2024: A Year in Review
A HARD BUT PHENOMENAL YEAR
2024 has been an absolutely phenomenal year for Rising. In an increasingly difficult time for many in the sector, Rising has been able to continue to grow and support our community to meaningfully take up space in the sector.
In this year alone, we’ve been able to put over £41,000 in the hands of our community - supporting them to deliver commissions, put on events and become fully fledged consultants and board members. Despite the challenges that the year has thrown for all of us, we’d like to think that we’ve stayed true to our values and pushed the boundaries of what a youth-led agency can do. We’re excited to go deeper in our impact in 2025, and see what the year has in store, but for now, we want to take the time to reflect on some of the highlights of the year (in no particular order)!
we won an award
Jess Bunyan, Dr. Andreana Drencheva and Euella Jackson at the KCL Inaugrual Engaged Research Awards
In January Rising received 'National Collaboration Award' at Kings College's Inaugural Engaged Research Awards for our research zine with Dr. Andreana Drencheva into Equitable Partnerships; exploring how power imbalances impact partnership working with marginalised groups and organisations in the cultural sector. It was great to have our work and collaboration recognised in an academic space and hope this is a sign of more to come.
2. we launched our ‘caring work cultures’ training
This year, we officially launched our Caring Work Cultures training programme (which has been years in the making). The training brings together key aspects of our work in a curated package that supports others to interrogate their own cultures and use tools to implement new approaches that are more radically caring. We’ve been able to enroll 11 awesome organisations on to the programme this year and will be running it again in the spring ‘25.
This was also the first year that we formed a new partnership with UWE skills pathway to deliver ‘Inclusive Leadership’ training - supporting businesses from across the South West to be more inclusive leaders in the respective sectors.
3. WE PARTNERED WITH DK-CM TO DELIVER AN INTERSECTIONAL HARBOURSIDE PLACESHAPING STRATEGY
We were able to finish our work with architectural practice DK-CM and Bristol City Council for the Bristol Harbour Placeshaping Project, that explored different community’s dreams for the re-development of Bristol’s harbourside. Over the course of 9 months, we commissioned 6 artists from our community to do their own community engagement, creative responses and presentations that fed into the Bristol Harbour’s Placeshaping Strategy - and is the basis for the localised, strategic place plans for different sites around the harbourside. Here’s a video we commissioned Manoel Akure to make about the project:
4. we launched the ‘rising fund’
We were able to launch the Rising fund for our community this year. This is something that has been a dream of ours for a while, and part of Jess and Euella’s legacy as Co-Directors. We were able to distribute X6 £750 grants to young creatives in our community to plug a gap in their practice, try something new or get something done.
We’re hoping to exhibit their work in our upcoming exhibition in February (watch this space) and are hoping to be able to offer more money to our community in the future!
5. WE TOOK RISING ON TOUR (AGAIN)
This has been a year of sharing our ways of working with others, from going to Edinburgh through British Council’s Creative Leadership Programme to deliver a session around 'Challenging the Leadership Norm' to Creative leaders from Mexico, holding wealth holders accountable at Joseph Roundtree Foundations Next Frontiers Conference, to our speaking at Bristol’s very own Forwards Festival about ethical partnerships, we’ve been busy spreading the good work of the Rising ministry this year. This is where some of the real work happens; getting to connect with those in the ecosystem and understanding how our work can be applied in other contexts.
6. WE WELCOMED SOME NEW RISING BABIES
This year we’ve really been making space for the next generation as members of our team and board have been having babies. This has meant changes in the team, and making space for others to step up and try new things. Read Jess’ blog post about navigating new parenthood whilst being a leader in a youth-led agency.
7. INVISIBLE DOORS STEERING GROUP
We continued our partnership with Channel 4 to bring together a steering group of stakeholders from across the city to think about interventions inspired by the 1st iteration of the Invisible Doors report to explore how we can radically transform the sector and make caring practices a standard across the region's cultural and creative sector. We’re planning on keeping this work going in 2025 to share our key recommendations and reflections.
8. WE GOT SERIOUS ABOUT CLIMATE ACTION
We care about the Climate Emergency. From screaming ‘No climate justice without social justice’ in our Whose Future 1 campaign, to working with the Eden Project on their Pollinator Pathmaker project - thinking about how climate and social justice connect has always been a feature of our work.
This year Rising joined Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership’s latest Community Climate Action Cohort. Through that we’ve been resourced to bring together a steering group of young members of our community to help us shape a climate action plan that works for us that we will launch in 2025! Watch this space.
9. WE WROTE A CULTURE STRATGY FOR BIDEFORD
This year saw Rising deliver its first cultural strategy for Bideford - that focussed on young people. We were commissioned by Torridge District Council to work with Counterculture LLP to consult with local young people and deliver a 60 page investment strategy for the North Devon town. We are committed to making sure young people have ownership of their spaces, towns and cities.
10. WE GOT A NEW SPACE
We got the keys to our new studio in Stokes Croft this year, which felt like a nice step-up from working in cafes and remotely. We had a really cute house warming in September, to help us settle and make the space feel like home. We’re looking forward to connecting with our local neighbours and hoping our exhibition in February (you heard it first) will help Stokes Croft feel even more like home.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to support us this past year. Here’s to an even better 2025, we hope it will be full of community, exciting projects and challenge. Take good care, love and rage,
The Rising Team x
