University of Wales Trinity Saint David

The idea

Following Dai Smith’s review into arts in schools, the Welsh Government, via the Arts Council of Wales, established the arts and creative learning plan. Funding was distributed to lead creative schools, creative practitioners to assist those schools in brokering relationships, and to consortia/lead bodies to develop four Regional Arts in Education Networks – one for each of Wales’ educational regions. The University of Wales Trinity Saint David wished to bid for funding and secure a position as the lead body for the South West region (region 2) and sought our help to secure funding and make the project happen.

What we did

We worked with the University’s officers to develop their bid within a very tight timescale, liaising with a range of internal interests. We also worked with external partners including the various local authorities within the region as well as third sector organisations to build a consortium and secure support for the proposals. We developed a programme for the work and authored the bid proposal for submission, working closely alongside the University’s officers.

Results of our work

The University bid was successful and secured the £1.1m that was applied for and positioning the University in the lead for delivering the south west (region 2) Arts in Education Network for the five year period of the programme.

"I approached Urban Foundry to coordinate and construct a bid for a significant amount of Arts Council Wales and Welsh Government funding as the University has used the company before. Ben worked with multiple colleagues within the University and from across the South Wales region to draft a well-constructed and coherent bid document that clearly reflected the collaborative nature of its development. You have a quiet, confident and professional approach; you maintain excellent communication with key individuals at all times and were able to negotiate appropriate solutions to issues that arose in the bid development. I would be very happy to recommend Urban Foundry to support similar activities, collaborative ventures and project design. I found you to be committed to our success and reliable throughout the bid process and in the follow up period after we were successful in the award."

Dr Jane Waters, University of Wales Trinity Saint David