Culture Strategy
We’re delighted to announce that the Sheffield Culture Strategy is now complete and available for download. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed their time, insights, and ideas throughout the consultation process—your input has been invaluable in shaping this vision for our city’s cultural future. Please stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing the next steps and upcoming opportunities to get involved next week.
Sheffield Culture Audit Report
Sheffield Culture Strategy 2024: a new vision for creativity in the city
Sheffield is a city filled with inspiring artists, makers, and doers. Our artists, musicians, and designers are known around the world, but those who live here understand that thousands of incredible creatives across our communities and neighbourhoods are simply getting on with their work. We recognise that, as a city, there is much more we can do to support these individuals in flourishing.
With this in mind, we have developed a fresh vision for creativity, arts, and culture in Sheffield. We hope this vision will ensure that everyone who lives, works, or visits here has the opportunity to participate, collaborate, and benefit from the many wonderful contributions that arts and culture bring to our city.
As part of this process, we initiated a citywide consultation on culture, engaging with Sheffield’s creative community to shape the new culture strategy. Following our initial "pre-engagement" survey conducted in December 2023, we gathered valuable insights that informed a comprehensive engagement process.
We are pleased to announce that the strategy is now complete and will be published here following discussion in the Economic Development and Skills committee meeting on the 31st October. Further details will be shared alongside this information on the week commencing 4th November.
The Culture Strategy has been commissioned by Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield, and Arts Council England, and has been delivered by the creative consultancy Fourth Street, Sheffield-based social enterprise Opus Independents, and a team of cultural freelancers from the city.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the consultation process. Your insights, feedback, and contributions have been invaluable in shaping the Sheffield Culture Strategy. We appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to sharing your perspectives, which will help us create a vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape for our city. Thank you for being an essential part of this journey!
What We Hope the Culture Strategy Will Achieve for the City
To create a healthy cultural sector in the future, we believe the new strategy needs to:
- Uncover and celebrate our shared story of Sheffield’s culture and creativity.
- Foster conditions that allow organisations and creatives to thrive, collaborate, and participate, while enhancing the infrastructure and resources available in the city.
- Outline necessary changes so that young people can envision a future in Sheffield’s cultural landscape, with clear pathways to develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
- Provide insight into how any organisation, individual, or group can collaborate and participate in a growing and vibrant ecosystem of cultural work that serves communities and neighbourhoods throughout Sheffield.
This page will continue to be regularly updated with new information, questionnaires, and dates for upcoming cultural events in the city—we would love for you to stay engaged with us!
We’re delighted to announce that the Sheffield Culture Strategy is now complete and available for download. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed their time, insights, and ideas throughout the consultation process—your input has been invaluable in shaping this vision for our city’s cultural future. Please stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing the next steps and upcoming opportunities to get involved next week.
Sheffield Culture Audit Report
Sheffield Culture Strategy 2024: a new vision for creativity in the city
Sheffield is a city filled with inspiring artists, makers, and doers. Our artists, musicians, and designers are known around the world, but those who live here understand that thousands of incredible creatives across our communities and neighbourhoods are simply getting on with their work. We recognise that, as a city, there is much more we can do to support these individuals in flourishing.
With this in mind, we have developed a fresh vision for creativity, arts, and culture in Sheffield. We hope this vision will ensure that everyone who lives, works, or visits here has the opportunity to participate, collaborate, and benefit from the many wonderful contributions that arts and culture bring to our city.
As part of this process, we initiated a citywide consultation on culture, engaging with Sheffield’s creative community to shape the new culture strategy. Following our initial "pre-engagement" survey conducted in December 2023, we gathered valuable insights that informed a comprehensive engagement process.
We are pleased to announce that the strategy is now complete and will be published here following discussion in the Economic Development and Skills committee meeting on the 31st October. Further details will be shared alongside this information on the week commencing 4th November.
