My brief for this piece was to talk about our approach to the new NPO application round, but in light of that being derailed by changes to ACE’s schedule – as a result of the spending review, the regional devolution review, and the Baroness Hodge review of ACE itself – it feels as if uncertainty is the only certainty. The relative stability and predictability of the pre-COVID era seem distant.
We have to create that stability somehow, and our business planning continues in earnest. Where we want to get to, how we get there, and what we may have to overcome. For the last of these, our PESTEL Analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) seems to define some of the biggest challenges we face, whereas in the past it has given us a sense of the background over which we operate.
From swings in political attitudes towards the arts - in education, national policy and in many of the areas we work in, to wage increases struggling to keep our staff in the black due to the cost of living crisis, AI creeping into job applications and elsewhere, rafts of new legal requirements from HR to Charity financial regs, not to mention the multifaceted challenges in the face of the climate crisis… we try to do what we can.
What a dark picture I’m painting! Of course, at Walk the Plank, we are optimists and resilient, and we work hard to weather all this stuff so that we can make incredible culture and art with people across the country. Thankfully, there are many organisations and councils who are still keen to invest in cultural activity for their residents, as the return on investment – social and economic – is now proven and understood. Our work does bring change, for people and places, transforming somewhere in the moment and planting seeds for long-term change.
Sometimes we need to acknowledge that, as an organisation, we may be suffering from ‘Headline Stress Disorder’. The world seems in turmoil on the face of it, but what is actually important is to connect with people and communities again and again to remind ourselves, them, and everyone that overwhelmingly, at the core of people there is hope, generosity, kindness and a desire to look around and celebrate, and that is where we want to get to.