We are delighted to share an overview of feedback from our online session on the 20th March, expertly facilitated by the Team at Axon Black, using the interactive feedback platform, Butter. The format was fun and engaging capturing a broad range of responses, which we are busy transforming into programme content. A big thank you to all who joined us.
Read all about it below
Hopes & Concerns
Hopes for collaboration with Bucks Culture:
Establishing community partnerships for impactful cultural projects.
Support with funding applications and networking within the arts sector.
A thriving cultural sector with increased funding, accessibility, and participation.
More engagement from mid-level and entry-level employees, not just senior leadership.
Concerns & Desired Support:
Sustainability challenges due to funding cuts and low engagement.
The need for stronger networking and collaboration across Bucks.
Financial reliance on funding, with interest in exploring alternative revenue streams.
I Like, I Wish, I Wonder
Likes: Freedom in creative work, Bucks’ heritage, volunteer collaboration, large-scale creative events. Wishes: More funding, better attendance at training events, stronger networking, better transport to cultural venues. Wonders: Possibility of pub theatres, better tech solutions, a shared membership scheme, a Bucks Fringe Festival.
Challenges & Solutions Discussion
Top Voted Challenges:
Geographic size and connectivity across Bucks.
Understanding community appetite for culture.
Managing workload and avoiding overwhelm.
How Might We…?
Leverage Bucks’ geography for stronger cultural connections?
Gain deeper insights into community engagement with arts and culture?
Streamline cultural project delivery for better efficiency?
Successes (Rose), New Opportunities (Bud), and Challenges (Thorn)
Successes: Growth in cultural projects, strengthened networks, volunteer engagement, securing funding for historic preservation. New Opportunities: Mentoring young creatives, environmental projects, new plays and exhibitions, collaboration with film studios. Challenges: Overwhelming funding processes, time constraints, difficulty in marketing/sales, economic impact on visitor numbers.
Other Ideas for Impact
Guest speakers from community groups to provide direct insights.
Funding and grant seminars.
Networking events that bridge diverse cultural groups.
Exploring new income streams (retail, venue hire, events).
Training, mentoring, and upskilling young professionals.
Wellbeing sessions to support those working in the sector.
Developing a shared volunteer pool across cultural organisations.
The opportunity for partners to continue to share support needs, ideas for programme content, and ambitious project plans remains open.
You are invited to share ideas and input into programme content via Padlet. Please note, Padlet allocates quirky animal names to new users. Nothing to do with us, honest!
Click link below to share your ideas via Padlet ⬇️
Open Weekend is back for 2025 – we want as many businesses, groups and organisations as possible to take part. Join in the fifth year of our vibrant, Bucks-wide event full of creative activities to try out and have a go! This year we will hold Open Weekend at the end of August – 28th-31st August 2025.
Are you a creative business, cultural organisation or artist looking to reach new audiences, test fresh ideas, and connect with like-minded organisations? Open Weekend is your opportunity to showcase your work, engage with communities, and grow your presence across Buckinghamshire.
With stories and nature as this year’s theme, you can inspire audiences with unique experiences that bring creativity to life. From ancient folklore and myth to personal reflections and artistic expressions, stories shape the way we experience nature—and nature, in turn, fuels our imagination and creativity. For creative businesses, this is more than an event—it’s an opportunity.
Taking part in Open Weekend is a great way to celebrate creativity, encourage people to try something new and be part of a county-wide showcase. How will you tell your story? Join us and make your mark on Open Weekend 2025.
Buckinghamshire Culture is pleased to be able to give out a limited amount of micro grants to support Open Weekend activities and to help make them accessible to all – find out more on our website.
Buckinghamshire Culture acts as an umbrella organisation for independently planned events presented by partner organisations. Getting involved and registering an event brings advantages for the organisers, including: a central ‘What’s On’ page, hosted by Bucks Culture, umbrella marketing, being part of a county-wide event. knowledge exchange and networking with other organisers.
This programme is supported through funding from Buckinghamshire Council and Rothschild Foundation and is delivered with support from Buckinghamshire Council.
