Dear Member/Supporter/Friend,

Over the last few years the Cultural Consortium Committee have been very active promoting culture and related activities through our “Culture Matters” forum and in lobbying the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) Executive to get culture taken seriously. Indeed, as you may recall, a major achievement was the central role we played in rewriting the Vision for Portsmouth. The version of the Vision being proposed a couple of years ago was to our minds not visionary and so we were asked to redraft it. We set up a major conference at 3 weeks notice involving 130 people, then spent a lot of our time in small groups, discussing and honing the text, drawing on previous consultations on the vision, to produce the positive document that was finally approved by the LSP Executive and City Council in June 2008. This is probably a first in UK; for a 100% volunteer body to assume pole position in rewriting a document that is central to the well-being of a city and is influencing key decision-makers.

Following the vision work, we were then asked by the Chairman of the LSP Executive to help set up a Culture and Sport Partnership Board to add to the existing Boards that make up the LSP “family”. We held an open meeting to elicit ideas for what this board should be, submitted a list of names of suitable people with expertise and clout to be invited to join. We also produced an outline policy and terms of reference for the board and suggested that one of our committee chaired the new group in its early meetings to give coherence and consistency to the planning. This new board, called the Culture Partnership (CP), chaired by Steve Pitt, was set up in October 2009.
In Autumn 09, we, along with other organisations, played a major part in contributing to the “PS I Love You” bid for Portsmouth and Southampton’s bid for UK City of Culture in 2012, as we have a significant body of expertise and knowledge to give.

Another important development was the leading role the Cultural Consortium played in setting up GLOO. This is a series of events designed to bring people together from different disciplines, with a mix of artists’ talks and presentations, together with future opportunities to attend seminars on funding, marketing and entrepreneurship. With an exciting format, and high attendance, GLOO is creating valuable connections for people.

Many of the strategic issues we had championed are now seen by some to be part of the remit of the CP. Indeed, the CP is designed to act as a strategic body, but the relationship between what the CP is doing and what the Cultural Consortium might do is still not clear. However, in March this year, the Cultural Consortium was the only organisation to submit a full blown assessment on each of the proposed Portsmouth City Council budget cuts that would negatively affect culture. Our assessment was also used by the CP Chair to lobby Council members in person. This, along with other campaigning on Facebook and from other bodies, had a very significant impact on arresting cuts to culture.

Overall in recent months, the birth of the CP, coupled with the recent departure of our Chair, Bryony Whitmarsh (who we must thank for generating a new mindset for the Consortium and for her energy into setting up GLOO) and a variety views about our purpose means we have somewhat lost our original focus and impetus. There is a job to be done as an independent body with strong connections to ordinary people; we need to regroup and enlist new blood to join the committee and get back to helping the community.
There are numerous ways in which we, as community group, could be useful; here are a few possibilities but we welcome your ideas as nothing is set in stone:

• To find out what people really think is important so that we can predict potential budget cuts in the arts and culture provision, and make a stand – as we have done successfully in the past.
• To act as a forum or catalyst to initiate and encourage Festivals and Fringes, and City wide activities, even if the Cultural Consortium does not wish to become an event organiser.
• To be a conduit for groups to air their concerns, and promote their activities.
• To be a forum where people can raises issues that are important to them, perhaps feeding into or working in cooperation with bodies such as Neighbourhood Forums.

We have a Website, which we hope to have developed significantly by the end of June, which can be used to share ideas, thoughts and suggestions. We welcome your views on what you want to see on the website. We also want to explore what being a member and/or subscriber really means, especially in an age where social networking sites enable people to rapidly share ideas without any “committee” being involved.

We look forward to meeting you at the AGM at 6pm on 19 July 2010 at the Oasis Centre, 1a Upper Arundel Street, Portsmouth, where we want to discuss these issues, hear your views and craft a new way ahead. We need more people who are prepared to join the committee and/or be actively involved. The formal AGM notice is below - a confirmed agenda and other details will be sent out very soon.

Please send me your views via secretary@cultural-consortium.co.uk or get onto Facebook group or tweet us @culturalconsort or write to us.

I look forward to hearing from you.

John Phillipson
Acting Chair
Cultural Consortium Committee

NOTICE OF THE GENERAL MEETING OF
THE PORTSMOUTH CULTURAL CONSORTIUM

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of the Cultural Consortium will be held at the Oasis Centre, Arundel Street, Portsmouth on Monday 19th July, 2010 at 6:30pm, refreshments will be available from 6pm. Agenda to follow minutes from the previous Annual General Meeting can be found on the website www.cultural-consortium.co.uk

Please RSVP to

Sharon Watling
Administrator for Cultural Consortium
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
PORTSMOUTH
PO1 2AD

Tel: 023 9284 1581 or email: sharon.watling@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Is all this stuff news to you? What is the Cultural Consortium?
The Cultural Consortium is an independent membership-based group of local people and cultural groups interested in improving cultural life in Portsmouth.  It organised by an elected Executive who are all volunteers. You’ve received this email because you’ve either signed up for it, are a member of the Consortium, or we’ve thought you might be interested in the information found within it. If you don’t want receive it, email secretary@cultural-consortium.co.uk and put ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject line.

It’s always worth checking our website at www.cultural-consortium.co.uk or Facebook groupor even follow us on Twitter. Updated regularly, these sites include key information, links and events.

….and finally
If you have views, ideas or suggestions on any of the above, get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you. Call us on (023) 9284 1581 or email info@cultural-consortium.co.uk