Much to be gained from continuing to invest in culture and creativity - Nicky Chance-Thompson

I love seeing the area come to life during these gigs; restaurants busy, bars packed, and hotels booked up months in advance. But Calderdale is always special.

It has been fortunate to benefit from foresight, vision and passion: Sir Ernest Hall’s dedication, which saw Dean Clough transformed from a disused mill, into an outstanding complex for arts, business, design and education; Shibden Hall blazing a trail for Anne Lister many years before her story was shared so beautifully with the world by Sally Wainwright; and the commitment of the communities in our unique market towns to preserve their own distinct and individual DNA.

And what would have become of The Piece Hall without the forward-thinking attitude of Calderdale Council who bravely supported the transformation of this unique building back in 2012.

Their investment, and our hard work, has reaped returns on many levels: more than £10m a year added to the local economy, totalling more than £50m, and the harder to quantify holistic benefits to the community, joy, fun, pride, connection, belonging, care.

That decision received heavy praise in Calderdale Council’s recent peer review. Run by the Local Government Association, this sees local authorities assessed and examined by their peers, looking for best practice and areas for improvement. CMBC were lauded for their wise choices through austerity, with bold investment decisions, including the regeneration of The Piece Hall.

The peer review also highlighted how well-placed Calderdale is to capitalise on culture to generate economic growth and points to its wealth of talent and skills, which could help it become an even more significant player in the wider creative industries space. We’re well aware of the rich seam of writers, artists, producers and creative thinkers which flows through the valley.

Partnerships were also hailed as strong and collaborative, contributing greatly to the overall success of the area.

But imagine for a minute, councillors had not been so bold, their attitude short sighted, the investment deemed too risky? How would the fortunes of this northern town have fared then? Would this unique and precious asset have been lost forever?

The backdrop to that decision just over a decade ago was the shadow of austerity after the financial crash of 2008, but it was also Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the year the UK proudly hosted The Olympic and Paralympic Games with its unforgettable opening ceremony. So, despite financial challenges there was hope. Did this atmosphere make us braver, was this optimism contagious?

More than 10 years later has our optimism been eroded? We’ve lived through a global pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, a Brexit vote dividing the country, communities and even families; a war in Europe, again, and we all face our greatest challenge yet, the climate emergency.

Can we still have hope?

I do, and I hope others do too. There is so much to be gained from continuing to invest in culture and creativity. It’s a proven proactive generator of economic growth, a key building block for inclusive economic recovery. And what better time to build on our investment in the arts than ahead of Calderdale’s ‘Year of Culture’ and the 50th anniversary of the creation of ‘Calderdale’, in 2024.

There will never be the perfect time to invest in culture, but it will always be the right time. There will always be tough times, but we cannot let them define us. In the midst of seemingly never-ending negative headlines, moments of joy and fun are more essential than ever. That is what we will be delivering over the coming weeks.

One of The Piece Hall Trust’s core aims is to preserve heritage for future generations, not in aspic, but by investing in culture and making that heritage relevant to new audiences.

And we couldn’t have done this without that brave investment all those years ago. We need to revisit the spirit of 2012, the excitement of the reopening in 2017.

I hope the Council heed the feedback of the Peer Team to be bolder in using the creative arts sector as a key driver for economic and inward investment ambitions.

I hope decision makers can once again invest in culture, in our future and in ourselves. Not to do this, in my opinion, well, that would be ‘madness’.

Nicky Chance-Thompson is CEO of The Piece Hall Trust.