Dual Use Arts Strategy: Partnerships with Community Colleges

Background – Making tight budgets go further

In September 2003 the rural area of South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) introduced a dual use arts strategy (DUAS). Unlike its sports equivalent, whichfocused on the shared useof school facilities’ outside school time, the DUAS prioritised extending the work of the Village Colleges (secondary schools) into a range of community-facing arts activities.

The partnership agreementbetween the District Council andthe VillageColleges is unique in the UK. The DUASis nota centrally managed arts programmethatdelivers arts to the community but astrategic partnershipapproach that discovers and promotes arts within the communities it serves.

Thestrategy prioritises increased participation in arts activity - led by voluntary organisations and professional artists - and aims to strengthen local arts networks, improve communication andincrease the quality and frequency of arts experiences. This isachieved through the appointment of key local staff known as Arts Development Managers (ADMs).

ADMs are employed by village colleges and report to the principal but part of the post funding comes from the District Council, giving ADMs the wider community remit. This partnership is reviewed annually and signed off against an agreed action plan to meet local strategic aims with an additional two meetings throughout the year to monitor progress. Some ADMS work for one college and others work between two colleges. The ADMs meet as a group with the District Council officer once a month to plan district wide initiatives.

There are currently five ADMs in South Cambridgeshire, working out of seven village colleges (Melbourn, Swavesey, Comberton, Sawston/Linton, and Cottenham/ Impington). Each college area andthe villages and neighbourhoods in that area are differentand the ADM develops a tailored approach to their work, one thatbest meets the needs and character of the areas they serve. The ADMs work together under the umbrella of stART ( an organisation which was officially constituted in January 2009. In 2012 StART changed its tag line from ‘supporting arts development’ to ‘sharing arts: connecting lives’ in order to highlight stART’s role in creating and sustaining local arts networks and the collaborative approach to partnership working.

In 2010-11 the partnership between Melbourn Village College and South Cambridgeshire District Council was joined by Wysing Arts Centre an NPO, which employed the Arts Development Manager (under the title of Education Development Manager at Wysing) for one day a week, rising to two days a week from 2011.

Key aims of the ADM posts:

• advocate learning through and about the arts

• strengthen the role of the village college as a local hub

• support stART in the development of the arts locally

To achieve these aims, the ADMs work under three clear, yet linked, strands. These are:

  • Development Programmes - These are initiatives developed from needs/opportunities identified by the ADM and key stakeholders. They may be district-wide or patch-specific.
  • Support - This includes consultation/advice offered to local groups, schools and residents wishing to develop new/existing opportunities.
  • Communication and Advocacy - This involves maximising the promotion of the arts and advocating their value

Benefits to Community Colleges:

•Leveraging in external funding - around £50k

•Increased press hits and positive PR

•Working with primary schools and to increase numbers (per head funding) – MVC has 8 small feeder schools

•Support adult education and school venue development

•Extended Schools projects and increased community engagement

•Support gaining Artsmark, arts specialisms and supporting Arts Award in school

•Being ofsted friendly!

•Brokering partnerships with arts organisations and community groups e.g. music/theatre/dance residencies, public art projects etc

•Bringing in more professional artists and increasing arts opportunities

For information on stART and district wide projects see:

The stART now toolkit: