Last Autumn, 51 people from across the West of England came together through Citizens for Culture to answer a simple question: What would culture and creativity look like if they were for everyone?

Today, we’re sharing a new set of resources to help more people explore what happened — and what comes next. Alongside the full Citizens for Culture Report, we’ve published a new summary report and a set of dedicated web pages that bring together the key outcomes of the Assembly: the Citizens’ Cultural Plan, 13 regional priorities and actions, and place-based aspirations for each part of the region.

A way to dip in

The new summary report is designed as a way to dip into the Assembly. It offers key facts, figures and reflections from the process, while pointing to the full report for those who want to explore in more depth. It captures some of the scale and ambition of the work:

• 51 citizens selected through a civic lottery after 15,100 invitations
• over 50 hours of deliberation and more than 1,500 hours of collective discussion
• a group that included many people who had never taken part in civic decision-making before

But beyond the numbers, it offers insight into how people from very different backgrounds came together to learn, reflect and agree a shared vision for culture across the region.

What citizens created

At the heart of the Assembly is the Citizens’ Cultural Plan — shaped by citizens and grounded in both local experience and regional thinking.

This includes:

• 13 regional priorities, each supported by short-, medium- and long-term actions
• place-based aspirations for Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
• a set of cross-cutting themes highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing culture across the region

Together, these form a clear starting point for how culture and creativity can play a stronger role in people’s lives — from wellbeing and education to local economies and community connection.

A shared picture of the region

One of the most striking aspects of the Assembly was how consistent some of the themes were across different places and perspectives.

Citizens highlighted:

• the importance of equitable access and inclusion
• the need for greater transparency in funding and decision-making
• the pressures on organisations around capacity and staffing
• the role of culture as a social and economic force
• and the need for stronger coordination and leadership across the region

These ideas are grounded in people’s lived experience.

What happens next

By publishing these resources, we hope to continue widening ownership of the Citizens’ Cultural Plan.

Over the coming months, Citizens for Culture is working with organisations, freelancers, networks and public bodies across the region through a series of roadshows and conversations. Together, we are exploring:

• what is already happening that aligns with the Plan
• where activity could be strengthened or better connected
• and where new approaches or partnerships may be needed

Citizens will remain involved through the Citizens for Culture Panel, helping to ensure that the work stays visible, accountable and grounded in the priorities set out through the Assembly.

Explore the work

Whether you’re a cultural organisation, a public body, a freelancer, or simply someone interested in culture in the West of England, these new resources are a way to explore the work — and to see how it connects to what you do.

You can:

• read the summary report
• explore the 13 regional priorities and actions
• discover the place-based aspirations
• or dive into the full Citizens for Culture Report

This is a shared plan — and its impact will depend on how it is taken forward across the region.

Visit https://citizensforculture.info/report for access to everything mentioned in this newsblog

As Town of Culture proposals take shape across the West of England, we’d love to connect.

Earlier this year, the Culture Secretary described Citizens for Culture as:

“A shining example of how we can put communities at the heart of cultural decisions that impact them.”

The Citizens’ Cultural Plan is now the regional plan for culture. It was shaped by 51 residents selected by civic lottery, working alongside cultural organisations, local authorities and partners across the region.

So here’s a simple thought.

If you’re developing a Town of Culture bid in the West of England, how might your proposal connect with, respond to, or build on the Citizens’ Cultural Plan?…in a way that makes sense for your town?

This is not about copying or duplicating programme ideas but it could just be about how you propose to develop your Town of Culture bid if you’re shortlisted. 

• How are local people involved?
• How are decisions shaped?
• How is trust built?
• How does your vision connect with a wider regional, citizen-led framework?

Being able to show alignment with a democratically shaped regional Cultural Plan, one already recognised by DCMS, could strengthen bids from across our region.

It certainly signals that proposals are rooted in community voice and public legitimacy, not just top-down thinking.

How we can help

Citizens for Culture is currently running a regional Roadshow from March–May bringing citizens and cultural actors together to explore how the Plan moves into action.

