About
A new trust to keep Margate creative
Margate Creative Land Trust was set up to tackle the challenges the existing property market presents to creative workspace providers, practitioners and businesses, and those looking to take first steps into a creative career.
Margate has recently seen significant increases in residential and commercial property values, with press coverage promoting the town’s fertile environment making it increasingly attractive as a place to live and visit. Coupled with a lack of quality jobs, and an employment base often juggling multiple roles to earn a living, the need for a land trust to help stabilise the sector and ensure access to affordable space has never been more urgent.
By providing access to networks and enterprise support, Margate Creative Land Trust will enable creative enterprises to expand their business and become employers. Our community engagement programmes will ensure local people can develop skills and training opportunities that will support ways into jobs in Margate’s creative sector, addressing barriers to employment and improving social mobility.
Seed funding has been provided through the Margate Town Deal to establish a portfolio of creative workspaces that will be affordable in perpetuity. This initial capital seed funding has been ringfenced to acquire buildings for creative workspace in Margate, with a revenue allocation which acts to support the property needs of the sector, and delivers participatory and skills development programmes.
Our Mission
To promote arts, crafts and craftmanship for the public benefit, in particular but not exclusively, by providing or facilitating access to affordable workspace for the production of arts and crafts to those in need in the district of Thanet in the county of Kent and surrounding areas”
Photo: Rob Ball
The story so far...
Margate Creative Land Trust came into being from an urgent need to protect an increasingly fragile and precarious creative sector in Margate.
The idea for the Trust came through dialogue with creative tenants, sector representatives and community groups involved in developing the Town Investment Plan, which formed the basis of a bid to government for transformative funding. This funding was earmarked for projects delivering regeneration and economic growth in the area. The Trust was set up as an independent charity in 2022.
Meet our team
We are an independent charity with a board of founding trustees and an executive team with arts, studio provision, charity, property and finance expertise.
Annette Russell
Executive Director
Annette Russell, Executive Director
Annette started her creative industry career working for independent magazines, and managing bands and producers in the music industry, before a shift to renovating buildings for hospitality start-ups. Setting up ‘Russell’s of Clapton’ and ‘Green Rooms’ social enterprise hotel led into developing affordable creative workspace and support programmes. Keen to see underused spaces brought back to life, Annette is committed to ensuring more equitable opportunities in Margate’s creative sector, whether through space, networks or support.
April Brown
Community Engagement Lead
April Brown, Community Engagement Lead
April specialises in developing and delivering inclusive, multidisciplinary projects that integrate arts, culture, and technology. With extensive experience working with organisations such as Somerset House, Tate, LIFT, and Creative Access, she is skilled in fostering community engagement and creating accessible spaces for collaboration. April’s work is driven by her commitment to inclusion and strengthening communities through the arts.
Rebecca Clark
Executive Assistant
Rebecca Clark
Rebecca was born and raised in Kent, where she also studied Photography. Since graduating, she has worked for various charitable and creative organisations, providing project, administrative and voluntary support. Rebecca continues to engage with local creatives, collaborating and developing sustainable practice methods using locally sourced materials.
Now at Margate Creative Land Trust, she is excited to be part of a mission-driven team committed to making art and culture more accessible and inclusive, having experienced the increasing demand for workspaces across Margate and the Kent Coast.
General Manager
Property Development Manager
Meet our board
Paula Hirst
Chair
Paula Hirst, Chair
Paula is a leader in the regeneration and development of towns and cities, delivering projects and programmes which embrace changing trends in our society, economy, and environment over the long term. Paula has over 20 years’ experience in the built environment industry, gained in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, and runs her own regeneration consultancy, Disruptive Urbanism, based in Folkestone.
Paula is a passionate advocate of ensuring regeneration benefits local people, joining the Creative Land Trust in Margate to support the growth and development of its creative and cultural industries. Paula hopes that the Trust will be successful in providing new avenues into employment for local people, broadening the economic base of the town, and supporting existing organisations and businesses to survive and thrive through access to safe and secure space to work from. Paula is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor, has a BA (Hons) Economics, an MSC in Voluntary Sector Organisation, an MBA, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute.
Dan Chilcott
Trustee
Dan Chilcott, Trustee
Dan is a director of Margate Now arts festival and has his own research and creative practice. He was the co-Founder of Resort Studios.
