Runnymede Borough Council

Local Cultural Strategy

'Runnymede Life'

Runnymede Themes

Culture - definition

Culture means different things to different people. It includes material things and places as well as people, their values and the activities they undertake. It includes hobbies, arts, parks, the media and film, health, waterways, sport, youth centres and informal leisure, language, geography, history, faith, ecology, demography, customs and social norms.
It may change with time.

In summary, culture can be viewed in the following ways:

- the way of life, or the identity of a particular place or group
- people's own culture when describing their ethnicity and/or religion
- creative or leisure activities, particularly those which promote personal and social growth

Aim of the Local Cultural Strategy
The aim of the local cultural strategy is to celebrate the vitality of the Runnymede community and its cultural activities, promote existing opportunities and identify areas for development, in order to inform plans for cultural facilities and services for local people.

The process of producing the cultural strategy shares knowledge and aspirations and gives an opportunity to improve communication between groups and communities. The shared aspirations will inform plans for developing cultural activities and services within the Borough and the Borough's Community Strategy, thus giving the local authority and local groups a tool with which to demonstrate the need for sustaining existing activities and developing new projects and services.

Schools Workshops at Runnymede Pleasure Ground - Magna Carta Celebrations June 2001

The strategy links many interest groups and services, which are run successfully by voluntary organisations and other agencies, not by the Borough Council. This Strategy is an attempt to identify the diversity of cultural activities, articulate aspirations for their development and identify the partners who might work together to achieve that.

Why a Local Cultural Strategy?
The Government has recommended that all local authorities produce a Local Cultural Strategy through which they "can ensure that cultural activities and industries become central to the lives of the communities, the corporate objectives of each authority, and the many partners they work with at local and regional level". 1

 

Heathervale Recreation Ground, New Haw

The initiative is a recognition that "Cultural services make a considerable contribution to the wider aims of both central and local government, whether tackling social exclusion; encouraging healthier lifestyles; providing opportunities for voluntary and community activity; sparking urban and rural regeneration; or stimulating a commitment to lifelong learning, as well as enriching people's lives." 2

This Local Cultural Strategy covers the communities within Runnymede Borough Council's administrative area. However the Council recognises that Runnymede forms part of the county of Surrey, that part of the Borough is also close to Berkshire and that London is nearby. Many residents do not identify with the Borough boundary and travel elsewhere for cultural activities.

The Borough Council works with a large number of organisations including the private sector and voluntary groups. The Council therefore has a key function in assessing the future needs of the area.

One of Runnymede Borough Council's fundamental aims is to enhance the quality of life for residents of Runnymede. Culture is important strand of that quality of life.

1 Local Cultural Strategies. Draft Guidance for Local Authorities in England. DCMS, June 1999
2 Ibid

The benefits of a Local Cultural Strategy

The local cultural strategy:

• is a voice for people within the Borough, highlighting existing areas of cultural activity; facilities and services that people want and issues that need to be addressed to improve the quality of their lives.
  
  
• offers a framework for the development of specific policies for services, such as play, tourism, heritage, arts and sports development. It informs, and is informed by, the Community Strategy.
  
  
• highlights barriers to participation and will help the Council and external organisations allocate resources to reduce, or where possible remove, those barriers.
  
  
• gives the rationale by which services are funded, managed, supported and encouraged by the Council in partnership with others.

How the Local Cultural Strategy relates to other strategies
The Borough Council has developed the local cultural strategy, but it is a strategy for the cultural activities of the whole area, not only those facilitated by the local authority. The content is drawn from a survey undertaken by local people, umbrella groups and local businesses. The strategy therefore reflects the views of a wide range of people and groups .

The local cultural strategy will be set within the national and regional framework. It links with a wide range of plans written by organisations such as the County Council and interprets the regional strategy, "The Cultural Cornerstone," developed by the South East England Cultural Consortium, in a Runnymede context.

The local cultural strategy will form part of the over-arching Community Strategy, drawing on all aspects of the Council's role and linking with the existing local plan and the Community Safety Strategy.

The strategy incorporates action plans that have been developed from the results of public consultation and existing priorities. These have been prioritised by the Council in terms of their perceived importance to the community, although they are not all actions over which the Council has control or the resources to implement.

Strodes Big Band at Egham Chamber of Commerce Jubilee Fireworks Display - May 2002