When we launched ‘367,100 Creatives’ (the council’s cultural manifesto for creative change), we were clear about one thing: this wasn’t meant to be a plan that gathered dust. It was a commitment to act and that commitment is being delivered.

Across the borough, the impact is visible. Creativity was always in all our 7 towns and the council is helping to unleash that creativity.

We’ve backed grassroots artists and organisations, expanded affordable creative workspaces and strengthened routes into creative careers, particularly for young people. Through our Cultural Education Partnership, more children and young people whatever their background or postcode are accessing high‑quality creative opportunities.

This hasn’t just been about culture for culture’s sake. Creativity is helping us tackle inequality, support wellbeing, and bring life back to our town centres. It’s supporting jobs in fast‑growing creative and digital industries and contributing to sustainable, climate‑aware growth. Culture is now embedded across council decision‑making from regeneration to planning to health and wellbeing.

None of this has been delivered by the council alone. This has been a shared effort with artists, community groups, schools, businesses and residents who believe in our borough’s creative potential and have stepped up to shape it.

The borough has always been creative. What the manifesto has done is turn that creativity into a collective strength something visible, accessible and rooted in every community.

This is our new normal. It’s only the beginning I look forward to seeing the fantastic creativity that is unleashed and the joy and connections that are created.