What is the Campaign about?

Welsh language information

The Family Arts Campaign is a national Sector Support Organisation funded by Arts Council England and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to raise family engagement with arts and culture.

Since our beginnings in 2012, we have focused on three main areas of work:

  • Increasing the amount and range of artistic work available to families
  • Increasing the quality of experience for families
  • Improving marketing to reach more families

We are here to support National Portfolio Organisations, museums, libraries, community groups, individuals, and anyone else looking to better connect families with arts and culture.

You can take part by signing up to the free Family Arts Standards and Age-Friendly Standards quality-marks, by attending training and events, or accessing our online resources library. You can also promote all of your family and age-friendly events for free as part of our Fantastic for Families  campaign.

 

Who is running the Campaign?

We are a cross-sector and cross-artform initiative steered by a consortium of ten organisations and trade bodies. Our lead partner organisation is The Albany.

Logos of consortium partners: AMA, CVAN, ITS, One Dance UK, Society of London Theatre, UK Theatre, The Albany, Kids in Museums, ABO, The Audience Agency

 

The campaign is overseen by a Project Board:

Helen FeatherstoneDeputy Director, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Hannah GagenAdvocacy Manager, Society of London Theatre / UK Theatre
Charlotte JonesChief Executive, Independent Theatre Council
Cath HumeExecutive Director, Arts Marketing Association
Robert O’DowdChief Executive, Rose Theatre Kingston
Gavin BarlowChief Executive/Artistic Director, The Albany
Matthew Swann (Interim Chair)Chief Executive, City of London Sinfonia
Mark PembertonDirector, Association of British Orchestras
Anne TorreggianiExecutive Director, The Audience Agency
Karla Barnacle-Best CEO, Discover Children’s Story Centre
Alison Bowyer and Laura BedfordExecutive Director and Head of Programmes, Kids in Museums
Paula OrrellDirector, Contemporary Visual Arts Network
Frederick HopkinsHead of Business Development and Membership, One Dance UK

 

Central co-ordination is led by a small team:

Anna DeverHead of Campaign
Clair DonnellyProject Manager
Rukhsana JahangirFamily Arts Network Coordinator
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Resources

Resources

To help you to develop your family programme, we’ve commissioned and collated digital training tools, case studies, research papers and toolkits from across the sector.

> Family Arts Standards

The Family Arts Campaign and the Family & Childcare Trust have developed a set of Family Arts Standards, addressing a need for clear guidance on how best to welcome families to arts organisations. View here.

> Age-Friendly

Including the Age-Friendly Standards and guidance for arts and cultural organisations, along with toolkits, links and resources for working with older family members. View here.

> Case Studies

Including Age-Friendly case studies, case studies from the Family Arts Campaign evaluation and a look at successful events from the national Family Arts Festival. Plus how organisations are using the Family Arts Standards across their organisation, and a variety of other studies including an Audiences London paper on developing family audiences across artforms, developing family friendly music days in eastern England, and a look at the Barbican Beacon programme which developed communication with the Barbican’s neighbouring inner city boroughs. View here.

> Research

Covering Arts Council England’s Arts Audiences Insight publication as well as the New Audiences programme. View here.

> Toolkits

Including the Family Arts Campaign-commissioned guidance on content communication and pricing for family events, Family Arts Festival Evaluation Toolkit, ‘Test Drive The Arts’ For Families, Arts Council England’s Family Friendly and Family & Community toolkits, and publications by The Big Draw relevant to those taking part in the next Family Arts Festival. View here.

> Family Arts Campaign Evaluation

Family Audiences: What Matters? Read the Campaign’s independent evaluation from 2015 by Catherine Rose’s Office. View here.

> Accessibility resources

Information related to accessible performances and activities. View here.

 > Articles

Articles from Family Arts Campaign and others. View here.

> Miscellaneous

Including resources from Family Arts Campaign past training events and conference. View here.

> CultureHive

Please visit CultureHive for further family arts resources.

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