Arts funding vital for our sense of place

The proposal by RBWM to remove all

funding support for arts, culture and heritage from the 2022/3 budget was discussed at the recent AGM of

Maidenhead Arts Council (MAC).

The following submission was made to the council on behalf of all MAC’s member groups, which include orchestras, choirs, drama groups, folk music, music appreciation, U3A, astronomy, photography, civic society, heritage centre, archaeology, madrigals, Morris dancing, Cookham Festival, Maidenhead Drama Festival and Norden Farm.

All members agreed that as part of the ongoing regeneration of Maidenhead, it will be vital to ensure that our neighbourhoods retain a proper ‘Sense of Place’, which is what gives different areas their own identity, enabling residents and visitors to feel engaged with their surroundings.

Without a ‘Sense of Place’, it is likely that an area becomes unwelcoming and less attractive either to live in or to visit

A ‘Sense of Place’ is created by the people who are there, their history, their lifestyle and their individual stories.

The importance of art, history and culture in an area can therefore easily be seen, as it is through these channels that today’s residents can feel the sense of previous generations and understand their influences.

All members of MAC strongly believe that it is important to ensure that activities relating to arts, culture and heritage are encouraged and supported, to ensure that Maidenhead does not risk losing its personality. The outcome of arts and culture activities is not just in the mind but can often contribute meaningfully to the local economy.

Norden Farm has hitherto received support from RBWM as well as generating its own sources of income.

Removal of all support from RBWM could become a serious problem if this leaves them unable to properly continue to provide the facilities and programmes that they have been doing.

It is also short sighted, as Norden Farm not only serves the communities that comprise Maidenhead, but also attracts people from far outside our town, thus bringing additional income into the borough.

Also, the performances, exhibitions and activities provided at Norden Farm contribute to the mental wellbeing of the residents who attend them.

But MAC also currently supports 33 other local groups that offer education, enlightenment, companionship and sheer fun to their members!

These are not professional groups but are important to the social life of our local community, and many of them have from time to time availed themselves of the facilities of the Desborough Suite to stage performances and hold meetings, bringing their efforts into the centre of our town.

The amount of financial support that has previously been offered to them (some – maybe not all) is relatively small in the overall scheme of the RBWM budget, but helping these groups to stay afloat and thrive will be a major contribution to the well-being of many local people, as well as allowing Maidenhead to continue to rightly claim that we have a more vibrant arts and culture community than many other boroughs across the UK – something of which we should be very proud!

MAC therefore fervently urges our councillors of RBWM to reconsider the suggestion to remove all arts funding in the coming year, and agree to continue to support our efforts to keep our community a special one.

ALAN MELLINS Chair – Maidenhead Arts Council (on behalf of our 34 member organisations)