Create Sheffield: our governance & history

Sophie Hunter

Our Board & governance

Leadership of the Create Sheffield charitable company comes from our Board. In 2017, members of our governance task & finish group became our steering group, and when we became a company in 2018, they became our first legal Members Board.

Our first Chair from 2016 - 2018 was Stephen Betts, from Learn Sheffield.  Stephen handed over the reins to Ian Naylor from Sheffield Music Hub when we became a company.  In March 2020 we became a charitable company, so our Members Board has now become a Board of Trustees.  With our new charitable status we have transitioned to a new model of governance.

Our Board is made up of:

  • Pat Cochrane, Consultant (Chair)

  • Margot Walker, Cultural Development Consultant 

  • Alexandra Woodall, University of Sheffield 

  • Paul Duffus, PAD Management 

  • Roger Bateman, Sheffield Hallam University 

  • Stephen Betts, Learn Sheffield 

  • Ian Naylor, Sheffield Music Hub

  • Edward Mackay, Music in the Round

  • Rebecca Maddox, Sheffield City Council (Observer)

  • Matthew Goodlad, Sheffield College

How did Create Sheffield come about?

Create Sheffield is Sheffield’s Local Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP).  Create Sheffield is one of 15 LCEPs established in Yorkshire and Humber by IVE, the Arts Council’s Bridge Organisation for the region, in response to Arts Council England’s Cultural Education Challenge. 

From 2016 - 2018, we worked with colleagues from the voluntary & community sectors, schools, universities, creative digital, heritage, theatre, circus, music, libraries and museums to begin scoping how Sheffield’s LCEP could work most effectively. Individuals from all sectors joined 7 task and finish groups focused on different areas of work to develop the partnership: governance, communication, resources, research, finance, training and forward planning. Our governance group became our first steering group.

Launch conference

The Create Sheffield launch conference was held on Friday 2nd February 2018 at the Crucible Theatre.  Shortly afterwards, we realised that in order to ensure that safeguarding was robust across the Partnership, we would need to become a company limited by guarantee.  This process took months, and slowed down proceedings (which had been motoring along nicely until that point!).

Becoming a company

In October 2018 Create Sheffield finally became a legal entity.  In February 2019 we began trading, having secured funds for our first 3 years to set up the systems and processes to make this Partnership work.  We have been fortunate to receive funding from a range of different providers; the most significant pot of money is Partnership Investment from IVE as the Arts Council England's Bridge Organisation for Yorkshire and the Humber. They have 100% matched all other funding we were able to gather from across the city: from Learn Sheffield, Virtual School, Sheffield College, Sheffield Hallam University, Counter Context, Museums Sheffield and Sheffield Theatres.  We are very grateful to all of our funders for their support.

Staffing

In February 2023 Laura Travis became Create Sheffield Manager, she was joined in March 2023 by Katie Matthews as Charity Administrator. 

Thanks to our links with Learn Sheffield they have recently relocated to share office space and support services at Albion House.

Find out more about who works for Create Sheffield here. 

Send us your story

contactus@createsheffield.co.uk