Cultural Strategy and Co-ordination of the Quincentenary Programme

Introduction

The Town Council requires a supplier for the provision of Developing a Culture Strategy for Sutton Coldfield (2026-2036) and to Develop and Coordinate a Quincentenary Programme to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the Towns Royal Charter. The contract period for the strategy will be for a maximum of 6 months commencing Monday 2nd June 2025 until Friday 28th November 2025. The contract for development and coordination of the quincentenary programme will be from 2nd June 2025 until 28th November 2025 and then extended by mutual agreement until 31st December 2028.

Requirements/Specification

This tender is to Develop a Culture Strategy for Sutton Coldfield including a comprehensive engagement plan, to ensure the resulting 'final draft' has been co-created and tested across the town and its people.

The development and coordination of the quincentenary programme (delivered from May 2027 to the end of December 2028) will also require a comprehensive engagement plan, which will have considerable crossover with that of the strategy, engaging with the Arts, Culture, History, Heritage, Friends of Groups, Sporting and other community organisations. The involvement of young people in the planning of the events will also be crucial to the success of the quincentenary celebrations and the part they will play in laying the foundation of the Town for future generations.

Why develop a Cultural Strategy?

• Culture is who we are, it's our heritage and future, it's how we live our lives and express our identities and it's the glue that brings and keeps communities together.
• Culture is increasingly understood as an important driver of economic growth and placemaking. There is a growing acceptance of just how important cultural participation is to citizens' well-being, opportunity, and community cohesion.
• Celebrating the Town's culture can strengthen the sector and bring it closer together, to share best practice, create complimentary activity and strengthen the cultural offer. To help do that, there needs to be a shared vision for culture, and this can be developed through the process of creating a cultural strategy for the Town.
• A strong cultural sector enriches cultural life and contributes to a welcoming, distinctive and attractive place.
• A very broad definition of Culture is being used for this work. It's not just the arts but the whole range of cultural expressions and activities including food, sport and ways of life. We're not just thinking about specific services like libraries, museums etc. We want to think across public, private and the third sectors. We're not focused on traditional high-end culture but on the whole rich mixture of cultures in our town. We want to think big, but that means engaging from grassroots to world class.

Quincentenary celebrations

• The Sutton Coldfield Royal Charter was granted on 16 December 1528. In 1527, John Harman founded Bishop Vesey Grammar school (BVGS). BVGS plans to commence its 500-year celebrations with a Founder's Day Community Service at Holy Trinity and social celebration in May 2027 which could see the launch of 18 months of celebrations leading up the 500-year anniversary of the Royal Charter in December 2028.
• The quincentenary celebrations are an opportunity for the town to express its identity and engage with all residents through new cultural activity and participation. The programme should delight audiences, creating joy and happiness and embed a sense of belonging and community pride.
• To develop a joined up 'town wide' programme for the quincentenary, it is proposed that the Town Council leads on the establishment of an Organising Committee that is responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the quincentenary celebrations.
• The proposed core membership of the Committee will include the local MP, West Midlands Lieutenancy and representatives from Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Birmingham City Council, A Sutton Coldfield Alderman, Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust, Holy Trinity Parish Church and Bishop Vesey Grammar School.
• The successful supplier will therefore need to work closely with and for the Organising Committee.

Existing documents, and key information, that can support this work and the implementation of the strategy

• Officers from the Town Council will support the delivery of this strategy, for example, by providing networking contacts and introductions.

Existing information that needs building on for this work includes:

• Birmingham's Existing Cultural Strategy.
• Definition of Culture - Appendix A sets out the very broad definition of culture that needs to be used for this piece of work.
• Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council`s Strategic Plan 2024-2028.
• The new prospectus for the Town Fund is renamed the Plan for Neighbourhoods. The £20m fund for Royal Sutton Coldfield has been confirmed.

www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

• There are three priority themes, thriving places, stronger communities and taking back control.
• There are also pre-approved interventions which would not require a separate business case.
• www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

2. Requirements - Specification/Brief

The Town Council is seeking an individual or organisation to lead our thinking on these cultural issues in a visionary and highly visible way, and to use the 500-year celebrations as a catalyst to sustain and improve the town's cultural offer going forward. Specific work for this contract includes the following:

• Coordinate, develop and write a Culture Strategy for Sutton Coldfield, for the 10-year period 2026-2036. This builds on consultation work and elements of existing strategies and priorities.

To achieve this, certain questions need to be answered about what the cultural strategy is, including:

o What is the fundamental nature of Sutton Coldfield's distinctive cultural offer, and what should we be trying to achieve? What are the core strengths on which we should build?

o What do we need to do to establish Sutton Coldfield's cultural identity, USP, and strengthen its cultural ecosystem so that culture drives the success of the town for all its residents?

o What would a concise 'high level' cultural proposition look like, that can drive the co-creation process initially?

o How exactly should this cultural strategy connect across into other areas, from healthcare to digital?

Then the how we begin to deliver it as the Town Council and which key partners can best help drive forward the vision:

o How should we now organise ourselves as a council and sector to support culture and gain the benefits of culture for our citizens? What are the key elements of an effective culture strategy for Sutton Coldfield?

• Develop and deliver a detailed Engagement Plan that will enable a fully co-designed and collaborative process that is owned by the town and its people for both the strategy and the 500-year celebration programme.
• Set out a cultural identity for Sutton Coldfield; a statement of what culture means to our people, a brand that is worthy of putting the town on a regional and national stage.
• Ensure the strategy references children and young people and connects to other strategies and frameworks for the town.
• Provide sufficient visual and on-line assets that enable this strategy to be presented as a 'finished final draft' and function as a 'Living Document', that can be easily viewed and commented on. This strategy should be as concise and clear as possible.
• Provide best practice on promoting a diverse cultural offer for our residents to participate in and experience.
• Develop a deliverable programme that will bring the strategy to life, up to, during and beyond the quincentenary celebrations.

Quincentenary celebrations

• Under the stewardship of the Organising Committee, coordinate the 500-year celebration programme around key signature events at the start in May 2027, in the summer of 2027 & 2028 and the finish in December 2028.
• Develop a programme of activity with community organisations that represent the town`s identity and its communities.
• Implement effective digital communication and social media campaigns. Also help create printed marketing materials to support, communicate and promote the programme of events.
• Establish (with the Organising Committee) key performance indicators to measure the reach and impact of the programme. Present interim finding halfway through the programme and a full evaluation report at the end.
• Include regular communication with the Town Council`s officers and the Organising Committee during the contract, including for example, initial high-level proposition, summaries of thinking around methodology used, interim findings, thinking so far on different aspects of the work, etc.

Budget

The total amount payable for this contract, i.e. for the development of the cultural strategy and the development and coordination of the 500-year programme will not exceed £150,000 excluding VAT (including expenses and travel).