daisies (the old Czechoslovakia).
022

But like so many film fans, he finds such a
small number just isn’t enough: “I estimate
that I would have to select at least 60 with a
claim to being representative of ‘the best of
cinema’”.
Student volunteers also help keep the
cinema running, providing a valuable real
world training opportunity for future arts venue
workers. Volunteer Beth Walton is one such.
Beth said: “I have been a volunteer at the Film
Theatre for two years now, but I have been an
audience member for about eight. I work in
the box office selling tickets and occasionally
on the bar which is what all the volunteers do,
apart from the projectionists, who only project.
But I also keep the Facebook page and Twitter
feed up to date with what is going on, along
with one other volunteer. I have also been able
to program a couple of our Screen Monday
seasons. Every Monday night we show a
film for free, in seasons of four or five based
around a theme, usually an actor or a director.
Back in September 2013 we had Monday of
the Dead which was really fun. I’ve met so
many great people through volunteering at the
Film Theatre and I count a couple of them as
some of my best friends”.
In 1974 the Stoke Film Theatre was launched
at a critical time in world cinema. The powerful
films of the late 1960s and 70s — dubbed the
‘New Hollywood’ — introduced audiences to
levels of realism in sex and violence that had
seldom been seen before. British film fans
were also exposed to new open attitudes to
sexuality in films from Scandinavia, Japan,
and Italy. As a consequence the UK saw
many long-running and bitter battles over film
censorship, battles that continued to rumble
on until they were finally exhausted in the
early 1990s. Today the main complaint is that
contemporary cinema has become excessively
commercialised, loud and empty — such as the
Transformers series of blockbusters — while
some of the harshest criticism is to be heard
being levelled at the confectionery and drinks
prices in multiplex cinemas. But the latter
is not a problem at the Stoke Film Theatre,
and they even sell alcohol at student friendly
prices! Another refreshing change from the
local multiplex is that no plot-spoiling trailers
are shown for other films, and no adverts are
ever shown!
The Film Theatre can also ‘hold its own’ with
the local multiplex in terms of technology. To
conform to industry standards it has been
fitted with 35mm digital projection and Dolby
Digital audio technology at a cost of around
£50,000.
So if you’re a fan of fine cinema on the big
screen, perhaps someone who has become
disillusioned with the annoyances and
high prices of the local multiplex, then rest
assured that the Stoke Film Theatre is a place
filled with like-minded patrons who go to the
cinema to actually watch a film! It remains
a jewel in the cultural fabric of the city, and
— as a long-running art house cinema —
its continued existence instantly helps to
establish our cultural credentials around the
world.
Stoke Film Theatre:
www.stokefilmtheatre.org.uk
Staffordshire Film Archive:
www.filmarchive.org.uk
School of Film, Sound and Vision,
Staffordshire University
www.goo.gl/MSsB0B
The Film Theatre is available as a 212-seat
venue for small conferences and similar
events, and benefits from being only a
hundred yards from the city’s intercity train
station. For conference related enquiries
contact: hospitality@staffs.ac.uk

SHOW
FactoryMag showcases some of the fresh talent
on display at Show & Tell 2014, the Staffordshire
University degree graduation shows in Art,
Design and Media.
024

W13 to 21 June 2014
025
Left: Stackable wood/
ceramic/rope containers,
from Samantha Jayne
Bryan (‘Sami Jayne’) who
is graduating from B.A. 3D
Design, Crafts. Sami is from
Stoke-on-Trent, and told
FactoryMag she intends to
stay in the city.
www.goo.gl/h09llf
Right: STEM office water
cooler with plant terrariums,
from George Sawyer who is
graduating in B.A. Product
Design. STEM is produced
with environmentally
friendly innovative materials
including Zeoform.
www.goo.gl/vPXwz1

Each June the graduation shows at
Staffordshire University’s Stoke-on-
Trent campus celebrate the work of
over 300 students who have gained
awards from the wide range of art,
design and media production degree
courses. These include a number of
unique courses such as Stop Motion
Animation and Puppet-making, which
is the only such degree in the UK. Also
unique in the UK is the Cartoon &
Comics Arts degree, which produced its
first cohort of graduates in 2014. The
University can be congratulated for
taking the UK lead on keeping these
vibrant traditional art forms infused with
trained fresh talent. The graduation
shows also featured a wealth of digital
talent in advertising, film, and screen
media — which is best seen as video at:
www.vimeo.com/98143115
This page, top left: Will Teal, B.A.
Graphic Design: wrapper design and
print for “Pure Filth” bathroom scrubs.
Amy Jones, B.A. Textiles Surface: girls’
hoop skirt and coloured wire animals.
Stop-motion character from the 2014
graduating class in B.A. Stop Motion
Animation and Puppet-making.

