Completing Culture Bridge North East

In 2012 Arts Council England created the national Bridges programme, designed to link the Cultural and Education sectors together to ensure that children benefitted from access to excellent Cultural Learning opportunities. In 2015 Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums became responsible for the North East element of this programme and Culture Bridge North East was born. 

On 31 March 2023 the Bridges programme ended across the UK, and with it the closure of the Culture Bridge North East programme. 

Over the last eight years the team co-ordinating the Culture Bridge North East programme has created a strong legacy in cultural learning for the region:

• Eight Local Cultural Education Partnerships (LCEPs) have been created, covering the entirety of the North East region
• 24% of North East schools are registered for Artsmark - the highest proportion of any region across England
• 326 cultural organisations have engaged with Culture Bridge North East
• 645 school have engaged with Culture Bridge North East through CPD programmes and one to one support
• 31,847 Arts Awards have been achieved
• £1,006,900 of partnership investment has been allocated by Culture Bridge North East - matched with cash from outside the cultural sector
• 55% of schools in the North East have engaged with Culture Bridge North East's work
• Hundreds of 'Let's Craft' activity packs have been distributed to local families in partnership with Children North East and Hobbycraft
• The Cultural Leaders in Education programme was delivered in partnership with Newcastle University.

See even more impact on the Culture Bridge North East YouTube channel.

The success of this work in the North East has been acknowledged by Arts Council England awarding Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) funding to continue with key elements of the regional co-ordination work. This will focus on supporting the network of Local Cultural Education Partnerships, and the building of links with the Youth Work sector and the NHS.

This work will sit alongside other programmes TWAM deliver for the benefit of the wider region such as Museum Development North East, and include closer integration with TWAM’s own learning programme.