A message from The Turnpike CIC

In December 2021, The Turnpike Community Interest Company will cease its activity and reflect upon five extraordinary years. Since our beginnings in January 2017, the ambition, ethos and vision of The Turnpike CIC has positively demonstrated what is possible and what can be made possible in the future. With a welcoming and nurturing cultural programme, we have worked collaboratively to implement a pioneering offer of health and wellbeing, cultural education, community co-creation and artists’ development.

The ethos and vision of The Turnpike CIC has consistently provided an ambitious and unique cultural offer for the Borough, embracing new and pioneering approaches to creating art and connecting communities. Central to The Turnpike’s purpose has been a commitment to addressing inequality in the arts through commissioning, community engagement, cultural education and artists’ development. Projects such as The Making of Us, The Turnpike Pottery and our Activations programme have explored the impact of socially engaged practice through collaboration and community activism. An ambitious exhibition programme which has included artists such as Mark Leckey, Mary Griffiths, Lindsey Mendick and Mohamed Bourouissa and Simeon Barclay has connected the local to the global through shared ideas, perspectives and social issues.

Although the work of the organisation will conclude in 2021 our programme has laid fruitful ground for continued audience engagement, community co-creation and artists’ development. We have designed our work to be a catalyst for long-term change and innovation beyond our organisation. We hope that this will lead to greater artist-led activity and a deeper understanding of how our town can draw on the creative thinking and skills of artists and its community to collectively imagine a better future.

We are lifting out with great care and an eye firmly on the future. As we prepare to leave, we are working closely with Wigan MBC, community, peers and partners to enable cultural provision for Leigh beyond December 2021.

We want to say a huge thank you to our Turnpike family; the team members, volunteers, artists, community members, peer organisations, funders and supporters who have invested their energy, creativity and ingenuity with us over the years. 

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For more information about The Turnpike CIC follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We will be sharing our outcomes and learnings here in the near future.