OUTSIDE AWARDED FUNDING FOR ANOTHER 3 YEARS

OUTSIDE AWARDED £975,000 AS ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND CREATIVE PEOPLE AND PLACES (2026-29) PORTFOLIO ANNOUNCED

OUTSIDE has been awarded £975,000 as part of Arts Council England’s largest ever Creative People and Places (CPP) Portfolio, which sees £42 million invested in 45 programmes from 2026-29, to deliver more grassroots-led cultural experiences in areas across England where involvement in arts and culture is below the national average.

A participatory arts programme, OUTSIDE is led by local residents in the Staffordshire Moorlands working with professional artists. Together, they co-curate ambitious, inspiring and inclusive arts and cultural activities and events celebrating life in the rural landscapes, villages and market towns of the Moorlands.

CPPs bring together community, grassroots and cultural organisations as partners to take the lead in choosing, creating and taking part in creative and cultural activities. CPPs are empowering local people to pursue the art they want, where they live.

This funding is made possible thanks to National Lottery players. Every National Lottery ticket purchased generates money for good causes and enables people in villages, towns, and cities up and down the country to get access to cultural experiences where they live.

Susan Clarke, Chair of the OUTSIDE Board, said:

“All of the team at OUTSIDE are delighted to share this great news for the Staffordshire Moorlands. This award from Arts Council England is so welcome, at a time when communities across our rural district need more than ever, to feel connected, creative, and to have a chance to celebrate the stories of the place in which we are proud to live.

“It’s a testament to the impact that all of OUTSIDE; the board, the team, the artists, producers, brilliant volunteers, and community partners are having, and we thank Arts Council England for their recognition of them.”

Liz Johnson, Midlands Area Director at Arts Council England, said: 

“Creative People and Places projects bring organisations and communities together to shape the creative and cultural activities available in their local area. Funded by the National Lottery, we are investing more than £9.2 million in the Midlands, to ensure more people can experience, connect and take part in creativity on their doorsteps.

“OUTSIDE work with local people to bring creativity to the heart of their rural communities. Focusing on the environment, connectivity, wellbeing, place and heritage, residents are encouraged to come together to create and experience extraordinary moments that inspire joy and positive change.”

OUTSIDE’s mission is to make a lasting change in the way local communities take part in, make, and experience the arts. Creating extraordinary moments that encourage the residents of the Staffordshire Moorlands to come together for transformative experiences and celebrations of their place. We’ll explore what it means to live in a rural community, using culture and storytelling as a lens to look at our way of life, reflecting communities back to themselves and creating visibility for those often unseen and unheard. We will invest in and support an ambitious, collaborative, vibrant creative ecology and regenerative future for the Moorlands.

This work will be led on an interim basis by Katie Aldous as Sarah Bird is heading off to work on the government’s national Year of Reading in 2026.

Sarah said:

“I am incredibly sad to be leaving OUTSIDE and all the brilliant projects that are happening across the Moorlands. I’ve learnt loads in this role and feel really lucky to have worked alongside such a brilliant and dedicated team as well as ambitious and creative communities and partners.

“I am thrilled that OUTSIDE has been successful in receiving funding for the next three years to continue bringing world class events and activities to people’s doorsteps. Culture and creativity are such crucial parts of the fabric of people’s lives. They make our communities happier and healthier, and help us to understand our place in the world and imagine more positive futures. I can’t wait to see the next chapter unfold for OUTSIDE and look forward to coming and volunteering to support this important work.”

The OUTSIDE team would like to thank Sarah for her vision, ambition and commitment to the communities of the Staffordshire Moorlands. Thanks for the brilliant work achieved so far and the opportunities created for the future of the programme.

You can see an overview of the OUTSIDE business plan for 2026-29 here.

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About Arts Council England

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is that by 2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Until Autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994, it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants. Visit our website to learn more about our work.

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Image: Pete Stonier