His research focuses on queer histories of Margate – speculative readings of place-based material cultures from the dawn of time to 1960s. First sharing was at Tom Thumb Theatre, March 2022. He has produced socially engaged work in the area, intersecting craft, performance, and installation using knitting.
He is also the current custodian of Ted Hannaford’s 20km French knitting!
Naomi Cooper-Davis
Trustee
Naomi Cooper-Davis, Trustee
Naomi is has worked as an actor, theatre-maker and creative producer for the last 18 years. She has spent the past two years involved with various community projects including Margate Independent Foodbank/MiCommunity, People Dem Collective and POW on either a voluntary or freelance basis, allowing her to meet and work with a wide range of local people and organisations.
Naomi wanted to be a part of the Margate Creative Land Trust Board because people like her often aren’t involved. After taking part in The People’s Panel for the Town Deal she realised that the opinions of people who live and work daily in the place are vital for projects like this. Naomi has been living in Margate for seven years and is choosing to raise her family here and wants to make sure that all of Margate’s communities are considered when the MCLT makes decisions.
Michael Nates
Trustee
Michael Nates, Trustee
Michael has 30 year’s experience in sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), teams, leadership, empowerment and transformation having worked within corporate, consultancy and NGO roles. Trained as a Mechanical Engineer, Michael has since been awarded Fellow status of IEMA and IIRSM plus is a Chartered Environmentalist and on the UK Occupational Health and Safety Register. He is a certified Executive Coach and has completed a Doctorate of Business Administration degree. Michael is multi-cultural, having worked for several years in each of Southern Africa, the UK and the Middle East. In summary, Michael is a Professional Generalist with a suite of ESG and sustainability management and technical experience that enables him to coach and lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver business goals and growth.
Laura Middlehurst
Trustee
Laura Middlehurst, Trustee
Laura is a designer and creative leader who brings over two decades of experience and skills in design, social impact work, creative strategy, and placemaking. She has worked for various institutions, brands and companies with roles ranging from head of design, lead creative consultant, creative director and designer for companies such as the V&A, Girl Effect, BBC Worldwide and Al Jazeera International. Laura has a proven background in applying design research to solve user problems and valuable hands-on experience gained through building creative projects everywhere from Rwanda to London.
Laura believes that places, culture and creativity should make a difference to people, to make an impact and to inspire. She has delivered on projects to change the lives of teenage girls in East Africa, impacted positive change to local boroughs on various social impact work for the Mayors Outer London Scheme projects and whilst at the V&A, worked towards educating and inspiring the visitor through oversight of exhibitions, galleries and displays. After spending a couple of years living and working in Rwanda and Tanzania, Laura made the move to Margate to set up her new studio, working on projects that enhance and benefit communities being a core passion. She is looking forward to collaborating with new people and different cultures during her time on the MCLT board.
Gabrielle Wilson
Trustee
Gabrielle Wilson, Trustee
Originally from London, I have lived and worked in Kent for most of my adult life. It’s been great living and bringing up our family by the sea. While our children were growing up I taught in schools and adult and prison education, moving on to education management and project development, particularly within areas of regeneration. During the last two decades I developed regeneration projects in Thanet, notably the Marlowe Innovation Centre, and in Folkestone where I directed several major property projects. These include the new-build Folkestone Primary Academy and a group of property restorations and new builds in the Creative Quarter, developed exclusively for creative practitioners. I aim to bring my experience of creative space development and of tenant support and management to the Margate Creative Land Trust
Chris Crook
Trustee
Chris Crook, Trustee
Chris is a Chartered Surveyor in Planning and Development and has his own consultancy based in Thanet. For many years he worked for a major developer and was responsible for a number of award-winning new neighbourhoods, all of which incorporated significant investment in public art and place making initiatives.
Chris was born, raised and educated in Margate. He joined the Board to ensure the creative sector continues to have a positive impact on the rejuvenation of the town, in the way the Turner Gallery has been instrumental in that renaissance. He is excited by the possibilities of the Margate Creative Land Trust having a major formative role to play in creating sustainable places and spaces in which Thanet’s creative sector can prosper, and which will widen the possibilities of engagement with the whole of Thanet’s creative communities.