The Culture Strategy has been commissioned by Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield, and Arts Council England, and has been delivered by the creative consultancy Fourth Street, Sheffield-based social enterprise Opus Independents, and a team of cultural freelancers from the city.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the consultation process. Your insights, feedback, and contributions have been invaluable in shaping the Sheffield Culture Strategy. We appreciate the time and effort you dedicated to sharing your perspectives, which will help us create a vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape for our city. Thank you for being an essential part of this journey!
What We Hope the Culture Strategy Will Achieve for the City
To create a healthy cultural sector in the future, we believe the new strategy needs to:
- Uncover and celebrate our shared story of Sheffield’s culture and creativity.
- Foster conditions that allow organisations and creatives to thrive, collaborate, and participate, while enhancing the infrastructure and resources available in the city.
- Outline necessary changes so that young people can envision a future in Sheffield’s cultural landscape, with clear pathways to develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
- Provide insight into how any organisation, individual, or group can collaborate and participate in a growing and vibrant ecosystem of cultural work that serves communities and neighbourhoods throughout Sheffield.
This page will continue to be regularly updated with new information, questionnaires, and dates for upcoming cultural events in the city—we would love for you to stay engaged with us!
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Culture Sheffield Image/Footage Call-Out
Share Culture Sheffield Image/Footage Call-Out on Facebook Share Culture Sheffield Image/Footage Call-Out on Twitter Share Culture Sheffield Image/Footage Call-Out on Linkedin Email Culture Sheffield Image/Footage Call-Out linkInformation for Contributors
- Images may be used in our bulletin and LinkedIn, and footage may be used in an upcoming video series celebrating the city's offer.
- If you have any questions about the nature of the video project before submitting content, don't hesitate to get in touch with murray.wood@sheffield.gov.uk.
- Please note that we require professionally taken images/footage for our channels, and unfortunately we cannot guarantee that every submission will be used.
GDPR
- Please ONLY provide images or footage for which you own the rights or have permission to use. This will ensure we are complying with copyright law.
- Please ensure you have permission from anyone featured or identifiable in your submission. You might have captured this at the time of the event. This will ensure we are complying with GDPR and data protection law.
- If you make a submission, we will assume these conditions have been met.
Thank you for understanding and we look forward to seeing what you've got!
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Culture Strategy Delivery Update
Share Culture Strategy Delivery Update on Facebook Share Culture Strategy Delivery Update on Twitter Share Culture Strategy Delivery Update on Linkedin Email Culture Strategy Delivery Update linkThe Culture Strategy delivery is well under way and in the spirit of clear communication, here’s an update of what’s been happening!
Accessibility
Accessibility has been a key initiative in Strategy activation, and in light of this we have commissioned an Easy Read version of the document. This simplifies the information from the original, making it more understandable for a wider audience.
This includes people for whom English is not their first language, as well as neurodiverse people and those who have trouble with reading comprehension. The Easy Read has also been commissioned as a web-accessible PDF that is compatible with screen-readers, which will aid the visually impaired.
“By making information accessible, Easy Reads help individuals make informed decisions, participate more fully in society, and engage with their communities.”
The document is available for download here. Feel free to share with your circles.
Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report
One important part of activating the Culture Strategy was for us to understand the buildings and facilities that have/could have creative uses in the city. We have completed the first piece of work around this, building a draft asset pipeline containing information about key cultural and heritage assets in Sheffield. This project was co-funded by the University of Sheffield.
A report summarising the key findings from this first stage has been drafted and is available to download.
The survey will remain open on HaveYourSay to allow people to continue to reach out about their spatial needs.
The Sheffield Culture Bulletin and LinkedIn
You are all familiar with the nature of the bulletin by now, but we thought we’d share some stats to show how fantastic the engagement has been from the sector.
Over 1000 of you are subscribed as of 16.04.2025, which is incredible considering we’ve only been live for a few months.
Our average ‘open rate’, that is the number of subscribers who opened the email compared to the number who received it, is 74%. By comparison, the average for local government bulletins is 42%.
