Arts and culture are at the heart of a major new regional programme to reduce loneliness – with an ambition to help over 4,000 people to feel less isolated over the next two and a half years.
Launching with events across the region throughout the week of the 23rd March – including a musical bus in the Mendips – All Together Now is a new initiative bringing arts, culture and creativity to ‘forgotten postcodes’ and communities across the West of England.
It aims to help people in these communities to feel a stronger sense of belonging, while also creating more than 100 roles for freelance creatives.
The new programme is being led by the St Monica Trust and delivered by a consortium of local partners headed by Bristol Beacon. Bristol Beacon will work alongside local organisations to help connect residents with creative activities and remove barriers to participation.
Creative activities
The first-of-its-kind programme will run until July 2028 in six communities identified as having a higher risk of loneliness.
This includes four geographic communities covering both urban and rural areas – Stockwood, Charfield, Somer Valley and the Mendip Villages – as well as older people from Global Majority backgrounds and disabled young people.
Creative activities will take place in locations ranging from local community centres to shopping centres, churches and village halls to pubs and train stations.
The activities will include things like music, theatre, storytelling, visual arts, movement, photography and creative writing. Each community will shape its own programme, deciding what activities they want and how they happen locally.
Critically, the programme will also support skills development in the region and provide employment to local artists, musicians and creatives.
Flagship programme
All Together Now is the flagship programme of the West of England Impact Alliance, a collaboration of more than 50 organisations including health, culture, councils, universities, funders and community groups, working together to address loneliness with long-term regional impact.
The £1.1 million in funding comes from St Monica Trust, Arts Council England, The West of England Combined Authority, Bristol Beacon, the Grateful Society, and Sirona Care & Health.
Between now and 2028, All Together Now intends to:
- Help over 4,000 people to feel less isolated
- Support around 1,300 people to take part in regular creative activity
- Train 90 volunteers
- Create 18 paid trainee roles
- Provide paid opportunities for over 100 freelance creative practitioners
“Making meaningful change”
David Williams, Chief Executive of the St Monica Trust, said: “The challenge of making meaningful change within our communities is highly complex and cannot be achieved by a single funder, organisation or sector.
“Through the St Monica Trust’s partnership with local communities, charities and other organisations, initiatives like All Together Now can address the causes of loneliness and maximise our impact, rather than individual grants acting as a sticking plaster for societal issues.”
Simon Wales, Chief Executive, Bristol Beacon, added: “Arts and culture have a powerful role to play in bringing people together. Recognising the creativity and talent we have in our region, this programme will support communities, artists and practitioners to build new connections through music, art and shared experiences, and participate in cultural activities that they have helped to shape so they reflect their own identities and interests.”
The St Monica Trust has committed £500,000 per year to the Impact Alliance, with the goal of raising a minimum of £1.5 million annually through contributions from partner organisations.