Join Dean Shaw from Arts Council England’s, Digital Culture Network and learn how to create fun and engaging video content across online platforms.
We are delighted to welcome Dean Shaw to our series of sector networking sessions. This online learning session is devised to amplify your marketing approaches and work towards developing digital strategies to free up time and increase impact.
Dean is a Tech Champion at the Digital Culture Network (DCN) and set to share top tips on content creation and introduce you to the ACE , Digital Culture Network. The team at DCN are available to advise on all things digital from accessibility and ticketing to ecommerce and marketing.
Dean is expert in supporting others to create high quality digital content, increasing impact and making the most time spent online.
Join us for a fun and engaging session with opportunity for networking and conversations to explore how we can work together to increase reach and raise the profile of the great work happening in Bucks.
In November 2024, at our Cultural Collaboration Conference, Bucks Culture ran the first ever Bucks Spark Awards designed to showcase the great work that is taking place in our cultural sector. The judges where impressed by the quality of the submissions received and struggled to choose the winners. The submissions we received spanned the breadth of cultural delivery in our county:
From grass roots delivery to Paralympic heritage, blind-folded baroque experiences to street murals. Heritage-meets-astronomy, to a chair festival, open studios and diverse stories. Revealing hidden artists and a smatter of Shakespeare, music for care, dance for youth, writing from Marlow, and exploring Bucks landscape through a fine art lens…
We welcomed award-winning author, Claire Fuller to make the awards and Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Lady Howe to present the Judges’ Discretionary Award.
The Awards were made as follows:
Best collaboration
This award recognizes the best project, event or activity that has been delivered collaboratively (by at least two entities) to promote Buckinghamshire’s culture.
Winner – Vache Baroque and Milton’s Cottage
Runner up – Bucks Youth Dance Co and Wycombe Youth Action
Best exhibition
This award recognises excellence in exhibitions or displays related to an aspect of Buckinghamshire’s culture. It could include a new permanent exhibition or a temporary exhibition.
Winner – Fractured Land Collective
Runner up – Amersham Museum
Best Event
This award recognises excellence in a one-off event that has promoted Buckinghamshire’s culture. The event could have taken place digitally, within its own site, or at another location.
Winner – Unbound
Runner up – Astronomy UK
Judges discretionary award for ‘Contribution to Culture in Bucks’
This award was made at the Judges’ discretion and in respect of the scale and longevity of this particular Bucks event, celebrating its 40th year in 2025.
Winner – Bucks Art Weeks
We would like to thank every one who took the time to prepare and submit an application to the first ever Bucks Spark Awards, as well as our panel of Judges, and Claire Fuller and Lady Howe for presenting the awards.
Championing the work of women from the cultural sector and identifying how our work can support women from all walks of life as we work towards a more equitable society for all.
On the 6th of March Bucks Culture hosted the inaugural Women of Culture Event in celebration of International Women’s Day. The event, hosted at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham, saw women and allies from across the sector come together to explore issues faced by women and champion the work of women in the cultural sector.
Audiences were treated to an interactive workshop led by Rosie Axon, Founder and Director at Chiltern Music Therapy and Betty Makharinsky Founder and CEO at Vache Baroque. This musical session explored the role of female voice in music, from the exclusion of female artists in the Baroque era to how the song, Bread and Roses, became the slogan of a political movement calling for safety, shelter and better living standards for all. Delegates were in full voice and the Forum at the Elgiva was filled with not only sunshine but the beautiful sound of an entirely female choir.
‘Love our new girl band’ gleefully expressed post workshop by an attendee, testament to the joy of participation. This could be the start of something new for Bucks.
We were delighted to hear from Vicky Hope-Walker, CEO at National Paralympic Heritage Trust (NPHT) and valued Board Member at Bucks Culture. Vicky spoke of her creative journey to CEO at NPHT. From training in creative arts to implementing socially inspired programmes as a freelancer leading to the eventual establishment of NPHT. Vicky’s presentation took us on a journey through time celebrating the great work and discoveries of female leaders from across Bucks and beyond.
