City’s £60m programme of culture for change
TWENTY FOUR SEVEN LAUNCHED AT NATIONAL GLASS CENTRE TO BOOST ARTS
It was the dawn of a new chapter for Sunderland’s cultural landscape at a major launch yesterday.
A new £60million programme aimed at boosting the city’s cultural assets and driving more engagement in the arts than ever before was launched at National Glass Centre.
Taking place over seven years, the programme, titled Twenty Four Seven, aims to capitalise upon the momentum built by the city’s bid to become City of Culture 2021.
Though Sunderland lost out on the title to Coventry, Rebeccca Ball, former bid director and now creative director of Twenty Four Seven, says the bid highlighted an appetite for the arts, as well as the potential for regeneration through culture.
Citing the major £3.5million Fire Station culture hub in the city centre as an example, she said: “When the Fire Station was launched the free tickets were snapped up in minutes after they were made available, because there’s an appetite to be involved and an appetite for the regeneration of the city.
“When the competition judges came to visit we put out a call out on Twitter for people to post about their favourite places and people and ‘Welcome to Sunderland’ was trending for five, six hours nationally. There was a brilliant sense of people coming together and being involved and we want to continue that.”
Organisers have already secured £40million of the funds needed for Twenty Four Seven, with another £20million to be raised.
Over the course of the next seven years, the city can expect new venues, workspaces, events, participation programmes and heritage regeneration which is aimed at putting the city on the map, increasing the uptake of arts in the city and boosting the economy.
Highlights, which are already set to take place under Twenty Four Seven are the Tall Ships entertainment programme and opening of the Northern Spire this year; the opening of the soon-tobe-built auditorium next to the Fire Station in 2019 and the potential opening of a National Centre for Imagination in 2020.
Graeme Thompson, pro-vice chancellor at Sunderland University and chairman of Sunderland Culture, said: “What the bid did was to act as a catalyst for the city’s cultural ambitions.
“We may not have won, but a lot of what was envisaged and hoped for in the bid we are going to do anyway.”
Coun Harry Trueman, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We sadly missed out on the bid, but we can take comfort in the fact that the minister said we came very close. It was a great effort from the city.
“We need to continue that legacy. We can’t just give up and make do with what we’ve got. We’re an ambitious city and we need to take that forward.”