sharing – Buckinghamshire Culture

outdoor performance with fire and an audience

We are excited to invite organisations and creatives from across Buckinghamshire to share their ideas and express their interest in collaborating in an innovative developmental partnership that explores co-creation as a powerful way to bring local stories to life through creativity. Building on the success of Together We Build, this initiative will explore new creative approaches to storytelling. Heritage and cultural organisations will be paired with artists and creative practitioners to uncover and share important local stories in fresh, engaging, and imaginative ways.

This project does not yet have funding. The Expression of Interest (EOI) process will help shape the application that Bucks Culture submits to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

We want to support innovative collaborations that bring locally significant community memories, cultural traditions, and heritage to life. By capturing and sharing these stories, the project aims to safeguard them for future generations, ensuring that lived experiences continue to inform, inspire, and strengthen our local communities.

Oral histories are a rich source of knowledge, insight, and creativity, and they will sit at the heart of the Stories 2 project. Through meaningful partnerships, the project will enable organisations to uncover, amplify, and celebrate hidden local stories and engage under-represented audiences using creative and inclusive approaches to storytelling, participation, and interpretation.

Projects may draw on existing oral history collections or generate new recordings. All activity should be rooted in co-creation with communities, ensuring that participants help shape both the process and the outcomes. Outputs could include exhibitions, installations, performances, digital works, workshops, or public events designed to engage diverse audiences and extend the reach and impact of these stories.

Programme Aims

To protect and celebrate Buckinghamshire’s community heritage by:

Uncovering and safeguarding oral histories that reflect and celebrate Buckinghamshire’s diverse communities, particularly community memories, cultural traditions and stories at risk of being lost.
Championing inclusive creative practice in working with oral histories and community memory, enabling under-represented or under-engaged audiences to shape, interpret, and share their heritage.
Fostering meaningful collaboration between heritage organisations, artists, and communities.
Building skills and confidence in cross-sector partnership working to strengthen sustainable, long-term relationships.

Who Can Apply

We welcome applications from arts, heritage, and culture organisations that want to explore stories and oral histories. Eligible applicants include formally constituted organisations and community-led heritage groups. To apply, groups must have:

A governing document (e.g., constitution)
A committee or Board
A bank account in the organisation’s name with two signatories

Applicants may apply either:

With a creative or heritage partner already confirmed, or
Without a partner, in which case the project team can help broker a suitable collaboration. Please reach out for a conversation to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshirecuture.org

All collaborations must work with a specific under-engaged audience group—people who currently have limited access to or participation in heritage activities due to factors such as geography, age, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic background, or cultural relevance.

What We’re Looking For

Successful proposals will:

Clearly explain which community memories, cultural traditions, and stories will be uncovered and why they matter locally. Priority will be given to stories at risk of being lost.
Focus on oral history, whether drawing on existing collections or generating new recordings.
Provide a compelling idea for creative collaboration with an artist or creative collective that empowers communities and brings local stories to life.
Identify a specific under-represented or under-engaged audience and a thoughtful plan for reaching and involving them in co-creation.
Evidence a commitment to inclusion, ethical practice, and community voice.
Demonstrate organisational capacity to host and support the project successfully.

Projects can be of any scale appropriate to your organisation and community and should be achievable within the available budget and timeframe.

Support Available

Assuming our funding application is successful, each selected partnership will receive:

Project grant: £2,000-£10,000 tbc (to cover artist fees, materials, production costs, engagement activities, and evaluation) for a 6-12 month delivery period.
Overarching Project Co-ordinator to oversee and assist with troubleshooting and engagement.
Training and professional support for both heritage and creative partners – likely to cover co-creation, inclusive practice, oral histories, ethics.
Access to a learning network of participating organisations and artists.
Opportunities for showcasing and shared dissemination at regional and national level.