The new B.A. (Hons.)
Cartoon & Comics Arts
degree produced its first
graduates in June 2014. Some
of their work is seen on this
page, and the students are also
pictured (right) in New York City,
on a class trip to the USA for the
New York comics convention in 2013.
From top left: Officers of Spades
cover by Bryony “Nigel” Morey;
Bedroom scene by Claire Smith;
Typing panels by Alice Urbino.

SCHOOL’FactoryMag selects from the massive open courses (MOOCs) this summer.
Go to the coolest summer school at leading universities, online and for free!
PROVIDER: San Jacinto College.
FOCUS: Learn “the tools of the
trade” for effective English writing.
COURSE LENGTH: 5 weeks.
STARTS: end June 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/EhlIL9
PROVIDER: Emory University.
FOCUS: How we hear sound, and
how that shapes how we record it.
STARTS: 21 July 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/UFgMms
PROVIDER: UNC-Chapel Hill.
FOCUS: Learn how information
gets tagged and how to use tags.
WEB: www.goo.gl/RsXgMP
PROVIDER: Ohio State University.
FOCUS: Activities to help you learn
the basics of persuasive writing.
STARTS: 15 September 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/eMZ6NH
PROVIDER: Penn State University.
FOCUS: Use creative ‘geodesign’
to connect information to people.
STARTS: August 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/PpZGFb
Picture: rishi1592
Picture:Arend
Crafting an
effective
writer
Introduction to
digital sound
design
Metadata:
organising and
discovering
information
Writing II:
rhetorical
composing
Geodesign:
change your
world
PROVIDER: University of Edinburgh.
FOCUS: Theory of music for
beginners, plus how to write music.
STARTS: July 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/BhoA6h
Picture: Geoff MacIntosh
Fundamentals
of music theory
Picture: rishi1592
Picture: Horia Varlan
028

PROVIDER: LMU Munich.
FOCUS: Examine competitive
situations and find solutions.
STARTS: end June 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/Lz0f9c
Picture:BlenderFoundation
Advanced
competitive
strategy
MOOCs are a new form of
education that is rapidly being
taken up by the academic
world. They provide free open
online educational courses
that anyone can sign up for
and take. You don’t have to
be at the provider’s university,
you can take the course from
anywhere as long as you have
a fast Internet connection.
A MOOC is usually taught
via video lectures, webinars, a
reading list, online tests, and
online Skype discussions.
They can range from a taster
course of just a few weeks, to
a full 10 week course with a
certificate of completion.
Since May 2014 a few UK
universities (Edge Hill, and
Lancashire) are offering
degree credits for completing
a reputable certified MOOC.
Major free MOOC providers:
www.coursera.org (Stanford, Yale, Princeton, USA)
www.edx.org (MIT, Harvard, USA)
www.futurelearn.com (Open University, UK)
www.openuped.eu (Various, EU and Israel)
’S OUT!
PROVIDER: University of Leeds.
FOCUS: Commercial innovation
from ideas to market realities.
STARTS: 15 September 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/CO48jr
PROVIDER: The Open University.
FOCUS: Create and deliver confident
presentations and speeches.
WEB: www.goo.gl/LloHh8
Picture:TreeHouseGroup
Innovation: the
key to business
success
How to give a great
presentation
Starting a business:
realise your vision
PROVIDER: University of Leeds.
FOCUS: Explore the complexities
of starting a new UK business.
STARTS: 30 June 2014.
WEB: www.goo.gl/ey8cEs
Picture:PARK
Picture: Department of Business, UK
029

