Future Arts Centres was delighted to welcome Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth to two member venues this week as part of a visit to see the impact of Our Freedom: Then and Now.
The Minister visited Barnsley Civic and The Old Fire Station in Oxford, both active contributors to the UK-wide programme in arts centres and libraries that is bringing communities together through creativity to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and explore what freedom means for their own histories and places today.
At Barnsley Civic, Minister Peacock, along with Jennifer Cleary from Arts Council England, was introduced to the venue’s team and taken on a short tour before dropping into a pop-up community exhibition and workshops developed as part of the Our Freedom programme. The project there is creating space for local people to come together and explore their personal and collective ideas of freedom through creative expression.
Later, at The Old Fire Station in Oxford, the Minister was joined by Gavin Barlow, Co-Director of Future Arts Centres. The visit included a tour of the building – which the venue shares with Crisis, the national homelessness charity – and a lunch catered by refugee-led social enterprise Damascus Rose Kitchen. Minister Peacock spent time with participants from Hidden Spire Collective, the group taking part in the venue’s Our Freedom project, hearing their reflections and viewing creative work developed over recent weeks.
Reflecting on the visits, Gavin Barlow said:
‘It was wonderful to join Minister Stephanie Peacock at The Old Fire Station this week to see the brilliant work they’re doing and to meet everyone involved. At both Barnsley and Oxford – two of 60 venues participating in the programme – it was great to see Our Freedom: Then and Now in action, creating unique, powerful public moments of community connection that honour the past while inspiring the future.’
These visits mark an important moment for the Our Freedom programme, shining a light on the civic power of arts centres across the UK and the role they play in connecting communities, fostering inclusion, and amplifying diverse voices.
We thank Minister Peacock for taking the time to visit, and for recognising the value of this work in supporting stronger, more engaged communities through creativity.