Indicative Project Timeline

Call-out opens 30^th March 2026

Expression of Interest deadline 30^th April 2026

Funding application submission date Summer 2026

Decision-making period 8 weeks

Project delivery period Autumn 2026-Summer 2028 tbc

Expression of Interest Form

Please find the Expression of Interest form here:

Stories 2 Expression of Interest Form Final Download

Completed Expression of Interest forms should be returned to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshireculture.org by 9am, 30^th April 2026.

Contact Details

If you have questions about this invitation, wish to discuss your project with a team member, or need help to find the right partner, please reach out to Guy: Guy@buckinghamshireculture.org

Please contact us if you require this information in alternative formats.

We are happy to accept applications through alternative formats suited to your needs including a film (no longer than 10 minutes) or an audio recording (no longer than 10 minutes).

Culture

Championing Culture

29th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Each year we ask our resident Buckinghamshire creative and cultural organisations to share some data about their work with us. We aggregate this and use the resulting headlines to advocate for culture in the county.

This year we’re changing the way we collect the annual snapshot from Bucks-based cultural organisations. We have built a new questionnaire to make it easier to share your data and stories, which all help build a collective picture of our impact. This will help us advocate for investment, partnership and recognition – and to shout about our collective achievements. We are sharing this now, encouraging organisations to think about their responses for the period from April 2024 – March 2025.

The Championing Culture Questionnaire can be found here:

Championing Culture Questionnaire

Culture, news

Help make Bucks Open Weekend 2025 bigger than ever!

15th May 2025 buckinghamshireculture

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.

Submissions for events/activities can be made from Thursday 15^th May to Monday 30^th June, using the online form at https://buckinghamshireculture.org/be-part-of-open-weekend/

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.

Culture

Strengthening Partnerships & Supporting Collaboration

27th March 202531st March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

Our pool of connected creative and cultural organisations, creatives and freelancers has grown considerably since Bucks Culture began in 2019. In light of this we have been reviewing the best way to work together and support collaboration within the county.

Bucks Culture is excited to propose a refreshed partnership structure aimed at fostering deeper collaboration and amplifying the impact of the cultural sector in Buckinghamshire. This strategic evolution provides a dynamic framework to convene cultural leaders, organisations, and creatives, enabling a robust and thriving cultural landscape.

Introducing: the Bucks Cultural Consortium

At the heart of this renewed approach is the Bucks Cultural Consortium, a think-tank designed to provide strategic sector input, leadership, and support for creative delivery. This consortium brings together leading cultural organisations, venues, health partners, educational institutions, local councils, and independent creatives.

The Consortium aims to:

Enable cross-sector collaboration and strengthen existing networks.

Elevate the profile of Buckinghamshire’s cultural sector, attracting funding and investment.

Support talent development from grassroots to established professionals.

Develop funding relationships and explore new opportunities

Foster creative partnerships that drive innovation nurturing access and inclusion.

In time we aim to establish two dedicated working groups focussed on:

Strategic Development & Best Practice – Showcasing cultural excellence, identifying thematic conference content and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives. Linking to Access and Inclusion Manifesto, Stories and our regular Conference.

Funding, Outreach & Commercialisation – Exploring fundraising strategies, creative collaborative projects and embedding work in community settings.

Introducing: the Creative Culture Network

Recognising the unique challenges faced by small-scale arts organisations, micro-businesses, and independent creatives, Bucks Culture’s Creative and Cultural Network provides structured opportunities to build capacity, develop income streams, and enhance digital presence.

The network will operate through a number of open Sector Networking events each year, alongside two dedicated, peer-development workstreams:

Marketing & Digital Strategy – Helping participants craft compelling pitches, navigate digital tools, and optimise online presence. Linking to Sector Development Sessions.

Fundraising & Commercialisation – Equipping creatives with the skills to secure funding and develop new revenue streams.

Session dates are released over the year, blending online and in-person formats to maximise accessibility and engagement.

This evolution and formalisation of our network and partnership model does not preclude ad hoc meetings, forming project or issues-based groups or meetings, or other ways of working. We hope it will make communications more relevant and ensure that we are offering different services and opportunities relevant to need and capacity.

Let us know what you think...