If helpful, we can:

• Host a short roadshow-style session in your area, where Town of Culture teams can meet an Assembly member and explore relevant priorities.
• Offer a short online introduction to Citizens for Culture for bid writers and partners.
• Share simple ways to map your proposal against the Citizens’ Cultural Plan.

If you’re working on a Town of Culture proposal and would like to explore this further, get in touch.

Email David, Citizens for Culture Project Manager: david@citizensinpower.com 

By LaToyah McAllister-Jones-Citizens for Culture / Co-Lead Facilitator

A month has passed since we launched the Citizens for Culture report the story of the UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly for Culture in the West of England.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People are excited. Curious. Energised. The sector is leaning in.

And that matters.

But if I’m honest, the real story isn’t the report.
It’s what the process is asking of us and whether we’re truly ready to respond.

Because citizen-led work doesn’t just produce plans.
It exposes power.

And it raises a difficult question for our sector:

Do we really want to share decision-making or do we just want better engagement?

Let’s talk about pace and control

Citizen-led processes are slow.

They take time to listen properly. Time to deliberate. Time to sit with divergence. Time to build shared understanding. Understanding the trade-offs (there are always trade-offs).

They move at the speed of trust, not the speed of delivery targets, funding deadlines or institutional pressure.

Over the past four years, this work has unfolded through testing, learning and adaptation. Nothing was rushed. Nothing was fixed too early. Each stage shaped the next.

But here’s the tension: our ecosystems are not designed for this kind of work. They are designed to demand the full picture before the journey is even started.

They reward speed.
They reward certainty.
They reward control.

Citizen-led practice challenges all three.

If we genuinely want decisions shaped by lived experience, we must accept the time, complexity and uncertainty that comes with that. We cannot ask citizens for their voice and then contain it within existing structures that remain unchanged.

Deliberation is not delay.
It is democratic practice.

From consultation to redistribution

The cultural sector has become highly skilled at consultation.
Less skilled at redistributing power.

Too often, participation happens at the edges of decision-making rather than at its centre. Citizens are invited to contribute, but rarely to shape the terms.

What has been different here is the coalition that has formed around a shared direction across the West of England; local authorities, cultural organisations, funders and community partners choosing to move together.

But coalition is only the beginning.

The real question is whether institutions are prepared to let citizen priorities influence resource allocation, strategic direction and organisational behaviour. Whether we are prepared to change not just what we say, but what we do.

That is where citizen-led work becomes structural rather than symbolic.

Sharing power means letting go

Citizen-led work asks something very different from institutions and leaders.

It asks us to listen before acting.
It asks us to question our assumptions.
It asks expertise to sit alongside lived experience, not above it.

This is not simply a new methodology. It is a shift in mindset.

And it requires letting go: of certainty, of control, of the comfort of familiar decision-making structures.

That can feel destabilising. It challenges professional identity. It disrupts long-established ways of working. It asks organisations to operate with more openness and less authority.

We need to be honest about that.

But if we want cultural policy that reflects the lives of the people it serves, this shift is not optional. It is necessary. My question is how can we lean into that discomfort?

Discomfort is not a barrier to change.
It is evidence of it.

This brings up the question, ‘how can we lean into that discomfort?’

Institutional partnership and institutional responsibility

Partnership with Arts Council England and the West of England Combined Authority has been crucial. Their involvement gives this work weight, legitimacy and regional reach.

But institutional support must also mean institutional change.

If citizen voice is to be central rather than symbolic, systems of funding, governance and decision-making must evolve to reflect it. Otherwise participation risks becoming performative.

The opportunity now is to embed this work, not just endorse it.

What this has taught me

On a personal level, this work has deepened my belief that people are ready to shape the systems that shape their lives.

What has often been missing is not capacity, but access.
Not interest, but invitation.
Not ideas, but influence.

Citizen assemblies create space for genuine dialogue. They reconnect policy with lived experience. They begin to rebuild trust between people and institutions.

At a time when trust is fragile, that matters profoundly.

What happens next is the real test

We now move into the Citizens for Culture roadshow across the region.