From one inspirational leader to another, our very own, Lallie Davis, Director at Bucks Culture, shared howWomen of Cultureprovided opportunity to celebrate and champion women around the world alongside the cultural sector in Bucks, with a lens to the past, a moment in the present, and an eye to the future. The event provided time for networking and opportunity to come together to discuss the wider issues faced by women and the communities we work with.
Bucks Culture’s first International Women’s Day event is something Lallie has been intending to convene for a long time. International Women’s Day has been taking place annually on the 8th March since 1911. The day is dedicated to the advancement of women worldwide and belongs to all who care about women’s equality.
Sadly, in a rapidly changing World, women are often most affected by some of our most pressing issues: migration, poverty and climate change.
In the cultural sector we are in the amazing position to be working in an impactful way to implement change for the communities we work with. Our work in community settings serves to uncover inequalities, raise the profile of challenges, and bring people together armed with art and creativity as a tool for engagement and a catalyst for change.
Stories, music, visual arts, poetry, crafts and events, all play a role in reaching people and bringing them together. In difficult times, this role is of more importance than ever.
Notes on Accelerating Action from Lallie Davis, Director at Buckinghamshire Culture
This year’s International Women’s Day theme, accelerate action, is about how we can collectively Accelerate Action for women everywhere by addressing systemic barriers and biases women face in both personal and professional spheres.
Despite everything,
the World Economic Forum says full gender parity is still five generations away[i].
87% of men in paid work are full-time workers, whereas only 59% of women are in paid full-time work[ii].
Women are now 47% of those in employment but are still the majority of those in part-time employment[iii].
Employment rates of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women still lag behind that of other groups[iv].
The Gender pay gap has increased to 8.9% since 2018, while overall pay gap has decreased to 17.3%[v].
Women account for 69% of low earners, a proportion that has barely changed since 2018(70%) and that has remained constant since 2011[vi] (69%)
Women continue to encounter numerous challenges, including:
Health Inequities: Studies show that women’s pain is often dismissed, leading to delayed diagnoses and inadequate treatment. The Sun
Mental Health Struggles: Research indicates that young women experience higher levels of mental distress compared to their male counterparts, influenced by societal pressures and gender-based discrimination. The Australian
What steps can you take today to challenge gender biases?
How can you support the women in your community more effectively?
In what ways can your workplace promote a culture of inclusivity and equality?[vii]
Tree of Insight and Intentions
Attendees shared thoughts and plans, writing a tag for our Tree of Insight and Intention sharing how to accommodate female audiences and pledges for the future to accelerate action!
As shared below
I pledge to actively praise and elevate my team of women, recognising their strengths, input and skill sets. I could not do my job without them.
I pledge to make space for more women to devise and lead on projects! + being aware of added barriers to intersectionality.
I do and will celebrate the women who came before us, paved the way for us to help and inspire the women who will follow us.
My intention is to promote fiction and non fiction written by women (esp from Bucks)when possible. Look at heritage of Bucks born writers e.g. Enid Blyton
I pledge to create more spaces for women to come together to be creative.
Seek out ways to make links with the local British Asian Community of Women.
Write and create more female characters to explore and present female perspectives. Continuing to connect with and champion female causes.
I pledge to promote and embrace female artists.
Continuing my recent exhibition work concerning, Childhood Lost, by sponsoring a young female street child in Kolkata.
I pledge to learn more about women’s businesses locally that I can promote.
Providing community, supportive inclusive and fun activities.
We are delighted to connect with and hear from women working across Buckinghamshire, working in collaboration to reach communities, support each other’s endeavours and ensure that women’s issues are included in our work and programmes.
Please do get in touch with ideas for future programmes, recommend speakers and to keep us up to date with your work.
We are looking for an Administrator to join our small team. This is a role for someone with good organisational skills and who enjoys helping to make events and projects happen. It would be a good role for some one just starting out in the cultural sector, someone returning to work, or someone looking to be a vital part of a small creative team.
