A new trust to keep Margate creative
Margate Creative Land Trust is an independent charity that will purchase its own properties to be used as permanently affordable workspaces for the creative sector in Margate.
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.
Creative businesses are growing in number in Margate, but employment remains comparatively low. By providing affordable workspace 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 access skills and training opportunities that will support pathways into jobs in Margate’s creative sector, addressing barriers to employment and improving social mobility.
Taking inspiration from the model developed by London’s Creative Land Trust to protect creative space in central London, the additional role of the Trust in Margate is to ensure that creative space and programming is inclusive, and supports underserved communities to access opportunities within the creative industries.
By improving educational & skills attainment, the Trust will ensure that the economic and cultural benefits of the town’s developing creative community is accessible to everyone in Margate.
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 on behalf of the Margate Town Deal Board, working with WorkWild, PRD and a group of independent land trust and creative industry specialists.
What we do
We work collaboratively to ensure that we complement existing workspace provision in Margate.
We are establishing relationships with existing local networks, creative organisations and individuals, and developing a programme in support of Margate’s creative sector.
We encourage the creative communities of Margate and the wider Thanet area to help us to co-design and lead our projects, so that all communities are at the front and centre of Margate Creative Land Trust’s programmes.
We hope to inspire and support people to get involved with Margate Creative Land Trust, including those who are currently not actively engaged in arts and culture.
We encourage the creative communities of Margate and the wider Thanet area to help us to co-design and lead our projects so that all communities are at the front and centre of Margate Creative Land Trust’s programmes.
We are not established to offer grant funding but intend to signpost to funding that may be available.
