Enhancing Community Engagement in Croydon's Cultural Sector
Have Your Say: Help Shape Croydon's Cultural Future
Culture Croydon is working to ensure that everyone in Croydon can access and enjoy the borough's vibrant cultural scene. To help achieve this, Cottage Factory has been commissioned to carry out an important engagement research project, and we need your help!
This project aims to:
Understand the current state of community engagement in Croydon.
Identify barriers that prevent people from taking part in cultural activities.
Develop strategies for more inclusive and effective engagement.
Learn from the successes of previous engagement projects such as the London Borough of Culture.
Inform the work of projects such as the Stanley Arts Creative People and Places project who are working to engage under-represented communities.
We want to hear from you, whether you're a resident, artist, community organiser, or cultural worker in Croydon. Your experiences and insights will help us make sure that everyone has the chance to be involved in Croydon's cultural life. The research will be carried out in a number of ways:
We’ll be analysing data from the London Borough of Culture period to identify trends and gaps.
We’ll be mapping current activities to find areas and communities that may be underserved.
We’ll be holding interviews and focus groups to gather more in-depth feedback.
We’ll be distributing surveys across Croydon to understand community needs and preferences.
The research will also take into account Culture Croydon's access tiers, recognising that different organisations and artists have varied levels of experience with accessibility. This will allow us to tailor our support, so that it addresses the different needs of everyone in the cultural sector.
The main data gathering stage will take place in January and February 2025. We will be sharing findings and recommendations in March 2025.
Get involved by sharing your story, completing a survey, or joining the conversation online. Your input will help shape a more vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape in Croydon. Contact Clem Akran at cakran@cottagefactory.co.uk to find out more.