Insight Interviews:
Local Family Arts Ambassadors

Our Ambassadors from across the UK share their insights and learnings from the Family Arts Network Ambassador programme to date. They explore challenges and successes as well as recommendations for organisations considering working collaboratively in their area as a local family arts network.

Since the beginning of the Family Arts Campaign Ambassador programme in October 2019, our regional Ambassadors have experienced a turn of events that none of us could have predicted. However as the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the Ambassadors rapidly adjusted their activity to respond to the impact of the pandemic, collaborating with network colleagues and local community organisations to reach families in need with continuing arts provision.

Ambassadors and their local family arts networks have responded to the pandemic in remarkable ways, such as forming partnerships with local food banks to supply families with physical arts packs and supporting network colleagues towards creating rich and broad-ranging digital offers for families.

Family Arts Campaign Manager Rukhsana Jahangir spoke with Ambassadors about their insights and learnings from the programme to date, exploring challenges and successes as well as recommendations for organisations considering working collaboratively as a local family arts network.

Ambassadors Interviews

Holli Graham

Cumbria Ambassador

Holli Graham tells us what she learned about family audiences during that pandemic and recounts how organisations across Cumbria came together to support families in need. Holli shares her thoughts on the significance of connecting with local community organisations who work with families, as well as the importance of learning from and listening to families of all backgrounds.

Sallyanne Flemons

North East England Ambassador

Sallyanne tells us more about her work with Family Explorers North East and the importance of peer recommendation for family arts engagement. Sallyanne also shares her thoughts on the challenges and successes that she has experienced in the Ambassador programme to date.

Yemi Bolatiwa

Manchester Ambassador

Yemi tells us more about the city’s family friendly cultural scene, how the Ambassador role has helped support the Manchester family arts network and how the network created new partnerships during the pandemic which helped reach new families across the city with cultural provision.

Lou Taylor

Previous Bristol Ambassador

Lou was our Bristol Ambassador from October 2019 – June 2021. In this Insight Interview, Lou shares her thoughts on positive outcomes from the past year and tells us her top tips for organisations considering working together as a family arts network.

Hana York

Previous Derby Ambassador

Hana was our Family Arts Ambassador for the Derby Network from October 2019 – May 2021. In this interview, Hana tells us how she came to become an Ambassador, how Derby arts organisations continued to support local families through the challenging times of the pandemic and shares insights into the numerous benefits of collaborative Network-based working.