Culture and Communications
Culture
Canterbury is a small but culturally vibrant city. It has changed a great deal over the past five years and has big ambitions for its future as the cultural hub of Kent. It has been designated one of only three Centres of Cultural Leadership by the Arts Council of England South East and is also one of 13 national Cultural Pathfinders.
The service is responsible for arts and creative development, festivals and events, sports development, venues and foreshore/water safety. We do this either directly, usually in partnerships with other organisations, or through enabling strategies.
Examples of our recent work include the delivery of 'Make it Real', an 18 month programme of new arts commissions supported by a grant of £825,000 from Arts Council England and the Millenium Commission; agreement with Charlton Athletic Football Club to deliver a community football programme; managing events such as the Herne Bay Festival, Whitstable Bienniale and Whitstable Oyster Festival and supporting others, like the annual Canterbury Festival; establishing and supporting trusts such as Active Life and the Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre.
The service also includes The Marlowe Theatre - East Kent's flagship venue with ticket sales growing at around 20% a year. The £24m redevelopment of the theatre into a Centre of Excellence for the Performing Arts is one of the council's most important capital projects.
Another important capital project is the £10m refurbishment and extension of the Beaney Institute, which houses Canterbury's library and the Royal Museum and Art Gallery - one of six museums and galleries run by the service across the District.
Communications
The service, which includes marketing, press and PR, graphic design and the Civic and International Team, takes the lead in effectively promoting the council and council services to the public, businesses, employees, partners and stakeholders. This is done through marketing and promotional campaigns, public relations, Civic events, developing international links and internal communications.
The focus of this work is on:
- raising the profile and improving the image of the council
- developing greater understanding of the scope of the council's services
- actively promoting Canterbury and the surrounding district as a city and centre of culture
- ensuring the council and its services are customer focused and responsive
- enabling wider access to electronic public information systems
- increasing the involvement of citizens and community groups in the decision making process
- developing the loyalty of residents and pride in the district.