Our average ‘click rate’, that is the number of people who clicked on links within the email compared to the number who received it, is 85%. The local government average is just 5%!
This indicates how well valued the bulletin is in the sector, and we really appreciate all the engagement and submissions. Having said that, we are always looking to improve, so if you have time then please feel free to fill out our evaluations form.
As for the LinkedIn, we’re way past 500 followers, and it keeps growing. We’ve had a great range of paid opportunities and chances for professional development submitted to us, and we’ve been sharing other sector-related news more regularly. This way, you don’t have to wait for the next bulletin!
Activation Events
Working with cultural organisations in the city, we delivered a Culture Strategy Activation series. All the events were supported by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and were facilitated by talented creatives and influential cultural organisations in the city.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to these sessions, the activation event schedule is now finished! There is just one workshop left in the RivelinCo freelancers skills series which will round off soon.
For a quick recap of what's gone on, one of our events began the establishment of a new grassroots music venues network in the city, with venue owners from across Sheffield in attendance. We also had an insightful funding support session with speakers from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Furthermore, with visions of establishing a new leadership structure in the sector, SCC delivered a co-creation session where we brought together individuals and organisations from across the city to start working on the Hub and Spoke Model.
To revisit the line up, click this link. Rest assured, the activation series will not be the last of these sorts of events. We're just getting started!
The Hub and Spoke Model
Throughout the Culture Strategy engagement process, there emerged a clear need for better communication and a model of co-delivery within Culture that engaged with and connected the sector as a whole – this became known as the “Hub and Spoke” model.
On 12th March we held a co-creation session to invite feedback on a pilot of this new model of communication and collaboration that will advance the successful delivery of culture in Sheffield. Thank you to everybody who took part and engaged in discussion. There was a lot of useful and insightful input during the session.
Information on the hub and spoke model can be found here, but please be advised that this is not the final version. This was sent round to attendees before the event and some changes are likely to be made over the coming weeks based on the discussions held on the 12th.
Keep an eye on our comms channels in the coming weeks for more details about the feedback and the next steps of this process.
FAQs
We've encountered some questions over the past few months and thought this would be a good place to address a few of them.
What is Culture Sheffield, and how are you going to support sector?
Culture Sheffield is a team at Sheffield City Council. We work with organisations, freelancers and the public to empower businesses and facilitate the creative journeys of people in the region.
In practice, we are supporting the sector by co-delivering an extensive Culture Strategy activation event series with organisations from across the sector. We are aiming to improve connectivity in the sector through our comms channels such as the bulletin and LinkedIn, both of which are well valued by the sector and came from a clear need within the Strategy consultation.
We are at the feasibility stage of looking into establishing a directory of cultural organisations in the city and are working on the creation of the Hub and Spoke model. We hope this will become a reliable and accountable leadership structure to help culture thrive in Sheffield. As mentioned in the above article, we are doing this through consultation, ensuring that the outcome benefits the people in the sector to result in better communication and connection between everyone.
How are you intending to include freelancers in Strategy delivery? And how are organisations supported and funded to help freelancers?
There are 16,000 creative and cultural freelancers in the city, and we understand how valuable they are in the sector. This is why it was important for us to include a Freelancer Skills Workshop series as part of our activation schedule. RivelinCo delivered this series, and sessions included fundraising support, money management, sustainability, creative facilitation and more. These sessions were based on themes that emerged in the feedback during the strategy engagement work.
Additionally, we supplied £14,000 as a freelancer budget for the activation events, enabling organisations to commission freelancers for their event delivery. We will ensure that freelancers are represented and involved in our work going forwards.
How are you supporting young people?
We knew young people had to be a key focus in our activation series, and one of the events was delivered by Create Sheffield, an organisation that seeks to engage and connect people who share a passion for supporting the city's young residents. The event was open to anyone who works with children and young people in Sheffield and is interested in the benefits of culture and creativity. An incredible 130 people were in attendance.
