http://ht.ly/1J0TT
Sydenham falls under 'somewhat engaged in the arts'. Forest Hill ranks alongside Blackheath as being 'very engaged'!
This means (apparently):
♦ The arts do not play a key role in the everyday life of this group.
♦ Attending arts events is an infrequent, special occasion in their social calendar.
♦ They have a tendency to stick to the ’tried and tested’ and have mainstream tastes: they attend live music events such as rock and pop concerts, theatre and musicals.
♦ Some of the people in this group attend arts events that are explicitly reflective of their ethnic background.
♦ An arts experience that uses a familiar story, well know characters or features a ‘household name’ will appeal; celebrity endorsement might also work.
♦ They are looking for an arts experience that is entertaining and offers a ‘good night out’, highlighting these messages will be important.
♦ For particular ethnic groups an explicit cultural connection with the arts offer will be important.
♦ For those with children, family friendly activities will appeal.
♦ Stressing the social aspects of your offer will be important to this group.
Did anyone in this forum get interviewed for this survey? Does anyone else think that it is a possible waste of money to pay for a survey that gives you advice like 'For those with children, family friendly activities will appeal.' A case of no sh*t Sherlock?.
SURVEY ABOUT THE ARTS IN LEWISHAM...
Lee:
This is fascinating. As far as I can see, this is based on standard social indicators, and some audience data for larger venues. In other words, it will be completely blind to anything distinctive happening here - such as the Sydenham International Music Festival or the SAF.
I've just put in a call to the Head of Arts for Lewisham.
This is fascinating. As far as I can see, this is based on standard social indicators, and some audience data for larger venues. In other words, it will be completely blind to anything distinctive happening here - such as the Sydenham International Music Festival or the SAF.
I've just put in a call to the Head of Arts for Lewisham.
I think it's a good example of the 'big brother' approach from a large council. It would have been far better to get each area to do it's own research under a Lewisham initiative.
We need a survey about how people in Sydenham work, spend their money and spend their leisure time to help formulate a plan for local shops and businesses, with the data open for all to see.
We need a survey about how people in Sydenham work, spend their money and spend their leisure time to help formulate a plan for local shops and businesses, with the data open for all to see.
I'm not sure if it is fair to call it a big brother approach, first because the original quote is 'big brother is watching you' - and this is precisely what I suspect they are not doing. Second, it's more just a matter of a bureaucracy not seeming to do what we want - but how sure can we be that we get it done better? Bureaucrats do serve a purpose, and the community will always need to work with them, so be careful of suggesting that Council officers are inept or indifferent. In this case, my starting point would be to ask why the survey was done the way it was, and to ask whether actual arts events taking place here have made a difference to such a document. Try to get into a constructive dialogue, and offer Council officers something that they can use, not just brickbats.
Hmm, I wasn't criticising individual Councillors. If I was I would have said so!
To put my point another way, I believe in local devolution but working with other areas which can affect it across different local authorities. That's why I believe a survey on Sydenham and other surrounding areas from other boroughs (Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Forest Hill etc) is a good idea for our local businesses and development.
Many things Lewisham council are a brilliant. Some are, well, less than brilliant. That goes for any council. I just wonder why this survey was carried out as it appears to fall under the 'less than brilliant' category.
To put my point another way, I believe in local devolution but working with other areas which can affect it across different local authorities. That's why I believe a survey on Sydenham and other surrounding areas from other boroughs (Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Forest Hill etc) is a good idea for our local businesses and development.
Many things Lewisham council are a brilliant. Some are, well, less than brilliant. That goes for any council. I just wonder why this survey was carried out as it appears to fall under the 'less than brilliant' category.
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bigbadwolf
- Posts: 726
- Joined: 7 Jan 2008 21:21
- Location: Forest Hill and Sydenham
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bigbadwolf
- Posts: 726
- Joined: 7 Jan 2008 21:21
- Location: Forest Hill and Sydenham
This makes depressing reading...
I haven't got time to look up all those websites to see what the evidence is based on, but from a quick glance it seems that at least part of it is based on whether you have a local theatre, which shows non-mainstream performances.
If Lewisham council is using this survey to apply for grant applications or using it to build profiles for potential investors in Sydenham it is very worrying!
This area is very similar to Forest Hill, I have lived in both.
I haven't got time to look up all those websites to see what the evidence is based on, but from a quick glance it seems that at least part of it is based on whether you have a local theatre, which shows non-mainstream performances.
If Lewisham council is using this survey to apply for grant applications or using it to build profiles for potential investors in Sydenham it is very worrying!
This area is very similar to Forest Hill, I have lived in both.
Lee:
I think it very likely that it comes from the Arts Council. 90% of Council funding comes from central government - I'd include the Arts Council here - and it is unsurprising that Council officers respond more to ideas coming from the centre. If a policy wonk, close to the pursestrings, has a bright idea, officers will move. If someone from the community has a bright idea, they need to work out how it could be made to work for the officers, who in general will be supportive if it can work
I think it very likely that it comes from the Arts Council. 90% of Council funding comes from central government - I'd include the Arts Council here - and it is unsurprising that Council officers respond more to ideas coming from the centre. If a policy wonk, close to the pursestrings, has a bright idea, officers will move. If someone from the community has a bright idea, they need to work out how it could be made to work for the officers, who in general will be supportive if it can work
OK - scrub all that about the Arts Council. I've just had the relevant officer on the phone, and it's a bit more complicated ... hopefully the Lewisham officer who is allowed to post on forums such as this will come on here soon as explain.
