Eventus is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. We are all really excited and proud of the site and hope you find it easier to use and to identify your particular interest or area of work. The site includes lots of great images with quick and easy links to our projects. We'll be able to update the project pages much more often so that there'll always be something new to come back to. Please let us know what you think, we welcome your feedback. Click here to find out about all the ways we could help you, www.eventus.org.uk

cath@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

Eventus is delighted to announce that as of April 2008 the Arts Council increased our core grant by 85 per cent over the next three years. We have received this award in recognition of the role we play in using creativity to make a difference to people and places.

Commenting on the recent funding increase, Andy Carver, Executive Director, Arts Council England, Yorkshire had this to say in support of Eventus' work:

"Eventus makes a significant contribution to the Arts Council's aim of putting the arts at the heart of national life. During its first decade Eventus has consistently been an important regional voice advocating for and demonstrating ways in which the arts can change people's lives and we are pleased to recognise this by awarding an 85 per cent increase in their RFO award."

clare@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

As a result of last year's success, Eventus has been able to grow and develop strategically with the introduction of two new staff members. Julie Patterson joined us in December 2007 as Business Development Manager. Her previous role was as Business Liaison Manager, Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Sheffield. She will be developing partnerships with agencies, local authorities, public sector organisations, businesses and charities.

Along with Julie, we welcome our new Admin and Marketing Assistant Dean Biddell who joins us after completing an MA in Critical Theory and Cultural Studies from the University of Nottingham. Dean's role will be to provide support for all the team along with updating and maintaining all marketing and promotional material for our projects.

Eventus has always worked closely with partners and as part of our development programme we are seeking to further create joint ventures with the corporate sector and academia.

Julie Patterson has been busy establishing links with Sheffield's universities. Our first event with The University of Sheffield is at the Public Sector Academy and is entitled Social Mapping - What makes a place? Its purpose is to explore future collaborations with academics working on creating sustainable communities and includes departments such as Town & Regional Planning, Department of Architecture, the Management School, Department of Landscape and Department of Sociological Studies.

We are also founder members of a consortium based in Sheffield to enable the third sector - including culture - to be better placed to respond to public sector tenders.

julie@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

After years of experience, Eventus understands that working with communities brings its own challenges. Experience tells us that successful relationships require formal and long-term planning, founded on collaboration and the clear articulation of needs, capacities, responsibilities and expectations. Regular communication and evaluation, and equal input into the design and implementation of projects are its central features.

When we start on a project we ensure that, from the outset, partners agree on the mission, values, goals and measurable outcomes. We listen to each partner, identifying their needs, and we clarify priorities. When the brief is set we use our experience of coming up with new ideas, breaking down potential barriers, and engaging sensitively to deliver the project.

Eventus' work with communities, stakeholders and partners has demonstrated that successful relationships are formed by mutual trust, respect, genuineness and commitment. We make sure that the partnership balances power and that there is clear, open, regular and accessible communication. Feedback from clients indicates that we add value to community projects. Why not give us a call to see how we can contribute to yours.

clare@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

Eventus is currently working on Creative Places - a partnership between Eventus, Arts Council England, Yorkshire, and Sheffield City Council. The project seeks to involve artists in transformational change, to offer opportunities for the arts to be embedded within large-scale housing/community building programmes and to improve cultural provision, creating vibrant communities where people want to live, work and play.

Areas experiencing long periods of decline are typically characterised by unemployment and the attendant problems of crime, poor facilities, deteriorating housing stock and negative perception of the area. The Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme seeks to regenerate these areas and ensure their sustainability through a range of interventions including new housing developments, the creation and improvement of economic and social hubs and improvements to the public realm.

Clare McManus, Eventus' Director, recently featured in Regeneration & Renewal providing advice on supporting community arts projects. In the issue published on 28 March 2008, Clare advises to set up a steering group with representatives from both the community and the developing organisation in order to instigate effective communication.

When planning community arts projects, we advise to always try and tailor arts projects to meet skills gaps. For example, Eventus worked with Green Estate to create community photography projects based around wildflower meadows flourishing on previously abandoned land. The scheme enabled local people to learn new skills including being taught how to take digital photographs and download images whilst engaging in their local community and supporting regeneration in their area.

If you would like more information on Eventus' work on the Flowers projects or any other projects including finding out ways in which Eventus can contribute to your publication then please visit our new website www.eventus.org.uk

clare@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

In 2006 Sheffield City Council developed a Strategy for an Ageing Population. Eventus was recently commissioned to hold an creative consultation event to gain older people's perception of the strategy, how it affects them and to determine if the effectiveness of the strategy.

Provision for older people is rapidly rising on the political agenda for both local and national government. As people live on into their seventies, eighties, nineties and beyond, the proportion of older people is rapidly increasing.

It is widely recognised that older people bring a wealth of experience, commitment and energy to communities. However, many are excluded by serious poverty and poor housing. This has a marked and measurable negative impact on the motivation to learn in later life, on participation in the arts, and on health, well-being and the enjoyment of life itself.

We are currently exploring a range of ideas to look at culture, ageing, well-being and sustainable communities.

clare@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386

So we finish the project, tie up the loose ends and say goodbye to partners and participants. Then, out of the blue, we'll hear about an unexpected outcome or legacy of the work. Over the coming newsletters we'll share some of these stories with you.

In October 2004, we created a moving commemoration service to unveil a plaque and bench honouring a major pit accident at Beighton as part of the Full Circle project, www.ourbeighton.org.uk. In March of this year we were delighted to be contacted by Beighton Community Partnership to help them bring together the former miners and their families who had attended that service for a 50th anniversary commemoration they were organising.

So the moral of the story is that it's never goodbye ....

clare@eventus.org.uk 0114 221 0386