Culture East Sussex (CES)
Culture East Sussex (CES)
About Culture East Sussex
Culture East Sussex (CES) is a network of 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.
Culture East Sussex board
The CES board works together to deliver the vision and mission of CES and ensure that the cultural sector creates opportunities and possibilities for everyone. They do this by managing the CES Culture Priority Pipeline, discussing topics of relevance and interest, and advocating for the sector.
How the board is chosen
Depending on the category, individual places are either:
- chosen by an open competition
- proposed by certain organisations in consultation with the nominations committee, or
- co-opted.
Board members serve for a three-year term and can be re-elected every three years. On appointment, all board members will receive an induction pack and will be required to complete a declarations of interest and protected characteristics form.
Appointments will be advertised online, and more information can be requested from the team.
Who is on the board?
The CES Board is made-up of up to 35 members. This includes representatives of cultural organisations, independent artists and freelancers, representatives from East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne and Lewes, Hastings, Rother and Wealden District and Borough Councils, Team East Sussex, the education and public health sectors as well as co-opted members to improve representation of people with protected characteristics under the Equalities Act, and other national or county bodies that support culture in East Sussex.
Current CES members are listed below. Please note members that are listed together hold a shared membership.
Rupert Clubb, East Sussex County Council (Chair)
Ami Bouhassane and Andrew Penrose, Farley's House and Gallery
Ben Hook and Melanie Powell, Rother District Council
Dawn Badland, Applause Rural Touring
Diane Lewis, Sussex Police
Graham Peters, Team East Sussex
James Adler, Ashdown Forest
Jayne Tyler and John McPherson, Arts Council England
Jenny Williams, Take the Space
Joe Hill, Towner Eastbourne
Kate Adams and Helen Charlton, Project Artworks
Laura McDermott, The Attenborough Centre
Leanne O'Boyle, Sussex Archaeological Society
Liz Gilmore, Hastings Contemporary
Mark Hendriks, East Sussex County Council
Michaela Ross, Independent Artist
Nathaniel Hepburn, Charleston
Peter Chivers, Brighton Dome
Robert Cottril, Eastbourne Borough Council
Sally Lampitt, Hastings Fat Tuesday
Steph Fuller, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Stewart Drew, De La Warr Pavilion
Teresa Salami-Oru and Darrell Gale, East Sussex County Council Public Health
Trevor Beattie and Anooshka Rawden, South Downs National Park Association
Victoria Conheady and Kevin Boorman, Hastings Borough Council
Applications to join the board will open in Autumn 2023.
Culture Priority Pipeline
The Culture Priority Pipeline (CPP) is a pipeline of projects that align to the priorities of East Sussex’s Cultural Strategy (2013-23) and principles of CES.
The pipeline allows CES to clearly identify projects that are investment-ready when significant funding pots become available. CES will then advise organisations of the opportunity and support the application, helping the cultural sector deliver the priorities of East Sussex’s Cultural Strategy.
The CPP is not a funding application or a bid. It is managed and kept updated by the Cultural Strategy Manager.
Add your project
To tell CES about an investment-ready project, organisations can complete a short project summary and explain how it will meet the principles and priorities of the Cultural Strategy and investment principles.
- CES Culture Priority Pipeline [2.0 MB] [docx] - proposal form or alternatively, please contact Kim Bulgin for a copy
Our subcommittee meets four times a year to discuss projects. You will hear back from us after our next meeting. These dates are:
- March 2nd
- May 16th
- September 13th
- November 29th
Culture East Sussex documents
CES meets quarterly. The dates of CES Board meetings for this financial year are:
- 11th October 2022
- 10th January 2023
CES board meeting minutes
Download the last minutes of the CES board meeting:
- October 11th 2022 [35.1 KB] [docx]
Annual statement
CES publishes an annual statement reviewing its activity for the year. The next one will be prepared for 2023.
Terms of reference
CES terms of reference were updated in 2022:
- CES terms of reference [2.0 MB] [docx]
Contact
The East Sussex County Council Culture Team