Skip to main content

Arriving at a 15-year milestone has perhaps understandably pushed us to look back and see how far things have come locally, with regard to ‘culture’.

There’s certainly been a big shift in the ‘creativity of our place’ with both artists and creativity becoming more ‘alive’ and more visible.

This is due – to a great extent – to Grimsby getting a financial boost for culture (right before the pandemic!) in 2019, through the government’s Cultural Development Fund and then things steadily progressing from there.

When I set out in 2010 (see fresh-faced pictures from a ‘Journal’ article from that year), I certainly believed that Grimsby could be as good – culturally – as any other town or city in the UK and I also knew there was so much unsung local talent kind of hiding away here. There were also others’ putting great energy into supporting artists, including Vicky Hartung, through what was the Gate Gallery on Wellowgate (which can be seen in the picture and where Vicky was kind enough to allow me to be based a couple of days a week) – and also Gill and Elaine through the Abbey Walk Gallery, which was highly active and valued by local artists.

While overall ‘not a lot was happening in Grimsby’  my thoughts at the time were that we just needed more to happen and to believe in our place and its potential. Having lived in London, I’d seen the full scope of what we were missing out on and and I never believed people here ‘weren’t interested’ in culture.

I’d always thought Grimsby was very much an intelligent place and rather than being ‘culturally ignorant’ as we’re often portrayed, I knew that if we got things going more, more art, performance and music would absolutely be appreciated and could thrive.

This is certainly something we’ve proven over the years – that there is a demand for culture locally… (and why wouldn’t there be anyway?) – it may have been a ‘cultural desert’ but we just needed more water!

I also knew that if local artists and creatives were more supported, they would essentially ‘start to believe’ – through exactly that, feeling supported and invested in – that their pursuits were valid and they had a true value.

(When it came to programming events in particular and deciding on the content / programmes we would purposely “layer” these with local, regional and national artists.

This meant local artists and performers could perform on the same stage so to speak as national-reaching artists from London, Manchester and more – providing connection, inspiration and I hope confirming belief in themselves – while helping us to connect more regionally and nationally, to combat feelings of isolation as an area).

If truth be told, we spent at least eight years building the foundations, just literally by doing it and coming back to do it again against the grain really at the time but with belief in our place and a passion. We know this groundwork contributed in a wider sense to what is happening now – a mammoth amount of that time had been spent on ‘convincing’ local “stakeholders”, including the council, about why culture was needed (and wanted) and why there was a need to get behind it if we really wanted to see improvements in our place.

Myself and Vicky Hartung (also of the Great Grimsby Ice Factory Trust) invested voluntary time over a year, essentially shouting about culture to the council and in essence badgering them to make it a priority (because of the difference we knew investment would make). We headed up a group called ‘CultureWorks’ who drew up joint ideas and worked on a ‘stronger together’ approach.

When the Cultural Development Fund funding opportunity arose, which had to be applied for by councils, the council came to us to help and Vicky and I, in consultation with CultureWorks, devised an “investment plan” (what a proposal to government might look like and how the money could be spent to best effect). Our proposal included investing in a large-scale festival around the theme of Grim and Havelok , investing in and supporting the sector through grants and development workshops and investing in creative workspace.

The Cultural Development Fund bid to government was successful and secured £3.2 million investment for North East Lincolnshire – an initial and much-needed cash injection that actually underpins a lot of what is happening now. Weirdly though it was initially a very difficult time because of the way the council then wanted to distribute the money – without local organisations or artists at the helm of it.

The local sector was about to be largely overlooked after this really important ‘win’, contributed to by the sector – however a series of challenging meetings along with the eventual appointment of a new culture lead at the council led to the approach shifting for the better.

Before and alongside all this, I had also been having one to one meetings with the then Chief Executive of North East Lincolnshire Council to ‘shout’ that was culture needed and to advise that (as in other towns and cities) it needed to be included in council plans, for the area. Culture and creativity certainly weren’t appreciated at the time as significant contributors to ‘positive place’ – for example as a way to activate space, raise pride levels, tell local stories or help with quality of life.

