In March 2024, the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation launched the Culture Makes… campaign, a UK-wide, year-long initiative that celebrated the enormous impact of culture on society. Set in the context of national challenges including a decline in local authority funding and the cost of living crisis, the campaign engaged 218 cultural and heritage organisations across the country to collectively demonstrate the value of their work. They broadcast their message to policymakers and the public through social media, press and other activity, and encouraged their audiences to share their own stories, illustrating the enormous influence of culture on all of our lives.
Author and ambassador for Culture Makes… Kit de Waal talks about why the campaign matters
The Culture Makes… campaign aimed to enhance a wider understanding of cultural organisations as impactful charities in need of support, promote the democratisation of cultural philanthropy, and showcase the breadth of cultural impact using the 8 Types of Impact of Culture and Heritage© framework, developed from extensive research conducted by cultural sector consultancy Achates. Read about how the campaign unfolded below, and the ways different partner organisations demonstrated their distinctive impact to show how culture adds value to our lives.
Culture Makes… Partner Organisations
The campaign brought together diverse array of partners, including large organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Museums Liverpool, and the Edinburgh International Festival, as well as a large number of smaller organisations from An Tobar and Mull theatre to Creative Folkestone (see the full list below). With generous support from Achates and world-class design agency Pentagram, partner organisations received tailored campaign assets that enabled them to effectively communicate their impact throughout the year.
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A
A & B Cymru
ARC Stockton Arts Centre
Access All Areas
Act On It
All Change
All Party Parliamentary Jazz Group
An Tobar and Mull
Anvil Arts
Applause Rural Touring
Applecart Arts
Arena Theatre
Art UK
Arthouse Wakefield
Artillery CIC
Artists Benevolent Fund
Arts & Business NI
Artsadmin
Arvon
Association of Leading Visitor Attractions
Attic Theatre Company
Autograph
Avant.Dev
Awen Cultural Trust
B
Babbling Vagabonds
Badapple Theatre Company Ltd
Ballet Soul
Barbican Centre
Belfast Buildings Trust
Birmingham Museums Trust
Black Lives in Music
Boy Blue
Bristol Old Vic
Built Environment Trust / Building Centre
C
CVAN Contemporary Visual Art Network
Cambridge Junction
Cardboard Citizens
Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Clean Break
Colchester Mercury Theatre
Coniston Stonecraft
Corby Cube Theatre Trust
Crafts Council
Creative Arts East
Creative Folkestone
CreativeShift CIC
Creeq Community Interest Company
Crescent Arts Centre
Crown Lane Productions Ltd
D
Dance Blast
Dash Arts
Deco Publique
Derby Theatre
Drama and Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA)
Dudley Museums Service
Dundee Contemporary Arts
Déda
E
East Street Arts
Edinburgh International Festival
Emerald Ant CIC
English Folk Dance and Song Society
English Touring Theatre
Espas
F
Finding Rhythms
First Story
Foundation for Future London
Fourth Monkey
Frantic Assembly
Foundling Museum
Fuel
Future Arts Centres
G
Gilded Balloon
Go Live Theatre Projects
Grand Union Arts CIO
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival
Group 64 Theatre for Young People
H
Hastings Art School
Hastings Contemporary
Headlong Theatre
Heart of Glass
Hereford Community Arts CIC
Hilanderas Plaforma Culturel
I
Imaginate
Imagineer Productions
Inside Job Productions
Islington Festival of Music and Art
J
Jacksons Lane
Jaivant Patel Company
Javaad Alipoor Company
Jelly
K
Kendal Brewery Arts
Kids in Museums
L
Living Proof
Lakeland Arts
Lambeth Council
Lancaster Arts
Landmark Arts Centre
Lighthouse, Poole
Literature Wales
Litfest – Lancaster Festival of Literature
Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art
Lost Lady Society
Lyric Belfast
M
MAC
Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio Essex
Middle Child
Minerva Creates CIC
Museums Association
Museums Galleries Scotland
Music Mark
Music in Offices
Musical Theatre Network
N
National Centre for Writing
National Foundation for Youth Music
National Museums Liverpool
National Youth Orchestras of Scotland
National Youth Theatre
Nesta
New Contemporaries
New Writing North
Nonsuch Studios
Nordoff and Robbins
Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Northern Ballet
Northern Ireland Opera
Noël Coward Foundation
O
Oily Cart
One Dance
Open Clasp Theatre Company
Opera Circus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestras Live
Oriel Davies Gallery
Oriel Mostyn Gallery
Oxford House in Bethnal Green
P
Pagrav Dance Company
Parable Dance CIC
Park Theatre
Pavilion Dance South West
Phoenix Art Space
Picturehouse Cinemas
Playbox Theatre
Pleasance
Powered by Can
Prism Arts
Project Art Works
Proteus
Puppet Place Trust Ltd
Q
Qisetna
R
Round Table Books CIC
Roundhouse
Royal Academy of Dance
Royal College of Art
Royal Literary Fund
Royal Shakespeare Company
S
SAVVY Theatre Company
SLIDE
STEAM Co.
