BasildON consortium has won a £1,289,002.00 Creative People & Places grant to deliver a transformative programme, led by creative practice Things Made Public, to engage and inspire Basildon’s residents through culture.

The programme, based on Futurecity’s Cultural Placemaking Strategy, will see the town centre reimagined as a culturally democratic digital creative district.

“As a son of Basildon, I am proud of the role Futurecity has played in developing a strategy for Basildon to become a creative digital town. From the outset we said the measure of success of our strategy for Basildon would be an investment by a major art funder. The announcement by Arts Council England of £1.3million funding is a clear sign of confidence in Basildon’s future.” Mark Davy, Futurecity Founder

Futurecity was commissioned by BTCM Ltd in 2017 to develop a cultural placemaking strategy for Basildon Town Centre. Working with stakeholders including Basildon Council, retail landlords, South Essex College, cultural and community organisations, Futurecity created a strategy to improve the cultural activation and night-time economy of the town centre resulting in a vision for a Creative Digital Town. An 8-year programme of projects and partnerships provided a roadmap for stakeholders to grow a cultural programme. Futurecity outlined a governance structure for the programme, introducing Things Made Public as a partner to initiate cultural activity. This governance model included recommendations for funding sources to help seed cultural activity. Following the completion of the cultural placemaking strategy, Futurecity supported Things Made Public and town stakeholders to develop the BasildON Consortium. Futurecity acted as an advisory partner to the consortium for the successful application to Arts Council England for the Creative People and Places funding.

Futurecity would like to congratulate the full BasildON consortium:

BTCM Ltd

Basildon Borough Council

Things Made Public

South Essex College

Foundation of Essex Arts

Bas Arts Index

Art Clubbers

Towngate Theatre

The Edge

Eastgate Shopping Centre

Essex County Council