Headline projects and activities featured in our Arts and Culture section are part of the Creative Islands initiative. Creative Islands started life in 2017, initially funded through Arts Council England’s Cultural Destinations scheme aimed at linking arts and tourism. Scilly was by far the smallest member of this family, working alongside places like Greenwich, the Lake District, Liverpool and Dorset. Although we are very different kinds of tourist destinations, we all had the same challenge to explore what makes our place special and how the arts can be used to celebrate that.

Further ERDF (Isles of Scilly Voucher Scheme) funding and Islands’ Partnership investment has now been extended with project grant funding from Arts Council England. Creative Islands is delivering cultural activities for Scilly residents and visitors through a festivals and events programme alongside the Islands’ Partnership - providing support for local creative industries and working with the Council of the Isles of Scilly and other partners to progress our ambition for a new museum and cultural centre.

Creative Islands is about exploring and sharing Scilly’s distinctive character and rich history. We work with creative people of all kinds from the islands and further afield, and we are very lucky to have some hugely talented artists on our doorstep. You will see their work featured in lots of our projects, whether that’s Alex Bagnall’s beautiful illustrations for the Walking Stories book, Oriel Hicks’s fabulous new glass commission on the Strand, or the work of local young people in the Being Scilly magazine. We also have lots of amazing artists who visit Scilly to share their work with residents and visitors. Over the past couple of years, we have hosted projects and performances from mainland friends including Rogue Theatre, Ed ‘Kernow King’ Rowe, Story Republic, Paddleboat Theatre, artists Luke Jerram and Tony Plant, and writers Wyl Menmuir and Kate Rhodes.

Creative Islands is an initiative of the Islands’ Partnership, currently project managed by the Council of the Isles of Scilly, and run by two Co-ordinators – Tammy Bedford and Jeremy Brown. Tammy is based in Cornwall and is a freelance arts producer who has worked on many different projects over the years. Alongside Creative Islands she also works for the WOMAD music festival, and runs music and public art commissions. Tammy says: ‘I’ve been visiting the Isles of Scilly for over 30 years and I know what makes it so special. Being able to look at creative ways of exploring those unique qualities is really exciting, and I love being able to make a positive contribution to my favourite place.’

Jeremy moved to Scilly with his family in 2018 after a thirty-five-year adventure in Wolverhampton embracing theatre, film making, lecturing and community arts. He initiated Creative Partnerships in the West Midlands working with Arts Council England and then became an advisor for Creative People and Places. He first came to Scilly in 1964 and has realised a lifelong ambition to move to the seaside, running self-catering accommodation. He is a governor at the Five Islands Academy and active member of both the local Theatre Club and Community Archaeology Group.