The Administrator will support essential elements of Bucks Culture’s business, including operations, finance, data collection and impact measurement, sector support and projects delivery. We support flexible working and are open to how the hours are delivered but will require some time at the beginning of each week to be spent at our office within Buckinghamshire New University’s High Wycombe campus.
As well as assisting with the day to day running of the charity, this role will champion Bucks Culture, ensuring excellent communication with partners and potential partners, raising the charity’s profile and reach.
To apply, please start by reading through the Administrator Job Description:
A covering statement sharing what you would bring to the role and how your skills and experience would benefit Buckinghamshire Culture
Your CV
You may apply in writing (covering statement to be no more than 2 A4 sides) or by sharing a video (no longer than 10 minutes) or audio recording (no longer than 10 minutes) covering all of these points.
Interviews will take place 28th and 29th April.
Please feel free to contact the Director (Lallie@buckinghamshireculture.org) if you would like to discuss this opportunity before applying.
Join us at Amersham Museum for our final Going Green Gathering and help us work out the next steps for a more sustainable approach to programme delivery across culture and heritage settings.
The session is led by Melissa Maynard from Dacorum Heritage Trust on the 17th of March from 3-5 in person at Amersham Museum
Melissa works with the Group for Education in Museums to look at how public-facing programmes and events can be more sustainable.
Melissa’s work on environmental sustainability is focused on how to implement impact behind the scenes to reduce carbon footprint taking into consideration; insulation, heating and lighting. Melissa’s session explores how to consider the impact of visitor activities, shops and displays, and programme accordingly.
This workshop explores some of the ways in which we can make greener choices for visitor events. The session is followed with opportunity for Q & A, networking with tea, coffee and snacks provided.
Sign up for your free ticket at Eventbrite and email kerry@buckinghamshireculture.org with any questions.
Bucks Culture is proud to present Women of Culture, a networking and celebratory event in honor of International Women’s Day, bringing together women from Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector. This gathering offers a space to connect, exchange ideas, and champion women’s contributions in arts, heritage, and creative industries.
Join us on the 6th of March, in a space for Connection, Reflection, and Inspiration
More than just networking, Women of Culture is a space for reflection, discussion, and collaboration. Through engaging activities and thought-provoking conversations, we’ll explore women’s leadership, representation, and creative expression. While designed with women in mind, men are welcome as allies in fostering an inclusive, supportive sector.
Meet the Inspirational Women Leading the Conversation
At the heart of Women of Cultureare the inspiring voices of three incredible female leaders in Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector, each bringing a unique perspective on leadership, creativity, and advocacy for inclusion.
Rosie Axon, Founder of Chiltern Music Therapy, an advocate for music’s power in transforming lives. Betty Makharinsky, Founder of Vache Baroque, making Baroque music and drama more accessible. Vicky Hope-Walker, CEO of National Paralympic Heritage Trust, championing inclusion in arts and heritage.
Exploring Women’s Leadership, Voice & Expression
Rosie, Betty, and Vicky will lead a dynamic, interactive session that blends storytelling, music, and discussion, offering valuable insight into what it means to be a leader in the cultural sector.
Through artist-led activities and participatory sessions, the event will explore the significance of the female voice in music, movement, and leadership. Attendees will gain inspiration from the Female Founder Journey, where Rosie and Betty will share their experiences in building and sustaining cultural organisations, while Vicky will offer a deeper perspective on leading inclusion-focused initiatives and advocating for greater representation in the sector.
A Collective Commitment to Change
A key moment in the event will be The Tree of Insight & Intentions, where participants will have the opportunity to share how they have adapted their work to better support women in their fields and make a pledge for future action.
The event will close with informal networking over tea and coffee, providing a space to continue conversations, forge new connections, and build a stronger, more collaborative creative community in Buckinghamshire.
Discover something extraordinary this July with Open Weekend
Everyone is invited to explore their creativity, and our varied county, during our jam-packed Open Weekend, 25th-28th July. With 34 contributors running 54 events across Bucks, there is plenty to enjoy. You can take part in free or low-cost activities and maybe try something new or go somewhere you have not been before!
