Awen Launches New Five-Year Strategy

South Wales’ sector leading organisation, Awen Cultural Trust, has published its ambitious new five-year strategy, ‘Creating Culturally Vibrant Communities Where Everyone Feels They Belong’, aimed at ‘making people’s lives better’ through collaboration, innovation, sustainability and generating social value. 

The strategy outlines a clear vision for 2025-30 and marks a pivotal moment in the charity’s tenth year to scale up efforts to work with communities, funders and partners to address common priorities across health, local economic growth and creating great places to live, work and visit.  

Since its inception on 1 October 2015, Awen Cultural Trust has built its reputation on promoting partnership working, creating positive impact, maintaining strong core values and having a can-do attitude. 

Awen's current portfolio includes theatres, libraries, community centres, Bryngarw House and Country Park and two work-based projects for adults with learning disabilities. Collectively, these venues and services attract over one million visits every year.  

The 2025-30 strategy focuses on what Awen can do to realise: 

• A healthy environment where future generations will benefit from a cleaner, more resilient and better understood planet.  

• Vibrant places to live and work with growing local economies, a proud sense of identity and where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their potential. 

• Everyone with the opportunity to feel engaged and a sense of purpose, with access to skills, support and help when they need it. 

• Healthy communities where everyone has the chance to lead healthy lives. 

• A sustainable organisation with Awen viewed as a responsible, fair, trusted employer and a partner of choice. 

Richard Hughes, Chief Executive at Awen Cultural Trust, said: 

“Over the past decade, we have achieved a lot, and we have learnt a lot; from those we engage with and the experiences of those who work at Awen. What we do over the next five years should build on our past ten; listening to our communities, helping nurture cohesiveness, fostering tolerance; and helping to establish a real sense of community togetherness and belonging.” 

Ava Plowright, Chair of Awen Cultural Trust, said: 

“Our new strategy reflects Awen’s unwavering commitment to achieving its purpose of ‘making people’s lives better’ within the communities we serve. It is not only a reflection of where we want to go, and why, but how we plan to get there over the next five years, by listening, learning and leading with purpose.” 

Richard added:  

“We are calling on supporters, funders and collaborators to join with us in achieving our vision. Real change can only happen if we work together for the collective good and be prepared to try new things. We cannot go it alone and our strength has always been the strong relationships we build as a can-do partner and co-producer.” 

Watch our strategy video in English here:

Watch our strategy video in Welsh here:

Download a copy of the strategy in English here. 

Download a copy of the strategy in Welsh here.