Those of you who do know me will have often heard me say that arts organisations exist to do two things - create or curate art and connect to audiences.

These are the darkest times I have lived through and I believe passionately, as I know you do, that art has the power to influence the direction of our society - whether the issue be environmental justice, gender and racial equality, or giving voice to those unheard. So many of you in this room and in our community strive for these ideas through the work you do tirelessly every day and tonight we’d like to celebrate that.

But I know that we all also feel that the  potential of art to realise change isn’t being fully achieved as yet - not because the art that is being presented isn’t of the highest quality, but because we haven’t yet fulfilled our potential in terms of our ability to reach and engage diverse communities. We must be relevant in the work we stage, who makes that work and how we engage with communities to truly succeed in our ambition for art.

When I created Achates Philanthropy - first the consultancy company and then the Prize - I chose the name with care. In Virgil, Achates was the loyal advisor who told the truth. But it was the word ‘philanthropy’ that came first.

I wanted to reclaim this word that has largely fallen out of use because it signified to me that, at a time when the arts is wrestling with challenges in the way in which it is funded and valued, that there was also an opportunity to take the constructive role that money can play in a society which is based on values of mutual cooperation and support. And these values are intrinsic to the kind of society I believe we are striving for through our art. One in which money has an important role to play, but isn’t the sole point or source of value. A society in which contributions of all sizes and kinds are celebrated. Our arts organisations can no longer remain outside of society. To succeed  we must also play a dynamic role within it.

And so in creating the Prize my fellow trustees and I were careful to create a playing field in which all are equal. Any arts organisation can win the Achates Philanthropy Prize.

When you celebrate giving of all levels it becomes clear that fundraising isn’t just about money, it is also a marker of our relationship with audiences and whilst we want and must celebrate the leadership of major philanthropists, ensuring that everyone can play their part is key to the role our arts organisations can play in their communities and the communities that will want to engage with us. Culture belongs to and is the responsibility of us all.

If a gift of money is one of the manifestations of a successful relationship with our audiences - the prize is a barometer of how well arts organisations are working with their communities.

And our challenge to those organisations who didn’t have any new donors to nominate this year is to look at why this was the case- was it simply because you didn’t ask for support, or was it because there is more that could be done to build life long relationship with the audiences you work with?

And to those of you who entered -thank you - you are building a campaign for change in the arts.

And this year (our fourth) is a good year with a 65% increase in nominations - covering every art form, scale of organisations and region (shout out to NI)  and the highest quality to date - the ground is shifting.