However, I can say what we need to do, as officers currently work, to be constructive, which is to collect post code data. In other words, the post codes of people who attend arts events. If you've been to a Sydenham International Music Festival event, which is supported by Lewisham, you'll have seen feedback cards which do this.
I have some initial thoughts on how to do this, but I suspect there are others with better informed ideas, so I will not burden the world with them.
However, I can say what we need to do, as officers currently work, to be constructive, which is to collect post code data. In other words, the post codes of people who attend arts events. If you've been to a Sydenham International Music Festival event, which is supported by Lewisham, you'll have seen feedback cards which do this.
I have some initial thoughts on how to do this, but I suspect there are others with better informed ideas, so I will not burden the world with them.
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LewishamCouncil
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 11 Nov 2009 17:09
- Location: SE6 4RU
Increasing engagement in the arts has been a key driver for the service and continues to underpin our vision. We have been working with Audiences London to improve our knowledge and understanding of arts attendance in the borough to support arts organisations to develop audiences.
The first phase of this project has involved our regularly funded organisations supplying postcode data which has been analysed using a range of tools (Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Council’s Insight). We also captured a further 996 postcodes at a range of events across the borough. This information was used as the basis of a collaborative workshop with the arts sector held last year. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive and we are planning a second event.
The Arts Council are providing support to local authorities that have a selected engagement in the arts as a national indicator (the targets by which central government manages local government performance). As Lewisham has selected this target, we have been able to access a range of training and support services through the Arts Council, including the workshop commissioned from Audiences London.
I think it is important to recognise that this is relatively new territory for the arts sector. The engagement in the arts target is the first time an arts related target has been available for local authorities to select. The Active People Survey in 2008 was the first ever national survey providing data on the number of adults engaging in the arts. To our knowledge Lewisham was the first London borough to collect and analyse postcode data and work with the arts sector to respond to it. Last year we were invited to present a case study on this project at the National Arts Engagement Conference.
There is much still to do to refine our approach and increase the data captured but we have made considerable progress.
We are keen to welcome any arts organisation interested in participating in this project. (carmel.langstaff@lewisham.gov.uk; 020 8314 7729)
The first phase of this project has involved our regularly funded organisations supplying postcode data which has been analysed using a range of tools (Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Council’s Insight). We also captured a further 996 postcodes at a range of events across the borough. This information was used as the basis of a collaborative workshop with the arts sector held last year. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive and we are planning a second event.
The Arts Council are providing support to local authorities that have a selected engagement in the arts as a national indicator (the targets by which central government manages local government performance). As Lewisham has selected this target, we have been able to access a range of training and support services through the Arts Council, including the workshop commissioned from Audiences London.
I think it is important to recognise that this is relatively new territory for the arts sector. The engagement in the arts target is the first time an arts related target has been available for local authorities to select. The Active People Survey in 2008 was the first ever national survey providing data on the number of adults engaging in the arts. To our knowledge Lewisham was the first London borough to collect and analyse postcode data and work with the arts sector to respond to it. Last year we were invited to present a case study on this project at the National Arts Engagement Conference.
There is much still to do to refine our approach and increase the data captured but we have made considerable progress.
We are keen to welcome any arts organisation interested in participating in this project. (carmel.langstaff@lewisham.gov.uk; 020 8314 7729)
Thanks to Lewisham Council for posting. I was however a bit confused by what you had written.
Is it possible to clarify the following:
What is your vision?
What are Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Council Insight?
What do you do with postcode capture and what is it?
What arts sectors were part of the collaborative event? Where was the event and where will it be this year?
What are the targets central government have set for the arts, what does it mean for us, here, in Sydenham?
What is the engagement in the arts target?
What is the active people survey? Is this the one originally posted above? What does it achieve?
How did you respond to it? What did it lead to? What did it change?
What is the progress made?
Does this mean more investment in the Arts in Sydenham? If so how?
Do we have access to all this data if it affects local people organising arts events and where can we get the data?
Many thanks
Lee
Sydenham
Is it possible to clarify the following:
What is your vision?
What are Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Council Insight?
What do you do with postcode capture and what is it?
What arts sectors were part of the collaborative event? Where was the event and where will it be this year?
What are the targets central government have set for the arts, what does it mean for us, here, in Sydenham?
What is the engagement in the arts target?
What is the active people survey? Is this the one originally posted above? What does it achieve?
How did you respond to it? What did it lead to? What did it change?
What is the progress made?
Does this mean more investment in the Arts in Sydenham? If so how?
Do we have access to all this data if it affects local people organising arts events and where can we get the data?
