From Liverpool to Cambridge: We’re Creating the Future
“Whatever happens in the future, the creatives will shape it.” Those words were spoken by the MP for Wirral South, Alison McGovern, at a dinner I attended in Liverpool last week. We were sat in the cafe at Make. Make is a place to gather to create and become more creative that has co-working studios, gardens, cafes, making, rehearsal, event, performance spaces in Liverpool City Centre and the Wirral. Boysenberry, a catering company that sprang up in the co-working space, fed us locally grown comfort food. An artist whose studio was based in the space tended the bar, where she works to top up her income. Although 180 miles away, it felt like home and I could see glimmers of what the future can be like in Cambridge when Together Culture is up and running in permanent studios.
I was a guest of Platform Places, an organisation that works with social entrepreneurs, local authorities, property developers and financiers to revamp our high streets into places where we come to gather, create, connect and build a more inclusive and ecological country. The group that gathered came from Devon, York, Hastings, Wandsworth, Oxford and all points in between. Everyone shared a belief in community and a determination to build on Britain’s extraordinary heritage of creativity to develop a society in which everyone can thrive.
We met with the founders of Rockpoint Leisure, a social enterprise leading the renaissance of the magnificent Wirral town of New Brighton. Once one of Europe’s most desirable seaside hotspots, a place that led in arts, leisure and transport innovation, New Brighton fell into a deep economic decline until local entrepreneurs and artists joined together to write a new chapter. Together, they’ve developed and re-opened coffee houses that double as printworks (if you go, do NOT miss @wearesupshop), galleries, pubs, music venues, and multi-generational programs (watch out for school kids doing flash mobs in the local supermarket) that are making everyone proud to be part of New Brighton and re-kindling their vibrant home.
‘These murals demonstrate their resilience, their playfulness, their commitment to one another and to creating a meaningful and creative life on their doorsteps - for everyone.’
This renaissance is refashioning the identity of New Brighton. The town itself is a massive canvas on which more than 20 building-size murals celebrate the people, the places, and the ideas that represent the community's values. These murals also demonstrate their resilience, their playfulness, their commitment to one another and to creating a meaningful and creative life on their doorsteps - for everyone. There’s a vibrancy, a sparkle, a glimmer of hope that seeps deep into your bones as you walk around New Brighton. You feel compelled to laugh, smile, and have a cheeky laugh with a local over a pint in one of the community run pubs that have recently reopened.
The New Brighton Street Art Tour is a daily reminder that everyone here is a creative (whether they work as an artist or an accountant) and they’re shifting the course of travel of their seaside town. They believe in themselves (and if you’re ever in doubt of your abilities, you just need to step out your door, look around, and you’ll be reminded that you have all you need to go in search of new horizons). They believe that together, they'll create a vibrant future for all. They should. They’re doing it.
In our own way, we’re hoping Together Culture can provide a similar framework to gather, create, and joyfully build a future for our community where we can all thrive. I hope you’ll join us and share your voice in our Story of Us project. Here we grow!
Visiting Kitty’s Laundrette