Again, we did a fair amount badgering people at the council about this – in “Economic Development”, “Tourism” and those right at the top.

Vicky and I were using a lot of our own time to battle for the sector while Vicky was on her own mission of leading on the re-development potential of the Docks (the Ice Factory is as we speak moving forward after Vicky battled for years to preserve it when it was due to be knocked down, simultaneously supporting a number of creatives and organisations to get established on the Docks through putting years into building a relationship with ABP) – Alongside this, I was getting small funding in for Culture House to put things on and at times it was difficult to believe we were really getting anywhere but over time, although we didn’t really know it at the time, we were eventually listened to…(as said a big shift was when the council responded by employing a “Strategic Lead for Culture” shortly after the Cultural Development Fund award.

This lead, James Trowsdale, having worked for Hull City of Culture, was in much more of a position to appreciate where we were coming from and set about to support us (all) much more in line with that original “CultureWorks” plan, starting with investing in “local” (but coupled with bringing in more visiting artists, providing advice / support and connecting more with funders who did want to put more into North East Lincolnshire).

So through – I have to say – sheer hard work and perseverance from a number of people, things have now definitely shifted, proving that of course the money to do things makes a huge difference but also that the plan really does have to meet the needs. The Grimsby approach to cultural development has now been cited as a successful case study for other areas looking to do similar things.

For The Culture House, we then had the chance to do things we had wanted to do for ages (as we’d needed the money to deliver on the numerous visions we had had, having always worked with very limited budgets which we fought hard to secure). We had a chance to realise ideas and work with national partners we’d met over the years who were also keen to work with us.

Rather than one big festival, the council put out tenders for a range of projects (so we still had to apply for £££ and prove ourselves after all that!).

But together with a range of partners, we looked at all of the potential to deliver strong ‘place programmes’ and co-devised and kickstarted projects like Festival of the Sea, Our Future Starts Here, Paint the Town Proud and Edible Grimsby.

After their strong starts, all are still viable projects that continue four years later – due to ongoing smaller amounts of funding (Edible Grimsby back in 2026).

One of the things we’re most proud of, is the legacy of Paint the Town Proud – we’ve lost count of the number of murals that have now sprung up in North East Lincolnshire.

We still remember walking through Creative Start’s doors for a first meeting in 2021 with artists and potential partners, with the idea for the project, before Becky led the overall project design with Sam Delaney – it was an exciting time of possibilities – with Paint the Town Proud eventually being backed by the council through the Cultural Development Fund.

It’s been great to see Creative Start eventually take full ownership of this impactful project, which took the organisation beyond its existing scope of work, while providing so many local artists with great opportunities and really bringing our streets and walls to life with colour and with work that would easily sit well in Glasgow, Manchester etc. Big up to all the artists both local and guest that have created something special here.

That project was about realising our place’s huge potential through partnership and seeing what we can achieve if we come together with the best interests of the area. Paint the Town Proud in particular has certainly been a turning point, which many people can literally see and appreciate.

We’re proud of all of our projects though and it’s been great to work with national partners including as Emergency Exit Arts (based in Kent), Walk the Plank (based in Salford), Without Walls (Manchester) and Hemingway Design (London), who in honesty have also served as mentors, often keeping us ‘sane’ while operating in Grimsby, which has often had its real frustrations.

The biggest shift however, is that on top of this, arts and culture are now taken seriously locally – they’ve become embedded in council plans and big national funders like Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund are quite rightly putting even more money into somewhere that wasn’t getting its fair share. Many more artists are getting funding and support and we believe confidence and belief has grown. More than this though more people in our area have had more access to creative and cultural opportunities – and that is through a number of different organisations, some of the leaders of which initially worked with Culture House in the early days before going on to grow organisations of their own with a different focus.

I’m not going to lie, it’s been a slog (it’s been 15 years!), however there has been a slow but sure change, absolutely.

Most importantly along the way, there have been smiles, fun and special memories made as people come together and experience something new and different locally.

More than anything, we hope we’ve shifted mindset and belief in our place, which has always deserved more than it had.

 

Charlotte Bowen