The Arts Connection

The Cultural Organisational Development Fund purpose was to build capacity in Renfrewshire’s larger cultural organisations providing additional staff, training and resources to drive-up creative ambition and increase organisational stability. The fund was delivered as part of the Future Paisley programme, an ambitious approach to regeneration placing culture front-and-centre of the process of social and physical change.

We mapped the short-term and long-term needs of each CODF funded organisation, to identify commonalities, shared aims and opportunities for mutual support, aligning these with national and local strategies. We formed the group over several months, setting out their tasks to formulate tools, discussions, partners and tactics to advance as co-joined force. A Terms of Reference for the group formally ignited their work together and after 6 months, we returned to deliver a planning and evaluation session to establish effectiveness and help identifying longer-term goals and actions for the CODF organisations collectively.

The group – The Arts Connection – is going strong, delivering great art for the people of Renfrewshire.