We’re pleased to share the news that Appetite have been awarded extension funding (2025-26) by Arts Council England, as part of their Creative People and Places programme. Across the next year we’ll continue to build on our successes of the past 11 years, offering the local communities of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme opportunities to experience the arts and be inspired by events designed with them, and the places where they live, at their heart.
Alongside our lead organisation New Vic Theatre and consortium partners – Partners in Creative Learning, 6Towns Radio, Staffordshire University, Go Kidsgrove, Keele University and Newcastle Business Improvement District (BID) – we’ve been celebrating culture and creativity with people in our local area for more than a decade.
Read on to learn about how funding from Arts Council England has enriched the lives of people across the country through local arts and culture initiatives, and their pledge to continue to do so in the coming years.
Images from The Big Feast 2024 by Malcolm Hart.
Creative People and Places
Appetite CPP is part of the Creative People and Places programme, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Thanks to National Lottery players, Creative People and Places is about more people taking the lead in choosing, creating and taking part in creative and cultural experiences in the places where they live.
Since 2012, there have been over 15 million engagements with the CPP programme and 90%[1] of people who participate in CPP weren’t previously engaging regularly with creativity and culture.
Find out more about each project, the difference the programme has made and our learning.
[1] Average across 3 Audience Finder National Reports 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24
About the Extension Programme
In September 2023 Arts Council England confirmed it would be offering organisations in the 2022-25 Creative People and Places National Portfolio the opportunity to apply for a further year of funding. The extension is designed to provide security and stability to existing CPPs, and further time for developing plans for those interested in applying to the 2026- 29 portfolio.
- Arts Council England is investing an additional £11.64 million in the year 2025 – 26, in 38 Creative People and Places programmes;
- This brings the total investment in Creative People and Places projects since 2012 to £119.6 Million;
- The projects cover 55 local authority areas and 32 Arts Council England Priority Places;
- Each project has been awarded an annual funding between £250k to £333k for activity taking place between 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026;
- Applications to our new National Portfolio Creative People and Places Programme covering 2026 – 2029 will open on 12 September 2024. Guidance for the programme is available here.