This phase is not about presenting a finished plan. It is about testing what shared responsibility actually looks like. It is about asking difficult questions together:

What are we prepared to change?
What are we prepared to share?
What are we prepared to give up?

The work will be incremental. It will be messy. It will require courage.

But it offers the possibility of something different; cultural policy shaped with citizens, grounded in lived experience, and shared across the region.

That is the opportunity.
It is also the challenge.

Come into the conversation

If you’re part of an organisation, network, community group or partnership across the West of England and want to explore what this could mean for your work, invite us in.

The roadshow is about meeting people where they are, listening, challenging, learning together and working out what delivery really looks like.

If this approach resonates with you, or even if it makes you uncomfortable, we want to hear from you.

Because sharing power only works when more of us are willing to try.

The shift has begun; now we do the work together.”

Read this news blog, to find out how to get involved in the roadshow or email David Jubb, Citizens for Culture Project Manager at david@citizensinpower.com 

Yesterday marked an important moment for creativity and culture in the West of England, when citizens shared their ideas for a new citizen-led plan for the region. 141 people from across the region, from citizens to artists, local authority representatives to organisational leaders. All came together to mark the launch of the Cultural Plan.

Last year, 51 citizens, selected by civic lottery to reflect the diversity of the West of England, spent months learning, deliberating and working together to answer a simple but ambitious question: what would culture and creativity in the West of England look like if they were for everyone?

At the event, citizens shared their experiences and set out what matters most to them, sharing a plan that covers Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, celebrated the achievement of the citizens’ plan, as did Sophie Moysey from Arts Council England and representatives of the creative and cultural sector. There was a shared commitment to work with citizens to turn the plan into action.

Citizens for Culture is the first time a Citizens’ Assembly has been used in the UK to shape a regional cultural plan. Secretary for State, Lisa Nandy called it “a shining example of how we can put communities at the heart of cultural decisions that impact them”. 

Designed by citizens from the West of England, the Assembly used consensus-based decision-making rather than adversarial debate, with citizens and organisations learning together, questioning evidence and building shared understanding.

Yesterday’s launch was the beginning of the next chapter. Citizens will form a panel to work alongside regional stakeholders. A primary task will be to decide which of their priorities to take forward first, using an investment of £100,000 from Esmée Fairburn.

Over the coming months, citizens, sector partners, local authorities and funders, will meet to explore where work is already happening, where it can grow, and where new collaboration is needed to make culture and creativity genuinely accessible to everyone.

Link to plan

Link to press release

Join the conversation using #CitizensForCulture.

The UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly dedicated to shaping a regional plan for culture and creativity has today published its report in the West of England, at an event with the Mayor and council leaders, Arts Council England, funders, and creative leaders.

More than half of the Assembly members wanted to continue their involvement over the coming three years, so the Citizens’ Assembly will now become a Citizens for Culture panel. The panel is uniquely empowered with £100,000 of funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to pilot early ideas and test new approaches. Some 100 cultural organisations and stakeholders from across the region have already committed to working together to enhance and open up the West’s world-renowned creativity.

In their Cultural Plan – www.citizensforculture.info/report – the citizens set out a vision for “a West of England where culture is for everyone as part of everyday life, where everyone can take part, be heard, and feel proud of where they live.” They considered not just how people could be including in existing cultural structures, but whether those structures need to change. Their recommendations include working to: 

 

• Open up parks, libraries, schools, heritage buildings, and unused spaces to gather and create, repurposing unused sites as shared creative resource hubs
• Create an easy-to-use local and regional directory showing what’s on, where, and how to join in
• Set up smaller local cultural assemblies to help guide future funding and decisions, with rotating memberships and publish details about cultural funding, involving local people in decisions, and working with underrepresented groups
• Embed creative learning into school life and link with local arts providers
• Develop creative solutions for more affordable and accessible transport options, trialled by selected venues with transport providers

 

Maria, a member of the Citizens’ Assembly, said:

“I gained so much from being part of the Assembly. The workshops were really well run, and as an artist I enjoyed the different ways the facilitators led them, which made the process engaging and creative. Everyone’s opinion was heard and valued, and it made you feel that you truly belonged. I gained confidence to speak and engage with different people. I am taking away valuable skills and confidence, and I realised that after taking part I didn’t have to be an expert, as contributing came naturally. My hope now is to see how the plan develops in the future and how what we have planned comes to life.”