Same Sky
Scottish Ballet
Second Floor Studios & Arts
Shakespeare North Playhouse
Shepway HEART Forum
Shetland Arts Development Agency
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
Shubbak
Sonia Sabri Company
Southbank Centre
Speech Bubbles CIO
Stage Beyond
Stanley Arts
Stephen Joseph Theatre
Storyhouse
Streetwise Opera
Studio Eleven
T
Take A Part CIO
Talawa
Tees Women Poets
The Albany
The Blake Cottage Trust
The Box
The Bright Foundation
theCOLAB
The David Parr House
The Dukes
The Duncairn
The Exchange
The Flavasum Trust
The Forum Norwich
The Garage Trust Ltd
The Javaad Alipoor Company
The Literary Consultancy
The Mamahood Space CIC
The Mills Archive Trust
The Poetry Society
The Wordarium
Theatr Clwyd
Theatre and Dance Northern Ireland
TiPP
Tinderbox Theatre Company
Tracks Darlington CIC
Tramshed Arts Ltd
Transported Art
Trapped in Zone One
Traverse Theatre
Tullie Museum and Art Gallery
U
UD Music Foundation
University for the Creative Arts
Y
Vagina Museum
Visual Arts South West
W
Wakefield Museums & Castles
Wiltshire Creative
Women's Prize Trust
World Heart Beat Music Academy
Worthing Theatres & Museum
Y
York Citizens Theatre Trust
York Theatre Royal
Yorkshire Dance
A breakdown of Culture Makes… Partner Organisations
The 8 Types of Impact of Culture and Heritage©
Explore how our partner organisations showcased their work and drove the 8 types of impact in their distinctive ways, by clicking ‘Find out more’ below.
Organisations demonstrated how culture is key to unlocking the Labour Government’s five core missions…
Environmental Benefit: The Ninth Type of Impact of Culture and Heritage©
Since the Culture Makes campaign shone a spotlight on the 8 Types of Impact at Culture and Heritage©, the framework measuring the overall benefits that culture and heritage bring to our society, in 2025 together with our friends and supporters, Achates we launched Environmental Benefit as the ninth impact to be added to this valuable toolkit. Our second inaugural Thought Leadership Lecture, given by Former Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas at the Southbank Centre, ‘Another World is Possible’ launched our programme on environmental impact, encouraging the cultural sector to become leaders in response to the climate emergency. You can read the full text of the lecture here.
Lucas’s lecture and the work of the Foundation emphasizes our sector’s role in not only mitigating the effects of negative environmental impact, but also the enormous soft power it holds in moving towards positively tackling the climate crisis and delivering environmental benefit. A major part of the Cultural Philanthropy Foundation’s mission over the coming years will be to drive and showcase the inspiring ways that the culture and heritage sector is taking a holistic approach to addressing the climate emergency.