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The
2008 culture plan is now launched....
LIVERPOOL is to
invest more than £35m in to the city's arts scene for its year as
European Capital of Culture in 2008. The investment is one of the
biggest financial packages for the arts ever announced in any city
in the UK, and a further £11m will be spent on community arts
projects. The funding programme has been outlined in the Liverpool
Culture Company's Business Plan for 2005-2009, published this week.
And in a major boost for the city's 2008 preparations the plan
reveals over 90% of its overall budget of £94.9 million has already
been secured. In the budget £26m is to be spent on buildings and
improving venues to stage events, while £12m is to be spent on
marketing the city to a national and international audience.
The main funder is Liverpool city council which has pledged £53m
towards the four year programme. It is estimated that the city's
European capital of Culture status will help generate 14,000 new
jobs, attract £2bn in investment and an extra 1.7m visitors. The
Business Plan explains how the company is positioning itself to
deliver the thematic activities in each year leading up to 2008,
including the 2007 Liverpool 800th Birthday Celebrations, it also
details how it will increase the quality and range of annual
programmes to strengthen the city's ability to stage 2008.
Professor Drummond Bone, Chairman of Liverpool Culture Company,
said:- “Our Business Plan is a blueprint for how a city can
use culture to change its future. No city has ever gone to these
lengths to explain the what, why and how, of delivering such a
remarkable transformation. It also demonstrates how busy the
Liverpool Culture Company has been to redefine what it means to be a
European Capital of Culture. The fact that 90% of the budget is
already in place is an amazing achievement and highlights the
professionalism with which the Culture Company has approached its
task. What pleases me most is that throughout all our planning the
people of the city have been, and continue to be, at the heart of it
all. It is vital that they will benefit, learn and grow from this
life-changing opportunity. So it is important to note that the
Business Plan goes beyond 2008 emphasising how important it is to
guarantee a legacy that will continue to enrich the city.”The
40-page document also states key aims and objectives, such as:-
* Deliver an exciting, innovative and dramatic programme of arts,
events and creative activity through collaborations, co-productions,
and commissions.
* Work with the city's communities to increase participation in
creative activity and develop audiences.
* Invest in cultural institutions, events, and festivals which will
strengthen and sustain beyond 2008 and to develop capacity to
produce and present work well into the future.
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* Improve the Liverpool
Welcome experience to improve perceptions of the city and region as
a place to visit, increasing the number of visitors to the city.
* Measure the impact of 2008 through an ambitious and integrated
research strategy which has never been achieved by any previous
European Cities or Capitals of Culture.
Councillor Mike Storey,
Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:- “The Liverpool
Culture Company Business Plan outlines how much 2008 means to the
city and how seriously we take the responsibility to ensure it
changes the city forever. It also spells out how far the city has
come and can go. When the city council established the Liverpool
Culture Company it was in hope that the city would claim back a role
on the world stage. Now we have great expectations and this plan
spells out how we will stage the best ever European Capital of
Culture.
Being Capital of Culture is about many things but fundamentally it
is about creating jobs and creating confidence within the city -
both within people and businesses. This plans pinpoints how we are
going to achieve that. We have an excellent team in place to deliver
this and the investment we make now will pay dividends for future
generations. I expect in years to come people will look back at the
foundations we are laying now and see it as the time when life as a
true premiere European City began.”
Another key aim of the Liverpool Culture Company is to ensure there
is a legacy from 2008 centred on people and participation and a
stronger cultural infrastructure. The plan states the city has a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve a sense of pride, a better
physical environment and a more attractive destination for visitors
and investment.
Jason Harborow, Chief Operating Officer of the Liverpool Culture
Company, said:- “To be 2 and half years away from 2008 and be
able to say that you are 9/10 of the way there in funding your plans
is an unbelievable advantage that no other city which has been
granted this accolade has ever had. The Liverpool Culture Company
has only been in its current form since January 2004 and has had to
grow and learn very quickly. We have had some major successes from
staging the best Mathew Street and Mersey River Festivals in living
memory, to being ahead of schedule in attracting 12 official
partners, to delivering a creative community programme that is now
being praised by national government. The business plan is worth its
weight in gold because it shows to outsiders and the people of
Liverpool that the city has the vision, the confidence and the
ability to deliver both our 800th birthday celebrations, and 2008,
in style.”
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