The work is funded by Arts Council England, Scarborough Borough Council and IVE and will create, by Summer 2021, a long term strategy, with a detailed action plan that will guide the development of culture in the borough for the next 10 years.

The strategic priorities for the strategy are to: Support community growth, wellbeing, social mobility and inclusivity; Promote the role of culture to support the local economy and attract inward investment; Position Scarborough Borough as a centre for creative learning; Work with education partners to support talent development and retention; Market Scarborough Borough’s cultural offer as a visitor destination.

The Strategy will use the Cultural Strategy Framework developed by COAST in 2019 as the starting point for further research and consultation  to develop a creative, practical and robust document.

COAST is a consortia of arts and education organisations based across the Borough of Scarborough that seeks to promote and develop a strong and sustainable arts and cultural sector. COAST is cross art form and has members from the areas of Theatre, Visual Arts, Festival, Museum and Creative Industries. The core members are Arcade, Create Arts Development, Crescent Arts, Invisible Dust, Scarborough Museums Trust, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Woodend Creative Workspace, Jane Pepper (independent education consultant), Dorcas Taylor (independent curator) and David Warner (Social Change Consultant & Advisor).