We have also encouraged cultural organisations to engage with the See It Be It campaign, which works with educational institutions, employers and businesses to give young people meaningful encounters in the working world. You can get involved with this campaign here.
Furthermore, there will likely be a spoke dedicated to supporting young people in the Hub and Spoke model, with the aim of increasing children’s accessibility to culture, from casual participation to employment.
How are we building on the MOBOs?
In quite a few ways!
The council has secured additional funding from Public Health England and the Ed Sheeran foundation, working in partnership with Sheffield Music School / TRACKS to assist projects similar to those delivered as part of the MOBOS.
SADACCA have had Cultural Pipeline Fund support to help explore the future of the G-Mill venue.
Local groups such as SLAMBARZ, which supports 14–25-year-old aspiring music artists, have had support through Creative Communities fund.
Read more about the city’s expansion on the MOBOs in this article, and you can now sign up to the upcoming Music City event. This event has been inspired by the MOBOs, the exciting plans for Harmony Works and Sheffield’s music heritage, and it will bring people together to explore how music can be celebrated and supported as an essential component in the fabric of the city.
The subsequent fringe event will have music, food, products and performances that showcase Sheffield’s Music of Black Origin talent. *Tickets now available!*
Will it be possible to meet someone from Culture Sheffield to discuss how to plug into the Culture Strategy?
The best way to plug into the Strategy at the moment is by coming to our events and getting involved in the discussion. The attendees of the grassroots music venues event are already in the process of establishing the network and planning their next meeting, which goes to show that action is being taken as a result of these events and is testament to the passion of people in this sector.
We will soon be releasing the next social to take place in May where you can hear more about how to plug in, and we’re doing our best to ensure that your voices are heard through events such as the Hub and Spoke co-creation, enlisting the opinions of people involved in culture in the city. We are keen for everyone to feel like they can use the Culture Strategy to help them with their aims and ambitions.
When we are clearer about the direction of this leadership model, organisations will have the opportunity to be a part of the central hub or get involved as spokes, and we will be able to track and celebrate Strategy delivery work across the city.
We know that everyone is already delivering many of the aims of the Culture Strategy in different ways, so we are focussing on helping to improve connection and communication, monitoring progress and tracking outcomes.
We also appreciate the longstanding critique of SCC communications being driven by feedback forms, but in a team with limited capacity, these really are a useful way for us to hear your voice and act accordingly, so please keep engaging with us and sharing your thoughts in this way.
Final Note
Thank you for reading, and a huge thanks to everyone who has made the Strategy happen so far. It’s early days and yet so much has already been achieved thanks to the drive of people in this sector. There’s a lot on the horizon and we’re just getting started.
With best wishes,
The SCC Culture Team
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Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report
Share Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report on Facebook Share Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report on Twitter Share Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report on Linkedin Email Sheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report linkSheffield Heritage and Cultural Assets Pipeline Report
One important part of activating the Culture Strategy was for us to understand the buildings and facilities which have/could have creative uses in Sheffield. We have completed the first piece of work around this, building a draft asset pipeline containing information about key cultural and heritage assets in the city. This project was co-funded by the University of Sheffield.
The tool includes information around building ownership, condition, risk, and investment need, and can be used by Sheffield City Council moving forwards to help make decisions around support and investment.
While many across the sector did respond to our recent survey, we recognise that not everyone did in this initial round. We intend to keep the survey open on HaveYourSay to allow others to reach out to us about their spatial needs. Please continue to use this survey to get in contact.
A report summarising the key findings from this first stage, including how the process will work moving forwards, has also been drafted and is available to download.
With best wishes,
SCC Culture Team.
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Culture Sheffield - Activation Event Series
Share Culture Sheffield - Activation Event Series on Facebook Share Culture Sheffield - Activation Event Series on Twitter Share Culture Sheffield - Activation Event Series on Linkedin Email Culture Sheffield - Activation Event Series linkHuge thanks for everyone who was involved in this series. Want to be among the first to hear about future events updates? Follow our channels here.