Bucks Culture invites strategic partners, cultural leaders, and creatives to commit to these initiatives, attend working groups, and actively shape the cultural landscape of Buckinghamshire. By working together, we can increase sector impact, attract investment, and build a sustainable future for culture in the county.

To express interest or suggest topics for upcoming sessions, please get in touch. We look forward to collaborating with you to create a vibrant and inclusive cultural ecosystem in Bucks.

Culture, news

Bucks Spark Awards

27th March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

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.

Culture

Creative Collaboration Conference

27th March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

The Bucks Culture Creative Collaboration Conference took place in November 2024. The Conference successfully brought together professionals, creatives, and community leaders to explore the power of collaboration in the arts. Held at the newly opened Garsington Studios, the event provided an inspiring setting for insightful discussions, creative exploration, and networking opportunities. The conference aimed to facilitate meaningful conversations on the challenges and joys of creative collaboration while fostering new partnerships to enhance cultural engagement across Buckinghamshire.

The venue provided a beautiful backdrop to a cultural event that invited audiences to share insight into practice and disseminate learning to support future collaboration whilst providing opportunity for creative exploration.

The event was well attended and allowed Bucks Culture to work closely with new partners. The event supported sector-wide conversations surrounding the challenges and joys of creative collaboration both within the sector and beyond, and examined what it means to co-create with communities. The conference was established with the intention to connect, collaborate and co-create, an outcome we continue to pursue in the delivery of Buckinghamshire’s Cultural Strategy. Our 2024 event incorporated the inaugural Bucks Spark Award Ceremony, now set to be a regular feature of the cultural calendar.

We are proposing that future conferences be developed by a small group of key strategic partners working together to shape the format and programme the conference read more about the conference and feel free to send us your suggestions.

Process

Our partners, the board, the creative sector and the internal team were invited to make suggestions for the programme during board meetings, lead-in sector development sessions, and via the newsletter with a call for contributions surveyed online.

In addition to the open invitation for contributions the development of the programme was informed by feedback and evaluation from 2023, aiming to capture suggestions and implement changes to build a model better suited to the needs of audiences.

Three Words Analysis

This is what Chat GPT thought of responses to our ‘what 3 words describe your experience’ question.

The responses to the “three words” question reflect overwhelmingly positive experiences, with key themes emerging:

1. Inspiration & Engagement

Many attendees described the event as inspiring, engaging, thought-provoking, and enlightening. This suggests that the conference successfully delivered fresh perspectives and meaningful discussions, resonating with participants on both an intellectual and emotional level.

2. Networking & Connection

Words like welcoming, friendly, vibrant, connection, and collaborative indicate that the event fostered an inclusive and supportive environment for attendees to interact, share ideas, and build relationships.

3. Learning & Insight

Terms such as informative, insightful, educational, and paradigm-shifting reinforce the idea that the event provided valuable knowledge and challenged conventional ways of thinking.

4. Energy & Atmosphere

Words like dynamic, lively, fun, happy, and exciting suggest a positive and high-energy atmosphere, making the experience enjoyable beyond just the formal content.

5. Areas for Improvement

A few words, such as inaccessible, poorly attended, and tiring, indicate that some participants experienced challenges, possibly around accessibility, turnout, or event pacing. These could be key areas to address in future iterations.

Overall Takeaway

The conference was largely seen as an engaging and enriching experience, successfully fostering inspiration, connection, and learning.

news

Seeking an Administrator

13th March 202517th March 2025 buckinghamshireculture

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:

BC Administrator Feb 25 Final X Download

Application Process

Application deadline: 22^nd April 2025.

To apply please email the Director (Lallie@buckinghamshireculture.org) sharing:

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 28^th and 29^th April.

Please feel free to contact the Director (Lallie@buckinghamshireculture.org) if you would like to discuss this opportunity before applying.

Culture

Open Weekend – submissions open 25th April 2022!

