In 2019-2020, Future Arts Centres led Here and Now – a celebration of arts centres and community creativity to mark the National Lottery’s 25th birthday.

In November 2024, on the National Lottery’s 30th birthday, we’ve been looking back at our favourite memories and asking Future Arts Centre members to reflect on the lasting impact of the project.

Many participating venues looked at the role of the arts centre in a community, as a hub, as a space for expression, as an arena for discussion and reflection.

For Bluecoat in Liverpool, Here and Now marked a crucial shift in the way that they work with children and young people – finding new ways to co-commission with their communities. CEO Mary Cloake reflected that the project enabled ‘a quantum leap forwards for co-creating with children’ also giving new insight and skills that have continued to strengthen in the subsequent years.

‘Here and Now has really changed Bluecoat. We wouldn’t have known that immediately after the project but, looking back, it’s increased our public impact, relationships with stakeholders and our ambition to influence this city in ways we didn’t see at the time.’

artsdepot in North London reflected that Here and Now was a joyful project which ‘gave us freedom and space to play’. The structure of the project, coupled with synergy in working with artists from take stock exchange, enabled a lasting change in their working model. Louisa Pestell-Bartlett, Director of Programming and Participation, remarked ‘four years later, it’s still shaping the way I talk to artists now…I still frequently reference Here and Now as the best example of how we want to enable the development of community artists.’

‘The biggest long-term impact was that it’s been an inspiring model of work of best practice. Even yesterday I cited it to artists as the clearest example of the way we want to work with our communities.’

Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield noted that a legacy for different ways they use of the building, especially outdoor areas. Taking place during a time of Covid restrictions, many arts centres were forced to re-imagine their outdoor spaces, and the framework of Here and Now also supported to think about working a way that could increase points of connection with their communities. Jenny Goodman, Head of Participation at LBT shared ‘there were conversations about how we could re-open and been seen to be visible – lots of that still applies in a different way now. Now we use the courtyard quite frequently.’

You can find out more about Here and Now and read Most Significant Change stories here:

Best practice then and now – artsdepot

Inside out – Bluecoat

How we re-opened our doors – Lawrence Batley Theatre