THEATRE BOOST
COULD BE £120m
FACTORY: SMALL
CAPITAL GRANTS
FUNDS FOR YOUR
LOCAL ARTS EVENT
You could claim up to £1,500
of cash help with developing
your business! The final round
of Factory grant funding opens
on 7 July, with a closing date
of 8 Sept 2014. Factory’s
Creative Industries SME Small
Capital Grant Scheme is able
to provide up to 50% match
funding (with a cap of £1,500)
as a grant to eligible local
businesses in the creative
industries sector. A capital
grant means one that it is
meant to enable the purchase
of specialist tools, equipment
or software, specifically meant
to delivery your core business
or to develop new products or
markets. This grant scheme
is only available to companies
registered with the Factory
service.
www.goo.gl/V2nMwz
The Arts Council funded
programme Appetite is now
working in partnership with
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
to run a £30,000 Community
Festival and Event Fund. This
is set to help local groups to
deliver community focused
festivals and arts events in
Stoke-on-Trent. Round 2 of this
fund is set to open in July 2014,
with an application deadline of
22September2014. Successful
applicants can receive a grant
of up to £1,500. In exceptional
circumstances, the panel may
award extra funding for a
high quality event with a wide
impact on Stoke-on-Trent.
For those outside the city, the
county of Staffordshire offers
grants via the Staffordshire
Community Arts Fund.
Applications for up to £800 are
welcome, to run an arts activity
or event in Staffordshire “which
benefits the community,
widens participation and
promotes accessibility.“ The
date of the next deadline for
the Staffordshire fund is 20
December 2014.
Appetite: www.goo.gl/MrUyrS
Staffordshire: www.goo.gl/hd7Wne
money!”
The Chair of Arts Council
England, Peter Bazalgette, has
said that the government’s
new tax breaks for UK theatre
productions could be worth
£120 million over the next few
years.Bazalgettewasspeaking
at the annual meeting of UK
Theatre, the industry’s trade
organisation. The new tax
breaks are planned to be fully
introduced sometime this
autumn and are expected to
benefit regional commercial
theatre by £100 million and
touring productions by £20
million. Regional touring
theatres are expected to see a
large benefit from the scheme,
and such productions will be
able to claim 25% tax reliefs on
production costs. Theatrical
dance and opera will also be
eligible for the credits.
www.goo.gl/XGm2pX
“Show me the
Picture: WIKIMEDIA
030

£150,000 CREATIVE
ENGLAND LOANS
£150m ‘POWER TO
CHANGE’ FUND
£100m ENDOWMENT
MATCH CHALLENGE
The new Endowment Match
Challenge aims to raise £100
million in donations through
individual and corporate
philanthropy in the UK.
Donations received will be
matchedwith£50millionofUK
government investment. The
aim is that these endowment
fundswillthencontinuetogrow
over the life of the programme,
to ensure sustainable funding
for communities in the years to
come.
Endowment funds are funds
which their trustees are legally
required to sustainably invest
and use only for the fund’s
original stated purpose. This
purpose might be supporting
local creatives or providing
training or research bursaries.
Setting up an endowment
fund could also benefit a
company, and the same UK
government match funding
arrangement is available to
business donors.
Management of the funds
will be by the Community
Development Foundation,
aided by the UK government’s
Office for Civil Society.
www.goo.gl/MsXsmq
Picture:Ed Murray
Creative England is offering
interest free business loans
of up to £150,000 to support
creative and digital businesses
across the English regions.
Businesses based in the West
Midlands will be able to apply
for a loan of between £60,000
and £150,000 which is then
repaid over three years. The
loanrepaymentsinthefirstyear
are minimal, and then followed
by 24 equal repayments over
the final 2 years. The loan
must be matched 50:50 with
other finance, sourced by the
business.
Ambitious and flexible new
creative digital services appear
to be most likely to succeed,
and genuine regional job
creationwilllikelybeadeciding
factor for all applications.
Creative England Business
Loans are funded via the
Regional Growth Fund and the
UK Government’s Department
for Business, Innovation and
Skills. Applications will be
assessed on a rolling basis,
and there is no set application
deadline to meet.
www.goo.gl/aqJJGx
The Big Lottery Fund has
announced that it will launch
a new £150 million fund to
support the development of
sustainable community-led
enterprises. The Fund will aim
to support local communities
to use creative enterprise-
led approaches to improve
their local neighbourhoods
and town centres. These
could range from small-scale
enterprise right up to large-
scale asset management and
ownership, of the sort now
enabled by the government’s
Community Asset Transfer
scheme. The new Fund could
also include social enterprises
with ambitious plans to use
former commercial spaces to
incubate social enterprises
and cultural training activities.
The ‘Power to Change’
fund will be delivered by an
independent Trust and is set
to be launched in the autumn
of 2014. Over the next seven
months from June existing
community enterprises will
be given special peer-learning
help to prepare for making
applications to the Fund.
www.goo.gl/WWEI9s
Picture: BIG LOTTERY FUND
Picture: OWEN BENSON
PICTURE:Sarodeo
Picture: J. D. mack
031

‘Oatcakes!’ is a new feature-length
documentary film, made in the Potteries.
To be released on Oatcake Day,
8 August 2014.
Director: Robert Burns.
Producer: Toby DeCann.
Production company: The 7th Town.
Original artwork (above) by Sid Kirkham.
www.facebook.com/THE7THTOWN

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