Dear Colleagues,
With so much to do and so many pressures on our time and energy, it’s sometimes easy to forget that every now and then, we need to stop to acknowledge and celebrate our work and achievements.
We had an opportunity to do this on the 20th March 2025 when Creative Black Country (CBC) celebrated 10 years of working with communities, artists and creative people across the Black Country. CBC describes the ten years as a journey of co-creation, community pride and artistic innovation.
Working across the Black Country with small groups, organisations and partners, CBC has achieved the following:
- Delivering over 2,500 creative events
- Engaging 2.2 million people
- Working with nearly 40,000 participants
- Facilitating over 10,000 hours of creative activity
- Securing and investing over £5.5 million into arts and culture
The Creative Black Country Team
WVCA is proud to have been a key partner over the last decade. It was also wonderful to see one of the groups that we have supported over many years playing a key part in the event; Diversity Music First produced a showcase performance bringing the power of collective voices together through their choir.
Diversity Music First Choir
The event took place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and was very well attended. The evening was full of activity, discussions, hands-on workshops, vibrant performances and conversations and great food! We were also delighted to be joined by the Wolverhampton Mayor, local MPs and Arts Council England to name but a few.
Sarah Coombes MP, West Bromwich, Warinder Juss MP, Wolverhampton West, Sharon Nanan-Sen, Chief Executive Officer of WVCA, Darren Henley CBE, Chief Executive of Arts Council England
Over the last 10 years, CBC secured and invested over £5.5 million into arts and culture across the Black Country providing opportunities for local people to fund and promote their own ideas and projects, visit new places and try something completely different through taster sessions and workshops.
We look forward to continuing our work together in the future and hopefully for at least another 10 years.
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen
Chief Executive Officer