This year Bright Culture turns 10 — and we’re taking the chance to reintroduce ourselves and share a little about what we do. To kick things off, here are 10 things about us:
1. Bright Culture is Lisa Davenport, Catherine Bloodworth and Esther Gill. We first crossed paths back in the 2000s at English Heritage. Fast forward 15 years, and here we are together again as Bright Culture.
2. We’re a values-led consultancy. At the heart of our work is a simple belief: participation in cultural activities enriches lives, connects people, builds community, and inspires change.
3. Over the years we’ve worn many hats: critical friends, evaluators, facilitators, audience researchers, listeners and talkers, doers and makers, consultants. Always adapting to what’s needed most.
4. Between us, we bring more than 70 years’ experience across every kind of organisation — national and local, statutory and voluntary, big and small. What matters most to us is working alongside teams, supporting them to grow, and helping to shape strong teams, impactful projects and sustainable organisations.
5. We’re based in Brighton, London and Lincoln, but our work takes us all over the UK. As a small Limited Liability Partnership, we can offer a truly bespoke approach, with the flexibility to bring in trusted associates and scale up when projects need it.
6. In our first decade, we’ve had the privilege of working with over 60 organisations, from museums and theatres to wildlife trusts, archives, churches, community groups, arts organisations and local authorities. Each collaboration has been a chance to learn, share and grow.
7. No two pieces of work have ever been the same. Sometimes it’s an hour’s advice that helps a team tackle a challenge. Other times it’s focused consultancy in audience research or evaluation. Often, it’s been longer-term partnerships — journeying with organisations through research, change and delivery.
8. Our very first commission back in 2015 was with Rother District Council in Bexhill-on-Sea, consulting local people about the historic East Parade on the seafront.
9. Most recently, we’ve been working with the Bourne Arts and Community Trust, providing evaluation support for their Celebrating 200 Years of Worth
10. Whatever the next 10 years bring, Bright Culture will stay rooted in our commitment to putting public engagement with arts, heritage and the natural environment at the heart of thriving communities.
💬 We’d love to hear from you if you’re curious about what we do — or even just fancy a chat. Over the next nine weeks, we’ll be sharing more stories and reflections from Bright Culture’s first 10 years. We hope you’ll join us on the journey.
