About Cultivate

Cultivate was a cultural education programme which ran from 2015-2018. It was primarily funded by, and part of, A New Direction’s Cultural Education Challenge programme in London. (A New Direction is an Arts Council England funded organisation which promotes and supports cultural learning for young people).

Cultivate was one of a number of programmes in London and it focused initially on identifying opportunities for young people to learn about, and engage creatively with, the large-scale regeneration taking place in Nine Elms, through arts projects lead by creative professionals. Cultivate addressed needs that were evidenced by A New Direction, focused on the inequality of young people’s access to culture, employment and other opportunities. 

Cultivate ran from 2015 to 2018 and worked with over 3,000 young people from 59 schools in Wandsworth, bringing regeneration projects, schools, cultural bodies, teachers and educators together to share skills and to open the eyes of children and young people to the possibilities inherent in: 

  • Exploring their natural and built environment for creative inspiration
  • Using creativity and design thinking in their work
  • Broadening their horizons when considering their future careers
  • Producing pieces of visual art, design, multimedia and performance
  • Co-creating and co-learning, working together towards both individual expression and shared end-goals. 

Cultivate evolved to become the Creative Wandsworth initiative, Wandsworth’s Local Cultural Education Partnership. 

View projects

Programme benefits

Cultivate projects enriched young people‘s school experience, gave them a voice in their changing local area, and raised their awareness of cultural opportunities and creative careers. In 2015 schools reported the need for activity which paid attention to school needs and offered careers inspiration. Cultivate projects therefore provided local schools with creative activities that worked hard to meet their needs and identify curriculum links. Developers in Wandsworth also benefited through creative work which facilitated meaningful local community engagement, which also offered windows into the world of work.

Support

Cultivate was run by Cultural Consultants Flow Associates, who worked alongside Wandsworth Arts Service to develop the programme. Flow liaised with schools, cultural providers and developers, matching and (where needed) shaping projects. They produced a Cultivate project planning workbook  which provided advice on planning and evaluating projects. 

Projects were shared on the website, inspiring others to try similar approaches or to get involved. The Cultivate team also commissioned new projects to fill strategic gaps. These include Exploring Nine Elms and Cultivate Routes, a set of school workshops led by creative professionals introducing young people to the array of creative careers with hands-on challenge activities. In March 2018 the projects were evaluated comprehensively, exploring whether they had achieved a step-change in access to cultural opportunities and creative skills, and making recommendations for improvement. 

What happened next?

Cultivate has evolved in the young people’s programme Creative Wandsworth which is also an evolving Local Cultural Education Partnership and part of A New Direction’s Challenge programme. 

Programme partners

A wide range of partners contributed to the Cultivate programme and we are grateful to them all for taking part whether through leading, commissioning, taking part in or funding projects. 

Primary programme funders

Cultivate feedback

A concrete link providing local cultural development for young people.” Fliss Buckles, Lecturer in Film & TV Production, South Thames College

A brilliant project based on creative outreach within developing city areas, creating a creative community that is accessible for everyone.” Grace Holliday, Illustrator

A lot going on the ground, navigated with strong outcomes coming through from the programme.” Corinne Bass, A New Direction

“Developers are involved in actually making a difference to the area and I think it’s important that these are living places and culture is such an important part of making places come alive.”  Cllr Govinda, Leader, Wandsworth Council

“Makes me think that people are working really hard right now to make the world a better place.” Pupil, Brandlehow School, Year 6

“Children can create something real, changing their environment for the better. They can have authorship over the built environment.” Mark Nixon, Neon 

Up to Cultivate (2015-2018)

Updated: 03/12/2021