Citizens for Culture is working with the five Authorities in our region to apply to Arts Council England (ACE) for Place Partnership funding. 

The application will be to help deliver aspects of the Citizens’ Cultural Plan across the West of England.

The Citizens’ Cultural Plan was created through the UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly for Culture. 

Over two months in Autumn 2025, a representative group of 51 citizens heard evidence from artists, freelancers, cultural organisations, community groups, educators, local authorities and many others before agreeing 13 shared priorities for the future of culture across the region.

The proposed Place Partnership would bring together Citizens for Culture, the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and the four unitary authorities to begin turning those priorities into practical action working with the wider cultural sector. 

The proposal focuses on collaboration around many of the issues citizens identified as most important, including affordable creative space, creative learning, better use of public buildings, fairer and more transparent funding, improved access to culture and stronger partnership working across the region.

As part of the application, we are inviting organisations, freelancers and individuals to sign a simple Statement of Support.

Signing this statement of support does not commit you to project delivery, resource requirements or ongoing meetings. 

It simply demonstrates your support for the Citizens’ Cultural Plan and for the principle that citizens should continue to play an active role in shaping culture across the West of England.

If you would like to add your support, you can read the statement here  or you can just add your support here.

As organisations across the West of England begin preparing for the next Arts Council England National Portfolio round, Citizens for Culture will host an online workshop exploring how the Citizens’ Cultural Plan and the emerging Share/Grow/Build framework could help inform applications to ACE for its new portfolio of West of England organisations for 2028 and beyond.

The workshop will take place online on:

Wednesday 1 July 2026
10am–12pm

This session is for organisations, freelancers, networks and partnerships who are beginning to think about applications for National Portfolio funding from 2028 onwards.

Importantly, this is not a workshop about “how to apply” or how funding decisions will be made.

Instead, it is an opportunity to step back and explore a bigger question:

What are communities across the West of England saying they want culture to be in this region and how could that contribute to the future direction of the sector?

The workshop will draw on:

• the Citizens’ Cultural Plan created through the Citizens for Culture Assembly 
• learning emerging through the ongoing Citizens for Culture Roadshows 
• including the developing Share/Grow/Build framework which is gathering insights about what already exists (share), what could be developed (grow), and what doesn’t currently exist (build) 

The timing feels particularly important. 

Arts Council England is expected to publish details of the refreshed National Portfolio process in June 2026, with full guidance for applicants expected later in the year. 

ACE has also indicated that this next NPO round will see “A set of decisions built on artform expertise and the views of local citizens.”

We are the only region in England that has a Citizens’ Cultural Plan and that feels important in terms of this NPO round. 

Over recent months, Citizens for Culture has been in conversation with organisations, networks, local authorities, funders and national partners across the region through the Roadshows. Again and again, one theme has emerged clearly: people want stronger connections between cultural decision-making and the everyday lives of communities.

This workshop is intended as a practical space for reflection, discussion and connection at an early stage in the NPO process. 

Please book your place via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/citizens-for-culture-workshop-for-future-national-portfolio-applicants-tickets-1990551581364

Since the launch of the Citizens’ Cultural Plan, Roadshow conversations have been taking place across the West of England.

By the end of June, citizens from the Assembly will have taken part in 25 Roadshow conversations across the region.

At each Roadshow, we’re using a simple framework called Share – Grow – Build.

It asks three questions:

• What’s already happening that could be shared?

• What has real potential and could grow?

• What doesn’t yet exist, but needs to be built together?

Roadshow by Roadshow, these conversations are helping us build a live picture of how the region could respond to the Citizens’ Cultural Plan.

In other words, where energy already exists, where partnerships are emerging, and where citizens may want to focus future attention, investment or challenge.

This month, we’ll be testing the first version of this emerging matrix with artists, organisations and partners at the Culture West Summit, hosted by the Mayoral Combined Authority.

Our aim is to make sure this becomes a practical tool for the next phase of Citizens for Culture which is about turning the Citizens’ Cultural Plan into action.

Looking ahead: National Portfolio applicants workshop

As organisations across the region begin thinking about the next Arts Council England National Portfolio round, we wanted to share an opportunity coming up this summer.

On Wednesday 1 July (9:30–11:30am), Citizens for Culture will host an online open session for organisations, freelancers and partnerships who are planning to apply to become NPOs from 2028.

The workshop will be about how the Citizens’ Cultural Plan and the emerging Share – Grow – Build framework might help connect the future plans of NPO applicants with what communities across the West of England are saying matters most.

This is not a workshop about how to apply. Instead, it’s a chance to explore what citizens across the region have said they want culture to become.

We’ve discussed this with Arts Council England, who are keen to see the Citizens’ Cultural Plan inform future planning and delivery across the region.

Please save the date, and we’ll share the full invitation later this month.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far and to those continuing to shape what happens next.