Looking back at 2024-25
Last year was one of the busiest in Black Country Touring’s history. We strengthened cultural provision across the region by improving access, empowering communities to lead their own programmes, and securing significant investment for arts and creativity. The achievements of our community promoters, artists, partners and team over the past year affirm our belief that investing in local people and places creates a fairer, richer and more interesting cultural landscape - one where creativity brings pride, opportunity and connection across the Black Country.
Our programmes have built skills, boosted confidence, and supported freelance artists and touring companies. Our library schemes in Sandwell and Wolverhampton brought incredible performances to audiences who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to access performances. Our flagship production, Wild, engaged hundreds in community gardens, libraries and arts venues, and will tour nationally in 2025, sharing Black Country stories across the UK via our rural touring partners.
Through our Community Promoter network, local people programmed 324 performances across 56 venues, shaping their local cultural offer. Over 17,000 people attended events ranging from puppetry and circus to dance and creative workshops. In Smethwick alone, over 3,400 people attended more than 130 events through the Smethwick Puppetry Festival and Smethwick Arts Collective, embedding creativity into everyday community life and signposting an effective approach to deep and joined up partnership working. Both projects lay the groundwork for even more exciting, community-powered arts activity in 2025 and beyond.
This work was made possible thanks to the support of Arts Council England, The Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, Heart of England Community Foundation, United by 2022, Film Hub Midlands, Sandwell Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority. We are very grateful for their belief in our work and for recognising the impact it has on communities and artists.
Real change can happen in the region when we combine our strengths, networks and approaches. We are so grateful to our brilliant partners, including Spectra, Parakeet, Multistory, Creative Black Country, Sandwell Cultural Compact, Sandwell Libraries and Museums and Black Country Living Museum.
Take a look at our Impact Report 2024-25 to read more about what we got up to last year.