This conference was aimed at inspiring resilience in others and encouraging entrepreneurial thinking within the creative community.
This event brought together grassroot music venue operators to start a conversation about a venue network, how it could work and what they’d want to achieve.
An evening of performance and networking, followed by an activity where attendees shared their ideas on what’s missing in Sheffield’s arts scene.
A morning of fundraising info, talks, and advice. We heard direct from funders including ACE, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Film Hub North.
In this session we invited discussion and feedback on a new co-delivery framework for Culture in Sheffield: the Hub and Spoke Model.
Create Sheffield seeks to engage, inspire, and connect people who share a passion for supporting our young residents.
Skills sessions for creative freelancers have taken place based on feedback in the Cultural Strategy engagement work.
Screen Yorkshire and Film Hub North are conducting a survey for sharing thoughts on the needs of our screen sector. This session presented the results.
Music Marketing Toolkit Day, 26th March 2025
This unique event brought together music marketing specialists to offer free advice on all aspects of promoting music.
This event brought together community leaders, artists and cultural practitioners to celebrate the great work already happening in our communities.
This event informed, inspired and connected the creative health and wellbeing sector. It was open to anyone involved in creative health and wellbeing in Sheffield.
The Sheffield Culture & Climate Network led an inspiring event focused on shaping a greener future for our sector.
Studio Polpo helped map the issues and opportunities around the physical spaces that cultural organisations occupy in the city.
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Freelancer Skills Workshops
Share Freelancer Skills Workshops on Facebook Share Freelancer Skills Workshops on Twitter Share Freelancer Skills Workshops on Linkedin Email Freelancer Skills Workshops linkFree skills sessions for creative freelancers will be taking place throughout March and April, based on feedback about skills gaps and interests from freelancers who took part in the Cultural Strategy engagement work. Sessions will be open to all, on a first come first served basis.
Check out this link for a breakdown of all the events.
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See it Be it Campaign
Share See it Be it Campaign on Facebook Share See it Be it Campaign on Twitter Share See it Be it Campaign on Linkedin Email See it Be it Campaign linkThe See it Be it campaign raises the aspirations of young people in Sheffield, improving their life chances and opening them up to the world of work.
The campaign links educational organisations with local employers to provide young people with meaningful encounters and experiences in the workplace. Young people get a chance to “learn from employers about what the world of work is like, how to access it, and how to thrive in it”.
See it Be it also work with employers and businesses to develop careers education activities. Get involved if you want to engage in careers education in schools and colleges, promoting your sector and raising awareness of opportunities and pathways.
The campaign is jointly funded by the South Yorkshire Careers Hub and Sheffield City Council to provide strategic support to schools and colleges, helping them meet the Gatsby Benchmarks. Sheffield Business Together have also joined up to provide extra support for those in areas of disadvantage.
The projects are fully funded so there is no cost for employers or educators. See the links below for how to get involved!
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Culture Strategy Activation Update
Share Culture Strategy Activation Update on Facebook Share Culture Strategy Activation Update on Twitter Share Culture Strategy Activation Update on Linkedin Email Culture Strategy Activation Update linkEvents
We are working with organisations and freelancers to book in activation events for the second half of February and March. Activation events are going to led by the sector, and will take place in the form of workshops, networking events, and celebrations of cultural achievement.
We have many in the pipeline, and a confirmed conference for 27th February with Ignite Imaginations. More details and tickets for this can be found here.
As we settle into the New Year, we’ll have more information on these and some concrete dates in the calendar, so keep an eye on the Culture Bulletin for updates. Speaking of…
The Sheffield Culture Bulletin
We understand that there has been a lack of communication in the culture sector, and this bulletin will hopefully facilitate some connectivity.
