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Festive Greetings from Culture Durham
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We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best as we approach Christmas and the festive break. Though for many of us it can be an extremly busy time, keeping arts and heritage venues open for all to enjoy.
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There is much to celebrate about 2025, in spite of the continual challenges for the sector around funding and sustainability.
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It was brilliant to see innovation and excellence from County Durham celebrated at the recent North East Culture Awards. Ensemble ‘84, East Durham’s ground breaking new theatre company created as part of Into the Light, the countywide creative place partnership programme, was recognised in three categories coming away as winners in Newcomer of the Year, Performance of the Year, and the Arts Council Award. Artist Narbi Price was recognised as Visual Artist of the Year, celebrating the entirety of his work which this year included Going Back Brockens - a major contemporary painting project across County Durham, created by Narbi and writer Mark Hudson, that revisited the former mining community of Horden, unearthing layers of loss, labour, and lived experience within the landscape, produced Building Culture CIC, commissioned by No More Nowt. Professor Simon James, Durham University, received a posthumous Special Culture Award, recognising his contribution to the culture sector across the region and beyond, as a renowned academic and champion of access to the arts for all. All of this year’s winners and finalists can be seen via these links.
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I'd also like to mention Durham Cathedral's Marketing Team's success at the North East Marketing Awards, winning Not for Profit Campaign of the Year for promotion of the Cathedral's recent exhibition, Magna Carta and the North. All the creative work we do as a sector is reliant on making sure audiences know what is on offer. Recognition of a campaign promoting part of our county's unique cultural offer, up against stiff competion from across the whole of the North East region's Not for Profit sector, is a fabulous achieivement www.northeastmarketingawards.co.uk/winners-2025/.
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Whether you’ve received an award or formal recognition of your work, or not, we who make up the sector in our amazing county can be proud of all we’ve achieved throughout the year, playing a vital role in the vibrancy and well being of our communities.
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Jill Cole, Interim Chair, Culture Durham
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Image: courtesy of Reach PLC
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Opportunities & Commissions
Culture Durham is looking for a consultant to develop a sustainable business model that outlines how the organisation will operate, raise and manage income, build its membership, and communicate its independent role within County Durham’s cultural landscape. The deadline for submissions is 12noon, 18th December 2025. Details of the commission can be found here.
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The Heritage Lottery Fund is looking for a Head of Investment (North). The deadline for applications is Sunday 14th December, 2025. Details of the role can be found here.
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Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, is recruiting a Project Lead - Beamish workforce and Cultural Hub. The deadline for applications is Monday 5th January 2026. The role description can be found here.
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Hooley Theatre is working in partnership with Gala Durham on Haddaway & Write, with 6 commissions available for North East writers to develop original short plays. The deadline for submissions is 12noon, Friday 9th January 2026. Details can be found here.
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No More Nowt, has a commission specifically for artists from the Global Majority*, who are currently under-represented within its programme. The deadline is for submissions is 9am, Monday 12th January 2026. Details can be found here.
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County Durham’s flagship cultural programme, Into the Light, has released its first-year results – revealing major economic and social impact across the region.
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In its opening year, the three-year programme has:
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- Supported almost 600 creative practitioners and freelancers, providing vital commissions and career development opportunities.
- Reached over 7,000 active participants directly through workshops, performances, and creative activity.
- Welcomed over 14,000 live audience members to events across the county.
- Achieved a digital reach of more than 34,000, far exceeding expectations and showcasing Durham’s cultural leadership nationally.
These achievements firmly establish Into the Light as a cultural incubator, investing in local talent and proving that culture can be a driver of jobs, skills, and economic growth as well as community wellbeing.
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Keeping in Touch
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We would also like to develop a bank of high quality images we might use that show the wide variety of cultural and heritage activity happening here in County Durham. If you have an image or two you would like to share, please send them to hello@culturedurham.gov.uk providing a brief title, a date and any credits, and confirming that permissions are in place for the image to be shared.
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