Gareth, a member of the Citizens’ Assembly, said:

“I found the Citizens Assembly and enlightening experience. Not only did it make me more aware of the cultural activities in the area and the challenges facing them, but it made me more aware of their value. Before the assembly I would have considered such activities as “nice to have”, now I see them as vital to our communities to bring people together and raise understanding.”

Project Partners Emma Harvey, LaToyah McAllister-Jones, and David Jubb said:

“Citizens for Culture exists because too many decisions about culture are made without the people they affect. This Assembly showed that when citizens are given time, support and real responsibility, they make thoughtful, ambitious and practical choices. Their Cultural Plan isn’t a wish list, it’s a shared direction for the region, shaped by people who live here and care deeply about our region’s future. What happens next depends on all of us choosing to work differently, together.”

Dame Caroline Mason, CEO of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, said:

“Citizens for Culture shifts power to local people – giving them direct control over investment into culture where they live. We’re excited and proud to be supporting the realisation of this citizen-led plan and its potential to influence change across the UK.”

Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:

“Whether it’s Weston reaching the third round of the FA Cup, Aardman winning an Oscar, Bath’s ever-growing tourism offer, or Rivals winning an Emmy, the West’s culture is unmatched. With more investment on the way, the best is yet to come. I’m thrilled that the Citizens’ Assembly will continue as the Citizens for Culture panel, with funding to pilot their ideas. This report is an important moment, with recommendations ranging from parks to schools to transport. We know how important it is to open up our region for everyone to have chance to enjoy, as Kids Go Free proved over the summer and Christmas school holidays. I’m looking forward to working with the citizens, our wider communities, creative sector, and councils to make culture more accessible for all.”

This year, the West of England becomes one of just six regions to access £25 million of devolved funding through the Government’s Creative Places Growth Fund. The creative industries are a key part of the Growth Strategy for the coming decade, which aims to create 72,000 new jobs here in the country’s fastest growing region (+3%, 2023). Since 2015, almost 18,500 jobs were created in the sector in the West – the most of any English region, including London.

 

Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said: 

“This Citizens for Culture panel is a shining example of how we can put communities at the heart of cultural decisions that impact them. The people of the West of England have created a bold vision for culture that truly belongs to everyone.”

“Our ambition is that every corner of this country will flourish as part of the UK’s position as a creative superpower, maximising the value and impact of our content, services, products and skills. We are supporting the West of England and 5 other priority places with a £25 million investment each from the Creative Places Growth Fund.”

Phil Gibby, Area Director for the South West at Arts Council England, said:

“The learning from the Citizens’ Assembly is essential reading for everyone with an interest in arts and culture in the West of England. It’s encouraging to know that the journey will continue, and we look forward to engaging with the conversations that lie ahead.”

Over 15,000 randomly selected households from across the West were invited to take part in a unique people-powered process; a two-stage civic lottery designed and delivered by the Sortition Foundation chose 51 citizens who together reflected the region’s diversity to answer the question: “What would culture and creativity look like in the West of England if they were for everyone?” The Assembly was designed to include people to respond to this question who are often excluded from cultural decision-making, so that citizens, not institutions, can shape priorities and remain involved in decisions about what happens next.

From September to November 2025, 51 citizens from all walks of life took part in eight days of briefings and workshops with stakeholders and experts from across the region and beyond. In all four local authority areas that make up the West, citizens identified consistent long-term priorities including equity of access, transparent funding, sustainable capacity, strong governance, and culture’s wider social and economic role. Citizens from each area wrote vision statements for their part of the region, alongside a regional action plan.

Citizens for Culture – a partnership between Trinity Community Arts, Involve Associate LaToyah McAllister-Jones, Citizens in Power, and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority – is backed by Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, and South Gloucestershire Council. Citizens for Culture is also supported by Arts Council England, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.