Arts Council England chief says culture can help St Helens' high streets

Mr Henley, a regular visitor to St Helens said that "placing culture and creativity at the heart of the high street" can defend against decline in the borough's town centres.

Research published by Arts Council England shows particularly strong support for culture in the north, where 68 per cent of people said culture made them feel proud of where they lived, compared to a national average of 60 per cent.

With year-on-year high street footfall declining by 43.4 per cent in 2020, the report also gives several examples of how cultural venues can bring visitors back to village, town and city centres, helping to boost local economies and prevent high street decline.

Arts Council England’s report A High Street Renaissance: How arts and culture bring people and pride back to our high streets uses examples from across the country of where arts and cultural organisations are making a big impact on their high streets. For example, the Heart of Glass arts organisation in St Helens, alongside other cultural and heritage institutions, combines with local retail to drive 28 million visits to St Helens each year.

Darren Henley

Mr Henley said:

Over the last year we’ve all missed those normal bits of life like having a wander through town, meeting friends for a cuppa or enjoying a swift half in the local.

And as the country now reopens, we may also notice more gaps in the high street or on the retail parks around the town centre where favourite shops or businesses would previously have been.

You might wonder at this point why the chief executive of the Arts Council is talking about shopping and eating in St Helens.

Well firstly, I’m very fond of St Helens and a regular visitor – in fact I was only in town a few days ago, staying with friends.

But it’s also because while retail and hospitality are important, successful town centres also include cultural and creative experiences too.

The Arts Council has just published a new independent report on the renaissance of our high streets which sets out how the future lies in spaces that combine retail, leisure and cultural experiences.

Footfall in our town centres has been declining in recent years as our spending habits change, and the Coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated this shift.

But our new report suggests that placing culture and creativity at the heart of the high street can actively defend it against decline, drive footfall and spending and can build a sense of civic pride.

While you may be able to buy anything online these days, there is still something extra special and memorable about experiencing culture and creativity in person.

And people understand this.

Seven out of 10 people surveyed as part of the report say they believe cultural experiences make their areas better places to live, and half of adults would like to see more such experiences on their high streets.

In addition, 68% of people in the North – a higher figure than anywhere else in the country – reveal culture makes them proud of where they live.

Many arts organisations are already in an ideal position to play their part, with three quarters of cultural venues on or within a five-minute walk of the high street.

That’s certainly the case in St Helens, with the Theatre Royal, Heart of Glass, Citadel Arts, MD Creatives, Lucem House Community Cinema Plus+ and the World of Glass, with the new St Helens Library located there too, all centrally based. And arts programming, combined with local retail, already drives a fantastic 28 million visits to St Helens each year.

Our report also highlights the importance of local plans and partnership working to deliver robust high streets of the future.

St Helens, which was Liverpool City Region’s first Borough of Culture, has been ahead of the curve in recognising the importance of a multi-functional future. Change takes time and plans have been challenged by the pandemic, but with the new St Helens Borough Arts Strategy launched earlier this year, and the recent announcement of St Helens receiving £25 million through the Town Deal, change is certainly on its way.

I’m impressed by the continued commitment to develop a high street that marries retail and leisure with attractive public spaces and the ambition to create a distinctive, accessible and vibrant centre, co-created with artists, architects, planners and local communities.

St Helens has an excellent foundation from which to achieve that through its range of cultural venues and activities.

Arts and culture can help St Helens bounce back, says arts chief

Crucially, arts organisations here have collectively received more than £700,000 in support from the government’s £1.8 billion Culture Recovery Fund driven by the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden with the backing of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to help weather the storm of the last 18 months.

Heart of Glass is one of six examples nationwide highlighted in today’s report underlining how cultural investment has helped improve the overall lot of our high streets and how it can assist in their revival as we adapt to life post-pandemic.

Heart of Glass receives regular funding from the Arts Council. In the last six years it has delivered more than 560 workshops, events and projects including the community murals recently completed by Nomad Clan on two businesses in the heart of Parr.

Next week the Arts Council marks its 75th birthday.

It seems a good moment to reflect on the benefits of 75 years of publicly funded arts and culture in this country, and the difference it has made during that time to people and communities across the land, including in St Helens.

Not only have we been able to support the town’s innovative creative organisations and programmes, such as Cultural Hubs run by St Helens Borough Council's Library Service which is one of only six library services in the country that we fund on a regular basis. But we’ve also invested in transformational cultural projects like Jaume Plensa’s landmark Dream sculpture at the former Sutton Manor Colliery site. And I’m sure there will be many in St Helens who remember making the 40,000 clay figures in 1993 that form Field for the British Isles, one of Antony Gormley’s best-loved works of art.

While reflecting on the past however, we must also continue to look forward – and there’s the chance over the next few weeks for people to get out in St Helens and enjoy new cultural activities that we’ve supported.

A new play, Estimated Waiting Time, is being presented at Thatto Heath Park by St Helens Library Service on 12 August. And Citadel Arts will bring some of the best children’s and family shows from across the UK to Church Street, St Helens on 4 September for In the Street, which is a completely free outdoor theatre experience.

Our high streets are at the heart of our communities. But I believe our communities need a soul too. And in providing that soul, our artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries will make sure that heart continues to beat for many years to come.

Arts and culture can help St Helens bounce back, says arts chief

Patrick Fox, director of Heart of Glass in St Helens, added: "We believe that art has the power to bring us together and create real change, for the people of our community, and the place we call home. We do this because we believe that and every one of us has the right to have our voices heard; our stories celebrated and our curiosity piqued. Art belongs everywhere. Our parks, our buildings and our streets. The closer it is to all of us the more it has the ability to

illuminate and inspire. It is for this reason that we think of our town as our art centre, and we believe that art, and artists in collaboration with our communities play a vital role in shaping the future of our high streets as creative civic spaces!"