The first few months of the bulletin will be a bit of an experiment, but as a starting point, we thought it would be useful to platform job vacancies, grants, crowdfunding, networking events and relevant news in the culture sector.
To find out more information, make submissions and offer feedback, follow this link.
If you or someone you know might be interested, please sign up and pass on this link. The more people we get on board, the better!
LinkedIn
We have also created a Culture Sheffield LinkedIn page where we will post about job vacancies, paid opportunities and volunteering in the culture sector.
Hopefully between our bulletin and the LinkedIn these openings will be much more visible, benefiting hiring organisations and individuals in search of cultural opportunities.
Please follow and share so we can start building a LinkedIn community.
If you’d like to submit an opportunity, please fill out this form.
Cultural Asset Survey
As part of our activation work, we are looking to build an asset pipeline detailing all key cultural and heritage assets in Sheffield.
This will be an important tool in understanding the current condition and ownership status of buildings, their investment needs and requirements, and opportunities for the future.
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Culture Sheffield LinkedIn
Share Culture Sheffield LinkedIn on Facebook Share Culture Sheffield LinkedIn on Twitter Share Culture Sheffield LinkedIn on Linkedin Email Culture Sheffield LinkedIn linkWe have created a Culture Sheffield LinkedIn page where we will post about job vacancies, paid opportunities and volunteering in the culture sector.
Please follow and share the page so we can start building a LinkedIn community!
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The Sheffield Culture Bulletin
Share The Sheffield Culture Bulletin on Facebook Share The Sheffield Culture Bulletin on Twitter Share The Sheffield Culture Bulletin on Linkedin Email The Sheffield Culture Bulletin linkSo, why are we doing a bulletin?
We understand that there has been a lack of communication in the culture sector, and this bulletin will hopefully facilitate increased connectivity.
Clearer communication is one of the initiatives of the Culture Strategy, and this bulletin will centralise information so that it is more readily accessible, platforming news, opportunities and events that you may not have heard about.
What will the bulletin contain?
The first few months of the bulletin will be experimental, and we’re open to suggestions about what it should include.
As a starting point, we thought it would be useful to platform job vacancies, grants, crowdfunding, networking events and relevant news in the culture sector.
Your ideas and contributions are important, so follow this link to make your own suggestions about what the bulletin should include.
Who produces the bulletin?
Culture Sheffield - we are responsible for supporting the culture sector, working with organisations, freelancers and the public to empower businesses and facilitate the creative journeys of people in the region.
Part of this is centred around communication, ensuring that people in the sector are kept abreast of what stage we are at with activation, and informed of any news and opportunities within the sector.
Who should sign up?
This bulletin is for anyone working in the culture sector who wants to stay up to date with cultural opportunities in the city and the broader South Yorkshire region.
If you are interested, sign up here, and feel free to pass on the link to anyone else who might benefit from these updates. The more people we get on board, the better, so spread the word!
At the moment we’re hoping to get a bulletin out every two weeks, but this is flexible based on what people want to see from us.
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Sheffield Culture Strategy: Thank You and Next Steps, 11th December 2024
Share Sheffield Culture Strategy: Thank You and Next Steps, 11th December 2024 on Facebook Share Sheffield Culture Strategy: Thank You and Next Steps, 11th December 2024 on Twitter Share Sheffield Culture Strategy: Thank You and Next Steps, 11th December 2024 on Linkedin Email Sheffield Culture Strategy: Thank You and Next Steps, 11th December 2024 linkThank you to everyone who came to our event in the Town Hall, and a big thanks to all our guest speakers as well.
There’s a real positive energy around the Culture Strategy which is great to see. Sheffield is becoming more and more ambitious, and we are all part of this process.
Of course, there are further discussions to have, and we know that there’s lots of feedback and questions that we didn’t get round to addressing on the day. We hope that through continued communication within the sector we’ll be able to address some prevalent issues.
For those who weren’t able to attend, please find the PowerPoint slides here.
Key Dates
Documents
Who's Listening
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