About Culture East Sussex

Culture East Sussex (CES) is a network of public bodies, cultural organisations, and individuals that is hosted by East Sussex County Council. It is part of Team East Sussex (TES), a federated board of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).

Culture East Sussex works across four main areas, it:

  • is a collective voice for culture across East Sussex
  • supports and develops the skills of all people working in the cultural sector in East Sussex
  • promotes the diversity of the sector and ensures equality of access to culture in East Sussex
  • encourages collaboration and mutual support within the cultural sector and works with its partners across a range of themes of mutual interest.

Culture East Sussex vision and mission

CES believes that culture is a route to positive change, creates new possibilities and enables diverse communities to live well.

Its mission is to advocate for culture so that together CES can create opportunities for positive change for all of East Sussex.

Principles and priorities

The work of CES is underpinned by a set of principles that are as follows:

  • Strategic - CES supports and endorses projects that are strategically driven, long-term, and linked to broader strategic objectives
  • Skills - CES will support projects that aim to develop the skills and opportunities for people within the cultural sector
  • Diversity and inclusion - CES will endorse projects that have diversity and inclusion at their heart, capitalising on East Sussex’s diverse population, culture and heritage
  • Collaboration - CES will look favourably at projects that are partnership-led, build networks and exchanges and are cross-sectoral
  • Wellbeing - CES will support projects that put local people first and support their wellbeing through cultural engagement and education and demonstrate long-term sustainability
  • Sustainability - CES will champion projects that demonstrate long-term environmental and financial sustainability.

The priorities of CES are linked to the East Sussex Cultural Strategy (2013-23) which has three key priorities:

  • Priority 1 - Create an environment where great cultural experiences are available to everyone to enhance their quality of life
  • Priority 2 - Create an environment which enables the cultural and creative economy to expand and enhances the ability to attract and retain other businesses
  • Priority 3 - Develop and promote well packaged cultural tourism offers which celebrate the identity of East Sussex, raises its profile and attracts more visitors and businesses to the County.