25th April 202225th April 2022 buckinghamshireculture

The Big Picture – Queen Ælfgifu, by Emily Brown & 39 artists from Chesham

With the warmer months approaching, and July already coming into view, organisers of Buckinghamshire’s Open Weekend celebration of creativity and culture are inviting submissions.

It is the second time the Open Weekend has taken place and this year will happen over four days, from 28^th-31^st July. Organised by Buckinghamshire Culture with the support of Buckinghamshire Council and the Rothschild Foundation, it is an opportunity to showcase the range and breadth of creative events, activities and initiatives taking place in Buckinghamshire.

The theme for 2022’s Open Weekend events will be ‘trees and green’, building on the celebrations for the Queen’s Jubilee in June, with suggestions including:

A local tree, wood, park or garden – telling stories, delivering creative workshops, outdoor performance, or transforming spaces
Stories about trees – encouraging people to think about our landscape heritage, exploring folk tales, sharing stories and memories linked to trees
The environment and green agenda – encouraging people to think about re-use, recycling and sustainability
The colour green itself – monochrome painting workshops, nature inspired creativity, green objects from collections to base activities around.

Organisers are encouraging organisations and groups across the county to submit their ideas for creative and cultural events and activities they plan to run in Buckinghamshire over the Open Weekend.

Submissions for events/activities can be made between the 25^th of April and 1^st June via the online form at www.buckinghamshireculture.org/Open-Weekend

where there is also more information and FAQs, including the criteria for events.

As in 2021, Buckinghamshire Culture will be able to give out a limited amount of micro grants for implementing projects/activities. More information on how to apply will be coming soon.

Bill Morris, Buckinghamshire Culture Co-Chair said: “In light of the enjoyment and support that Open Weekend received in 2021, we felt we had no choice but to bring it back as annual event – we can’t wait to see what people put on! We are also really pleased to share that Visit Buckinghamshire will be supporting our What’s On listing this year. “

Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, added: “We’re excited to be teaming up again with Buckinghamshire Culture to run this year’s Open Weekend, which includes Buckinghamshire Day on 29th July. It’s a fantastic opportunity for local groups and organisations to run their own cultural and creative activities and events. They can submit their ideas for these via the Open Weekend webpage.”

During the first successful Open Weekend event for Buckinghamshire in July 2021, residents and visitors had the chance to take part in over 70 creative and cultural activities across the county.

Back then, activities were themed to stories and storytelling and included literary and heritage walks, performances, open days, trails, concerts, film screenings, exhibitions and story-telling events. There were opportunities to undertake creative activities at home and online. Overall 3,500 people took part in activities.

Look out for further info on Open Weekend at www.buckinghamshireculture.org, on Twitter @BucksCulture or Instagram @Bucks_Culture.

This programme is supported through funding from Buckinghamshire Council and Rothschild Foundation.

-ends-

Notes to Editors:

Buckinghamshire Culture is the cultural partnership formed to drive forward the Cultural Strategy for the county. We aim to work together with the sector and stakeholders to shape, build and celebrate a bright cultural future for Buckinghamshire. Open Weekend is just one part of wider plans to develop a range of county-wide creative and cultural projects for Buckinghamshire, as part of the Buckinghamshire Cultural Strategy.

The Rothschild Foundation is a charity that supports arts and heritage, the environment, education and social welfare by awarding grants, fostering dialogue and debate, and through our support of Waddesdon Manor. Support for arts and cultural organisations is made available through our Strategic Fund.

Culture

Summer of Stories

23rd August 2021 buckinghamshireculture

Buckinghamshire’s ‘Summer of Stories’ is well and truly underway – but there’s still time for you to get involved!

This summer, Buckinghamshire Culture and Buckinghamshire Council have been working together to create a Summer of Stories, focusing on a theme of ‘stories of happiness’. The ‘Story Stall’ is part of this multi-stranded project aiming to engage people across Buckinghamshire with stories and creativity. Inspired by our strong literary heritage this project will result in animation of town centres, activity supporting wellbeing, enhancing quality of life and maintaining connection as part of wider Covid recovery. Residents of Buckinghamshire have been invited to share and celebrate their personal stories, and those of the county itself, through conversations with artists, or via ‘Story Postcards’ at artist-led pop-up stalls across the county in markets and local high streets and at various cultural and library locations.

