Case Study: Go and See – CBC Creative Advisors

An opportunity to see new exhibits at the Black Country Living Museum

Making the most of… exploring the Black Country

As part of the Creative Communities programme, Creative Black Country (CBC) provides support for groups of people to engage with cultural activities that they might have no previous experience with. The Go and See process invites groups in the Black Country to apply for Seed Awards to enable them to take part in a creative activity, with participants supported by CBC throughout the application process and subsequent activity planning.

Following the creative activity, participant groups are encouraged to provide feedback to CBC about the experience and may inform CBC about subsequent creative activities they organise. The Go and See format has been applied by many Creative People and Places programmes, and by cultural organisations such as Arts Council Wales, encouraging participants to take an active role in organising meaningful creative encounters that meet their interests and needs. 

To facilitate the Go and See process, CBC work with three Creative Advisors, Laura, Richard and Nelson, who work with people and community groups in different parts of the area country. As part of their work with CBC, Laura liaises with groups in Dudley, Nelson with groups in Wolverhampton, and Richard with groups in Walsall and Sandwell, to help them access cultural events and activities. The support the Creative Advisors offer includes finding suitable activities to meet the interests of participants and providing advice on navigating booking processes and transport. The Seed Award from CBC covers the costs of attending an activity, such as transport and tickets, and the advisors work with participants to enable them to make the bookings. 

“If there weren't the Creative Advisors to do that process, there would still be a lot of people that missed out. Even if the seed money was available, the seed money would only go to people who were already confident enough to know what was going on and know how to book tickets. And they've done it before. It's the people who have never done it before that we're most interested in working with.” 

Potential Go and See participants apply to the programme throughout the year, and CBC has supported many groups in accessing cultural activities. Participating groups are varied, including a craft group hoping to attend a fair relating to their interests, and a youth boxing club visiting a local pantomime for the first time.

Taking part in a Go and See can unlock new areas of cultural participation, as well as allow participants to practice practical life skills in new environments.

A visit to The Black Country Living Museum

Laura facilitated a visit to the Black Country Living Museum for a group of South Asian women, many of whom had not left the Brierley Hill area of Dudley frequently and had limited English language skills. During their visit, the women learnt about the history of the Black Country area, ordered lunch in English and spoke with tour guides. Following their participation in the Go and See, the group took part in a creative writing workshop inspired by the Black Country Living Museum. This visit, led by their community leaders and not too far from home, helped the group to build their confidence so that they have now decided to go on more visits and venture outside of the Dudley area. Engaging in a creative activity as a group after taking part in Go and See activity is common among both Laura and Richard’s participant groups, showing the impact this has on inspiring the groups’ future activities. 

“[The participants] were young mums who were in care themselves and they had never been to the theatre. They'd never been to a panto. There was a really lovely Go and See where these young mums and their young children got to go to the Grand Theatre and see a panto for the very first time. There was a little bit of budget for sweets and crisps and stuff like that. The feedback that we got from that was just absolutely fantastic. ‘It was the best day of the year’ and they've ‘never done it before’ and ‘everyone enjoyed it’.” 

The process that Creative Advisors operate to run the Go and See programme is designed to be as simple and encouraging as possible. Advisors are aware that potential participants may have limited experience in writing applications or may lack confidence with literacy, so they support applicants from initial discussions to submission. When participant involvement in Go and See is confirmed, Advisors introduce them to the various bookings and processes associated with the activity. Laura sees this as a confidence building exercise for participants, “holding the space for them to do it themselves” rather than placing bookings on their behalf.  

As a Creative Advisor, Laura, Richard, and their colleague Nelson work on a part time basis. This schedule limits the Advisors’ capacity to develop their roles and engagement with their target communities beyond their current workloads.  

“I think the Creative Advisors only work one day a week. In that one day we have to do meetings, team meetings, emails, admin and talk to groups and build relationships... I now do 1 1/2 days a week, but it's incredible how quickly that time gets filled.” 

Impact on participants

Creative Advisors believe the Go and See programme has a significant positive impact on the lives of people in the Black Country. The programme allows people to experience activities that they may not otherwise be able to access, either due to financial means, limited knowledge about processes or feeling engagement is not for them.

During the cost-of-living crisis, Go and See has offered participants much needed enjoyment and escapism. Richard recognises that “people have got an appetite to go and do something cultural and fun” but barriers surrounding transport, funds, and physical accessibility can prevent participants from engaging with creative activities – and CBC’s support has helped to overcome some of these barriers. Additionally, Laura feels that a key outcome of the Go and See programme is “building creative confidence” for participants as they take part in new experiences. 

“Hearing that groups have gone on to continue to do more because they've been energised or inspired or excited by an activity that they've done with us, and it's snowballed into either that individual or that group wanting to go on and do more and expanding their horizons, I think it’s helping to improve their quality of life.” 

Go and See opportunites were paused while the process was reviewed, as the popularity of the programme during 2023 led to all resources being allocated before the end of the year due to a high demand. Richard notes that the increasing costs of transport, particularly coach hire, have proved a barrier during some of his Go and See activities, with limited public transport options connecting the Black Country further challenging Go and See projects. 

Feeding back on their experiences

Although there is no formalised follow-up element to the Go and See programme, participant groups are encouraged to be honest with Creative Advisors about their experiences and can be supported to take part in another activity if they did not enjoy the one that they attended. Participants are also encouraged to complete a feedback postcard for evaluation purposes, although not every group does this. Creative Advisors do not always have communication with participants after Seed Awards have been approved, and this acts as a barrier to receiving feedback and understanding how Go and See meets the needs of participants. For Richard, ongoing communication with participants during their Go and See project, and possibly attending an activity with some participating groups, would help Creative Advisors gain a better understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for Go and See. 

“It is almost the only [programme] I can think of which hasn't got any strings attached to it, other than the fact that they have to do a bit of evaluation at the end of it and that's it. They don't even need to do that, and sometimes they don't. A barrier is getting some of that feedback which is why if we are struggling sometimes to get those postcards back, it would make more sense if we have slightly more communications with those groups to go and capture that – maybe on the day that they're going. But that comes down to capacity to do that.” 

After participating in the Go and See programme, participants often follow up with a message of thanks to CBC and are motivated to organise their own activities inspired by their Go and See experience.  

“I always say to the people that I work with and the groups I work with, there's no wrong answers. It's all learning. If you go to something and you absolutely love it, that's fantastic. But if you go to something and you hate it and you think I never wanna sit through anything like that again, you've learnt that you don't enjoy that activity. What would you like to try next? We can keep trying until hopefully you do find something that you think is absolutely fantastic.” 

Go and See is an established activity format for CBC which is appreciated by participants and by Creative Advisors. The programme received an exceptionally high number of requests during the 2023 iteration, which led to a temporary pause in applications, but it has now reopened following a review.

Go and See has increased participants’ confidence in engaging with creative practices; participating groups continue to organise creative activities following their experience of the programme.