West Midlands Chairs Forum 2024-25

The Chairs forum is a confidential regular meeting for those in voluntary governance positions in cultural organisations in the West Midlands with the goal of working collectively on challenges and opportunities facing boards.

Background

Last year, Culture Central hosted Chairs and Vice Chairs from cultural organisations of all sizes across the West Midlands to explore the potential for a strategic forum to support their work. It was felt that with the increasing governance responsibilities from Arts Council England’s Lets Create strategy a collective forum to share practice and approaches to good governance would be invaluable for the cultural sector.  

The discussion and scope of this forum included topics such as board recruitment and succession planning, relationship management, influence and advocacy, inclusion and relevance. There was also an appetite to shadow and share knowledge with other boards across the region.

After the success of our initial Chairs forum in Coventry in April 2023, we hosting three more in 2023-24.

What is the Chairs forum?  

We are building a confidential and supportive forum where we focus on issues such as good governance, board recruitment and development, inclusive practice, succession planning and collaborative working.  

The forum will build an Action Learning-based approach with opportunities to deep dive into specific areas of interest for the group.  

Who is it for? 

In a sector which is often competitive, this forum will focus on collectively working together on shared challenges and opportunities to ensure an ambitious, resilient and relevant cultural ecology in the West Midlands.  

The forum is for chairs, vice chairs or those in equivalent roles on boards of cultural organisations of any scale and size. Those currently sitting on boards and considering becoming chair or vice chair would be welcome. 

This forum is for those:  

• who would benefit from a strong peer network to learn from and with  

• who are happy to share their learning.  

• who are excited to find shared approaches  

• who are ambitious for their organisation and the sector 

Getting involved

Dates and times

1st August 2024, 6pm - 7.30pm. Malmaison, Birmingham, B1 1RD.

12th September 2024, 6pm - 7.30pm. Spaces (The Mailbox), Birmingham, B1 1RD.

7th November 2024, 6pm - 7.30pm

5th December 2024, 5.30 - 8pm: Christmas Drinks with members in Birmingham

Registration

To register your interest, please complete the form linked below or email info@culturecentral.co.uk