Where: Barking and Dagenham 
With: Studio 3 Arts, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Barking and Dagenham College, Barking and Dagenham Council for Voluntary Service, Barking Enterprise Centre and our local resident Cultural Connectors.

“Creative Barking and Dagenham gives us the power to make decisions, no other borough does this.  It’s a big risk and the trust they’ve shown us has paid off.”  ROH attender, La Traviata, January 2017

“It feels like everything positive that is happening in Barking and Dagenham is connected to arts and culture activities and events. Creative Barking and Dagenham is so great because it’s all Barking and Dagenham people!”  Feedback from Cultural Connectors consultation, October 2017

Creative Barking and Dagenham (CBD) creates new ways for local people in Barking and Dagenham to experience outstanding arts and creative activities. It also aims to put the area firmly on the map as a place to make and enjoy exciting art in all its many forms.

The current CBD programme, now in its sixth year, includes:

• a festival and outdoor arts programme
• Get Creative – cross-arts and crafts participatory workshops for adults
• partnership projects with artists and organisations of local, national and international profile
• trips and visits for local residents, exploring both the local area and further afield
• REACH micro-grants, providing funding and support for local creative events and activities

We work closely with the local cultural sector to build and develop collaborative and sustainable ways of working.

At the heart of CBD are the Cultural Connectors, an ever-growing network of more than 180 local adult residents. CBD works with the network to build enthusiasm for arts and culture at a local level. Cultural Connectors are the decision-makers in steering groups and panels; they allocate funding, select partnership projects and suggest and choose artists and performers for festivals, events and workshops programming. Cultural Connectors also take on different individual roles, from chairing meetings, to supporting specific engagement and marketing initiatives. Some have also progressed into paid roles within CBD programme delivery, or within activities associated with the programme.

The second three-year phase of CBD has seen the festival programme, steered by local residents, grow and evolve. The festival programme has continued to bring fantastic local, national and international performances and arts activities to Barking and Dagenham, bringing truly unique pieces to unexpected places in the borough. Following on from a series of local resident trips to the Royal Opera House, our partnership has brought new performances of ballet and opera to Thamesfest in Barking Riverside and DAGFEST in Dagenham Village.

The REACH fund continues to support local events and organisations to nurture new audiences in the borough, engaging with those who wouldn't normally attended such activities. Most recently in 2018 the panel of Cultural Connectors awarded REACH funding to Bluebird Pictures for the first World Cinema Film Festival at the Barking Broadway and an even bigger award to Ukon Careers for the Barking Carnival.

CBD’s partnership programme has brought together the local communities stories of the river and connected the stories of Barking and Dagenham to the Totally Thames Festival through The Silk River, a Re-imagine India project led by Kinetika. The opportunity to work in partnership with Artichoke was snapped up by the panel of local residents and met CBD’s ambition to provide training and skills development opportunities for the Cultural Connectors network and wider local residents with the project culminating in participation of a huge light installation for Lumiere 2018. Most recently the Cultural Connectors have curated the second ‘Glow fire garden and lantern festival’ in partnership with Same Sky and the National Trust’s Eastbury Manor house.