OUR CONSORTIUM
No More Nowt is one of 38 Creative People and Places projects nationally, funded by Arts Council England. We are hosted by East Durham Trust working in partnership and supported by Beamish Museum, Believe Housing and Durham County Council via Culture, Sport and Tourism Services.
Our Consortium is supported by our Independent Chair Dave Pritchard, Community representative and Shotton Cultural Hub leader Rona Hardy, the Local Network (formerly the Area Action Partnership) and Tony Harrington from the Forge as Critical Friend.
East Durham Trust is a Registered Charity with a constitution based on the Social and Economic regeneration of the former Coalfield area of East Durham (the last pit having closed in 1993).
The work of the Trust is largely based on the direct and indirect impact of poverty with projects and services including the management of the local foodbank to the provision of advice and support around debt. The Trust took over the role of lead organisation in 2018, novating the programme from former lead Beamish.
The Trust’s Hub & Spoke model has significantly influenced the shape of NMN’s programme, particularly the Cultural Hub programme. NMN’s embedded place within the Trust has ensured significant cultural delivery during the pandemic and supported the fact that on average 97% of NMN’s audience and participants come from areas of lower cultural engagement.
Beamish Museum is the biggest visitor attraction in the North East, welcoming more than 800,000 visitors a year, employing over 400 staff and working with 520 volunteers. Beamish involves local people in making decisions about how their history is represented at the museum.
Beamish was the initial host organisation for the NMN programme until novation in 2018. Since then, Beamish Museum has supported the programme to become embedded within the arts and culture sector on a local, regional and national level utilising its vast network and position as a nationally recognised cultural asset.
Beamish has continued to provide practical input and guidance into delivery elements of the programme including business planning, funding, policy and mentoring. More recently our growing countywide remit has allowed NMN to co-programme and connect Beamish to broader community partners to influence their programme offer as well.
believe housing are the largest Housing Association in County Durham. They cover a range of different areas from the rural west, to Durham city centre, and the coastline in the east. believe housing have a longstanding commitment to supporting the communities where their properties are based through a broad range of initiatives. This has included supporting a number of projects led by the project lead East Durham Trust and other NMN community partners.
believe housing’s countywide range and connectivity to other housing providers supports the growth of NMN as a countywide cultural programme.
The consortium is supported by Durham County Council (DCC) via Culture, Sport and Tourism Services:
DCC Culture and Sport Services has an advisory role, connecting No More Nowt with existing arts provision and networks, learning from past development projects and supporting the project to make longer term, sustainable change.
DCC is committed to linking NMN with large scale activity including events such as Lumière and Durham Book Festival, as well as raising the profile of NMN as a key arts infrastructure programme in the County.
To date NMN has worked in partnership with DCC on a number of initiatives including the City of Culture 2025, Peterlee 75 and Apollo 50 programmes in Peterlee and Artful Age. DCC are also the lead partner on the Into the Light Durham Place Partnership which was developed in collaboration with NMN and other key cultural partners locally.
The most recent addition to our Consortium is Durham University. Durham University is a long-standing partner of the No More Nowt programme through strands including Street Gallery, Street Museum and Street Cosmos. They are also a key partner in the Into the Light Durham Place Partnership.
Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City. Durham University is the only major University operating within County Durham with an increasing level of civic responsibility and relationship to the communities that surround the City, particularly in relation to culture. The University operates a number of significant cultural sites including the Palace Green Library and Oriental Museum with a dedicated Museums and Collections team.
The University provides connections to world leading academics and research as well as funding opportunities that the No More Nowt programme could not otherwise access.