Vache Baroque, History of Sounds
Whether you are looking for something to do with little ones, a chance to try a new artform, time to learn, or time to chill out – there is plenty to choose from. This year’s fantastic programme includes opportunities to watch or join in with singing, dancing, music-making, crafting and much more. You might also visit an exhibition, listen to an author interview, enjoy live music, join a themed tour or explore local heritage. Events are taking place in person across the county, and online too.
This year organisations will be offering a wide range of activities on the theme of Together We Celebrate, inspired by the Paris Olympics and Paralympics 2024. Buckinghamshire has an extra special reason to celebrate as it is the proud birthplace of the Paralympic movement, and this year we have asked our event organisers to think about how they can honour this heritage. This year Open Weekend will be part of Buckinghamshire Council’s wider Together We Celebrate programme of activities and exhibitions themed around our shared advocacy of diversity, inclusivity and accessibility taking place throughout the summer.
A celebration of togetherness runs through all of the 2024 Open Weekend events, and some are offering particular activities to make your own medal (at Hughenden), design a Paralympic poster (at Aylesbury Library), or explore Paralympic artefacts and stories through a new Virtual Museum (online via the National Paralympic Heritage Trust). Please join us in celebrating the power of art and culture to bring people together and develop inclusion and understanding.
Missenden Walled Garden
Bill Morris, Buckinghamshire Culture’s Chair says: “We are so pleased and proud that once again organisations and individuals across Bucks have put together a programme of fantastic events. It is wonderful to see so many activities promoting inclusion and togetherness, and in a Games year, its extra special to celebrate our unique role in creating the Paralympic movement.”
Ruth Page, Buckinghamshire Council’s Head of Culture said: “Open Weekend is a brilliant way to celebrate the range of creative and cultural things you can do in Bucks. It is great to see so many activities taking place with the theme of ‘Together We Celebrate’ and showing how we can lead the way for access and inclusion.”
Open Weekend is made possible thanks to funding from the Rothschild Foundation and Buckinghamshire Council. It is co-ordinated by Buckinghamshire Culture and is delivered in partnership with organisations and creatives across the county.
Garden Stones created by Feedback Global
Further Information
Buckinghamshire Culture
Buckinghamshire Culture is the creative and cultural partnership for the county, developed to drive forward the Buckinghamshire Cultural Strategy. Building an inclusive, uplifting and supportive creative hub, we connect, build and nourish creative individuals and organisations. We share and celebrate the value of creativity and culture to everyone’s lives – embedding it across essential agendas. We harness the power of working together through collaboration and partnership, shaping joint projects that support happier and healthier lives for our residents. Together, we can better celebrate and share stories of our communities and county. More information on Buckinghamshire Culture: https://buckinghamshireculture.org/
Together We Celebrate programme coordinated by Buckinghamshire Council
To mark the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, we are once again asking Buckinghamshire’s communities to join us and our partners in celebrating the county’s unique and proud Paralympic heritage. Our collaborative approach aims to bring like-minded partners, organisations, and communities together to recognise Buckinghamshire as the birthplace of the Paralympic movement. A series of activities and exhibitions themed around our shared advocacy of diversity, inclusivity and accessibility will take place throughout the summer as Together We Celebrate. More information on Together We Celebrate: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/events/together-we-celebrate-2024/
Buckinghamshire Culture is seeking a Programme Manager to support delivery and further development of our Sector-Facing programme, alongside projects and initiatives that support delivery of the Cultural Strategy.
The Programme Manager will manage and develop our broad membership and the events, activities and programmes we deliver to support the sector. This includes planning and programming our networking events and training activities, developing sector support initiatives, overseeing our 2024 conference and supporting co-ordination of our annual Open Weekend event.
The role will be based at Buckinghamshire New University’s High Wycombe campus, with travel across the county and home-working as appropriate.
Deadline for applications: 9am, 29th November 2023.
Please download the job description and details of how to apply below:
Elgiva Theatre, St Mary’s Way, Chesham HP5 1HR
Booking Link: 
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