Our impact

Together, we champion, defend and expand access to the arts and culture.

Here are just a few examples of the things we’ve done and the difference we’ve made together.

February & October 2023

25,000+ of our supporters showed their support for the cultural sector in Scotland, resulting in new commitments from the Scottish Government to maintain and grow public investment in the arts.

February 2022
We celebrated local arts heroes at our sixth Hearts for the Arts awards, hosted by the Local Government Association.
February 2022

Windsor and Maidenhead Council abandoned plans for a 100% cut to the arts, and instead increased arts funding by 17%, after our local campaign was backed by 4900+ people – including former UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

December 2021

27,000+ of our supporters signed an urgent letter to the Culture Secretary, urging support to protect the arts sector from the impacts of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. The UK Government announced emergency relief funding totalling £31.5 million in England.

May & June 2021

165,000+ people signed our petition against planned cuts to arts subjects at higher education level in England. 14,000+ supporters accessed our platform to respond to the Office for Students consultation directly. Our poll with YouGov received national media coverage.

March 2021

We won a big victory in our first local campaign. Our supporters in Nottingham stopped a 37% cut in local funding of their arts organisations. Of the 3,659 hits we delivered to the Council’s budget consultation, around two thirds were about the planned cut to the arts.

February 2021

Millions of people watched stories from our video demonstration on BBC One, in Alan Yentob’s documentary imagine…We’ll Be Back. The programme highlighted the role of our campaign in expressing the public’s concern and helping to deliver the Culture Recovery Fund.

September 2020

We launched the Arts Map – a new digital platform for anyone to check the status of arts venues near them, and to offer support. In collaboration with Spun Glass Theatre, we created listings for 1,200+ arts organisations across the UK.

August 2020

We consulted with the arts industries to publish ‘10 next steps for the arts in the UK’. It reached 50,000+ people, and helped to raise awareness of ongoing issues around social distancing, insurance and threats to the workforce.

July 2020

150,000 people signed our petition and letter to the Chancellor. 2,000 people wrote to their MPs through our platform and thousands more joined our Twitter action to the Culture Secretary. The Government responded to nationwide pressure with the unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund.

June 2020

We published the fifth edition of the Arts Index, and hosted an Open Space event for arts leaders and activists to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts.

June 2020

The Public Campaign for the Arts launched online with a video demonstration, featuring testimonials from supporters across the UK.

March 2017

Olivia Colman, Howard Goodall and Samuel West presented the first Hearts for the Arts awards, celebrating exceptional achievements in local arts and culture.

April 2014

We commissioned a poll to ask how much local authorities should invest in arts and culture. 63% of people said 50p or more, but the average investment was less than 16p. Our 50p for culture campaign enabled thousands of people to access data about their local area. 

December 2012

Samuel West became Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts. The organisation re-focussed its activities on engagement campaigns to raise awareness of the role of public funding for the arts throughout the UK.

December 2011

We published the first ever UK Arts Index, analysing key metrics to perform a health check on the nation’s arts and culture.

September 2010

As the Government was considering significant cuts in public spending, 21,000+ people signed up in support of our I Value The Arts campaign.

We’re working on digitising materials from our archives between 1985 and 2010. Please check back soon!

March 1985

The National Campaign for the Arts launched in London. Its first Director was Simon Crine and its President was Melvyn Bragg.