These stalls have been present at various events throughout the summer, starting with Whizzfizzfest on the 26^th June and moving around the county since then, engaging with lots of different people from the local community – and the stories told have been just as diverse as the people telling them!

One resident recounted a tale of a man who had turned an old mattress into a paddle board and was happily rowing himself down the canal, whilst another resident reflected on the fact that the pandemic had meant he was able to get out every morning to take his dog for a walk, enjoying the local parks around the county, and being able to make it home for dinner with his 12 year old son every evening – something he had never been able to do before then.

Other recurring themes within people’s stories of happiness and tales of Buckinghamshire included a love for the red kites that circle our skies, for woodlands and parks and the canal in Aylesbury.

When summer fades, these local stories will not be forgotten; the artists who collected them will create a pop-up storytelling structure that will visit town centres around Buckinghamshire in the early Autumn – sharing a collective story of the county.

It’s not too late to get involved with the Summer of Stories! If you would like to get involved and share a story of happiness, or a story of Buckinghamshire, you can find the final few pop-up stalls in the following locations:

Winslow Market on 25^th August, 8:30am-2pm
Live in the Park, Aqua Vale Park, Aylesbury on 28^th August, 9am-5:30pm
Black Park, Wexham on 29^th August, 10am-4pm
Beaconsfield Country Fair, Beaconsfield on 30^th August, 9:30am-5pm

Or pick up a postcard from one of our participating libraries or cultural organisations. There is the option to submit a story on our website, or find out more on social media using #SummerofStories.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, Clive Harriss, said:

“The Summer of Stories has been a great way of engaging with the wider community and encouraging people to come together and share good news during what has been a difficult 18 months. I’m sure the artists have heard plenty of heart-warming stories about Buckinghamshire and it’s residents, and I look forward to seeing the final structure created by the artists in the Autumn!”

For more information about the Summer of Stories, visit: www.buckinghamshireculture.org/Summer-of-Stories

This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and funding from Buckinghamshire Council, Heart of Bucks and Rothschild Foundation.

Culture

Thinking Digital – online skill sharing event

26th January 2021 buckinghamshireculture

Buckinghamshire Culture, Garsington Opera and Resource Productions are pleased to present an online event for the creative and cultural sector sharing digital adaptations and innovative virtual delivery skills and tips.

Thinking Digital is free and will take place on 11th February from 1pm – full details and booking here: www.thinkingdigitalbucks.eventbrite.co.uk

During the Covid-19 pandemic we have seen creative and cultural organisations innovate, re-frame and develop online content thanks to rapid learning and adaptation. To support those coming back to work, or looking for new ideas for engagement, Buckinghamshire Culture, in partnership with Garsington Opera and Resource Productions, have worked together to develop this online workshop.

This event will focus on digital engagement and will share learning and top tips, as well as first-hand experiences of those delivering online. We aim to take away some of the fear of delivering online for the first time and share tips for those that have some experience already. There will be a creative, participatory element to the session when the group is invited to devise a new Chorus with Garsington Opera’s Richard Taylor and Karen Gillingham, so you can experience online creative engagement first hand and be inspired to try your own version. We will finish with a Q&A and brief panel discussion of what further advice, input, sharing or support attendees would like to see next.

We have curated a programme of speakers from Buckinghamshire and beyond covering a range of topics:

Adapting and pivoting activities for online engagement
Sharing tips for use of digital tools such as Zoom, Whatsapp, Youtube, Google classroom etc
Engaging vulnerable people online
Supporting those with multiple needs or limited experience to engage online
Skills and performance tips for online delivery
Working inclusively online
Opening doors to collections and resources using virtual access
Increasing certain audiences who might prefer online engagement
Working with artists and practitioners in a digital space
Tips for successful online engagement.

This event has been funded by Rothschild Foundation.