About me
‘Made in Merthyr Tydfil’, I’ve spent the last fifteen years between Wales and London, delivering projects in the culture and heritage sector and creative economy, with a particular focus on enterprise development and broadening access and inclusivity. This has included roles at National Dance Company Wales, The British Library, Central School of Ballet, University of South Wales and Hay Festival. Most recently, I’ve spent three years in the Culture and Creative Industries Team at Greater London Authority where I delivered the Mayor of London’s Creative Enterprise Zones – the first of their kind in the UK, and a flagship initiative to secure the long-term success and sustainability of London’s creative sector by hardwiring culture into communities.
I partially relocated back to South Wales during those dark days of ‘first-wave’ Covid in March 2020, and as the world gradually started opening up again I found myself looking at my ‘hometown’ with fresh eyes. Whether I was perusing the stalls at The Corporation or throwing some questionable ‘shapes’ at Clwb during Swn Festival; watching a musical comedy about right-wing extremism at Sherman Theatre, marvelling at the breath-taking aerial feats of NoFit State, or even simply co-working at Chapter, I was struck by the density, diversity and dynamism of Cardiff’s cultural offer, which punches massively above its weight. It was clear to me that something exciting was happening – and I wanted in.
Building on our success
From reaching a milestone figure of 4000 members, to winning the inaugural ‘Cardiff Life Civic Award’, to laying the foundations for game-changing initiatives like Clwstwr and Media Cymru, Creative Cardiff has delivered a truly mind-boggling amount over the last 7 years! It has played a pivotal role in shaping the collective identity of Cardiff’s creative sector, crafting a compelling cultural narrative for the city and calling into being a holistic, engaged and interdisciplinary network with tangible grassroots benefit for the city’s creative workforce. It is a privilege to now be entrusted with building on this considerable success, and I cannot wait to get properly ‘stuck in’.
The creative sector never stands still, and so to the mechanisms that support them need to be ever evolving, responding to shifting contexts and seizing emerging opportunities.
In the coming months I will be working with Creative Cardiff’s stakeholders, the brilliant Cardiff University team and – of course – you, our members, to gather opinions, intelligence and feedback. Collectively, this will help craft a new roadmap for the future of the Creative Cardiff. One that responds to the harsh lessons of the pandemic and nurtures our creative community to become the most thriving, collaborative and resilient it can be.
Ambitions for the future
The might of our creative industries for economic growth and job creation are renowned, and this potential rightly needs to be leveraged as we rebuild from the impact of the last two years and confront challenging times ahead. But alongside this, the sector also gives us so many of our best memories, our moments of pleasures, and our treasured small joys and comforts. The outfit that always makes you walk a bit taller, that gig where you danced all night with your best mates, the song that always makes you think of ‘that’ person, or the show on Netflix that you binge-watch when you’re feeling down – these all started life as the vision of an artist or maker in a studio. In spite of the devastation wrought by the pandemic, the last two years have also brought forth a renewed recognition of the ways we rely on the creative sector to connect us, to comfort us, to reflect shared experiences and to create spaces – both physical and imaginary – in which we can process stimuli and express our emotional responses.
It is in this ‘new normal’ that we will now be taking forward Creative Cardiff, building on the original vision of the network in practical ways to help ensure that Cardiff’s brilliant doers and makers, thinkers and dreamers have access to the people, skills, information and places they will need to realise their creative ambitions. And in turn, exploring how this rising tide can add value across the Cardiff Capital Region, stimulating meaningful collaboration and innovation and helping deliver a genuinely inclusive and open sector that reflects our communities and builds the pipeline of talent that will become our next generation of cultural changemakers.
Come and say ‘Hello’:
Over the next few weeks I plan to be ‘out and about’ at co-working spaces, cafes and venues across the city, speaking to creatives ‘at the coalface’ to find out how Creative Cardiff can get even better at supporting them in what they do. Keep an eye on our social channels to find out where we are, and do drop by for a chat if you’re able. I am really looking forward to meeting you, and the coffees are on us.