Many thanks
Lee
Sydenham
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LewishamCouncil
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 11 Nov 2009 17:09
- Location: SE6 4RU
Our vision, along with our key objectives, is publicly available on our website: Making Lewisham a creative borough with a thriving arts sector, vibrant communities and active residents.
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCu ... 009-15.htm
We analyse postcodes using the Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Insight. These are systems that classify households in the UK into groups, formed on the basis that households share certain characteristics. They are segmentation tools used for marketing and business planning purposes.
Our regularly funded organisations were invited to the collaborative event held at The Albany. We have not yet finalised the details for this year's event.
Out target is to increase engagement in the arts by 4.5%. The baseline, determined by the Active People Survey in April 2008, was 51.4%. Our target is to increase this to 55.9% by October 2010. What this means for Sydenham and all wards, is that we are continuing to develop a range of initiatives that raise the profile of the arts in the borough, support our regularly funded organisations to increase audiences and offer people new opportunities to engage with the arts.
The Active People Survey is a national survey of sport and recreation, engagement with the arts, museums and galleries and libraries. It identifies how participation varies from place to place and between different groups in the population. It measures our performance against the engagement in the arts target. You can find more information at http://www.sportengland.org/research/ac ... urvey.aspx and http://www.audiencesuk.org/data-and-res ... ta-sources
As outlined we have delivered a programme of activity designed to increase engagement. This includes a new grant scheme focused on participation, projects linked to pan London initiatives offering opportunities for mass participation (e.g. Big Dance) and work with local festivals. New marketing activities include Lewisham's corporate Be More marketing campaign, the Arts Service facebook page and the Arts Usherettes (developed in partnership with a local theatre company) to raise the profile of the arts in a more innovative way (they visited Sydenham on Saturday). A more proactive approach to partnership working has resulted in the development of new networks (e.g. Youth Arts Forum and a classical music network) and joint funding bids.
The work we have done to increase engagement has been undertaken within the existing resources of the Arts Service. The Take Part Fund was widely advertised and organisations wishing to develop activities in Sydenham were able to apply for funding to support these.
The interim figures from the Active People Survey showed, as expected, no statistically significant change as it is too early to capture the impact of our activities. Locally, we know that changing our open grant scheme to focus on participation has resulted in a four fold increase in the number of people engaging in the arts. Visits to our web pages have increased by over 40% on the previous year. Regularly funded organisations report a more in depth understanding of audiences in the borough. New opportunities have been created to access arts activities such as the Big Dance events planned for the summer.
Sharing the data collected prompted this discussion. If you have any further queries regarding data or would like advice about organising events locally please contact me directly and I'll do my best to help.
Carmel Langstaff (carmel.langstaff@lewisham.gov.uk; 020 8314 7729)
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCu ... 009-15.htm
We analyse postcodes using the Mosaic, Snapshot and Arts Insight. These are systems that classify households in the UK into groups, formed on the basis that households share certain characteristics. They are segmentation tools used for marketing and business planning purposes.
Our regularly funded organisations were invited to the collaborative event held at The Albany. We have not yet finalised the details for this year's event.
Out target is to increase engagement in the arts by 4.5%. The baseline, determined by the Active People Survey in April 2008, was 51.4%. Our target is to increase this to 55.9% by October 2010. What this means for Sydenham and all wards, is that we are continuing to develop a range of initiatives that raise the profile of the arts in the borough, support our regularly funded organisations to increase audiences and offer people new opportunities to engage with the arts.
The Active People Survey is a national survey of sport and recreation, engagement with the arts, museums and galleries and libraries. It identifies how participation varies from place to place and between different groups in the population. It measures our performance against the engagement in the arts target. You can find more information at http://www.sportengland.org/research/ac ... urvey.aspx and http://www.audiencesuk.org/data-and-res ... ta-sources
As outlined we have delivered a programme of activity designed to increase engagement. This includes a new grant scheme focused on participation, projects linked to pan London initiatives offering opportunities for mass participation (e.g. Big Dance) and work with local festivals. New marketing activities include Lewisham's corporate Be More marketing campaign, the Arts Service facebook page and the Arts Usherettes (developed in partnership with a local theatre company) to raise the profile of the arts in a more innovative way (they visited Sydenham on Saturday). A more proactive approach to partnership working has resulted in the development of new networks (e.g. Youth Arts Forum and a classical music network) and joint funding bids.
The work we have done to increase engagement has been undertaken within the existing resources of the Arts Service. The Take Part Fund was widely advertised and organisations wishing to develop activities in Sydenham were able to apply for funding to support these.
The interim figures from the Active People Survey showed, as expected, no statistically significant change as it is too early to capture the impact of our activities. Locally, we know that changing our open grant scheme to focus on participation has resulted in a four fold increase in the number of people engaging in the arts. Visits to our web pages have increased by over 40% on the previous year. Regularly funded organisations report a more in depth understanding of audiences in the borough. New opportunities have been created to access arts activities such as the Big Dance events planned for the summer.
Sharing the data collected prompted this discussion. If you have any further queries regarding data or would like advice about organising events locally please contact me directly and I'll do my best to help.
Carmel Langstaff (carmel.langstaff@lewisham.gov.uk; 020 8314 7729)