A new trust to keep Margate creative
Margate is home to a burgeoning creative community and has been identified as a key production hub within the Thames Estuary Production Corridor.
Whilst creative businesses have grown by 158% since 2009, Margate has lost 11% of its commercial spaces in the last 20 years. When coupled with rising rents for the remaining eligible spaces and a lack of appropriate venues for the variety of artistic pursuits, there is a vital and urgent need to provide space to creative practitioners in order to protect and grow the creative industries in Margate.
Taking inspiration from the model developed in London for a Creative Land Trust to protect creative space in central London when property values are rising, the role of the Trust in Margate is ensuring that creative space and programming is inclusive and supports underserved communities to access opportunities within the creative industries of leadership, jobs, training and enterprise development.
Our Vision
A thriving, resilient and innovative creative sector that provides inclusive enterprise, employment, and learning opportunities for people living and working in Margate and the surrounding areas.
The story so far...
The project was co-created by the community and local creative practitioners, and the organisation has been established as an independent charity by Thanet District Council on behalf of the Margate Town Deal Board, working with WorkWild, PRD and a group of independent land trust and creative industry specialists.
Seed funding has been secured from Central Government through the Margate Town Deal to set up the operation of the organisation; purchase physical space in Margate and provide affordable rents; and deliver community programmes to support inclusive and sustainable practice in the creative industries.
Our remit is to support the creative sectors in Margate by providing physical space for creative practice as well as delivering community programmes that build the capacity of the sectors. We intend to work collaboratively to ensure that we complement existing provision in how we work and what we do. We are currently developing our approach to how we offer support and welcome contributions to this discussion. Please note that we are not established to offer grant funding but hope to offer advice on funding that may be available.
Our Mission
To establish a variety of accessible and inspiring creative spaces that provides benefit to the community, creative sector, and local economy in perpetuity.
