ABSTRACT

Birmingham City Council (BCC) administers a city of 1,085,400 residents (BCC, 2014a), divided into 10 districts of approximately 100,000 residents, each district containing four wards. Birmingham City Council Culture Commissioning Service (CCS) are part of the Economy Directorate and fall within the Culture ampentity Visitor Economy Service. Birmingham’s 2010–15 Cultural Strategy (Birmingham Cultural Partnership, 2010: 4) outlines the multi-faceted benefits of participation in arts and culture:

Participation in culture is inherently a good thing – it challenges perceptions, prompts feelings of happiness, sadness, anger and excitement, creates moments of personal reflection and enables people to understand the world they live in, its possibilities and the cultures of others more profoundly. Cultural activities can also deliver a range of other outcomes including health and wellbeing, social and community cohesion, civic engagement, economic impact, development of transferable skills and improved environment.