Cultural Trust Proposed to run Wrexham’s “City of Culture 2029” bid

A cultural trust will be set up to drive Wrexham’s bid to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2029.

The city narrowly missed out to Bradford last year in competition for the 2025 title. UK City of Culture is a competition run by the UK Government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport every four years. The next round is expected to open in 2025 for applications for the 2029 title.

A report to Wrexham Council’s environment, business and investment scrutiny committee next week gives an update on the 2029 bid, which suggests setting up a trust so that the board can open a bank account and employ staff, and be independent of the authority.

The report, to be presented by lead member for environment, Rossett Cllr Hugh Jones (Con) says: “In preparation for Wrexham’s bid for the 2029 City of Culture, an interim board was recruited via open application in May 2023.
“There have been three full board meetings to date. However, this board has no legal status at present and neither does the organisation which means it cannot hold a bank account, enter into contracts with others, employ staff or disburse grants.

“The interim board has agreed the vision and mission for the new Cultural Trust, which have guided its deliberations and decision-making in terms of proposed permanent organisational governance structure.”
This will be titled ‘Wrexham Community and Culture Trust/Ymddiriedolaeth Cymunedol a Diwylliannol Wrecsam’ but “a compelling and inclusive public-facing trading name in collaboration with the community of Wrexham” is expected to be developed early next year.

The report says that it is recommended the charitable company remains independent and separate from the council in terms of who is on the board of trustees.
It adds: “Joanna Swash, who was appointed interim chair has indicated her willingness to continue as Permanent Chair of the Board of Trustees for a minimum of two years (commencing upon establishment of the Charitable Trust).
“This will provide strong leadership and continuity for the new charity as it moves to appoint an executive team, start developing the new City of Culture bid and deliver cultural development activities in Wrexham.

“It is also proposed that the current interim board be confirmed as the initial board of the charity, subject to their agreement and the development of articles of association setting out the maximum term of their appointment and a staged process for stepping down and renewing the board.”

An ‘economic development agency in Cardiff’ called Cwmpas advised the decision making process.

The report before councillors notes issues in Coventry where the National Audit Office had to look into the City of Culture Trust financial affairs – at one point due to being ‘at risk of not remaining a going concern’ and required a million pound bail out loan from the council – however still entered administration earlier this year :

The Interim Board therefore agreed to recommend that the new charitable company limited by guarantee be established on the foundation model, where the trustees are the members of the company. This can be changed to an association model in future if a wider membership group is established in future.

The interim investigation into the failure of Coventry City of Culture Trust has highlighted its lack of separation from the Local Authority as a key reason why financial issues arose. In addition, the Charity Commission requires new charities to operate independently of their major funders and for trustees to act in the best 4 interests of the charity, rather than their funding body. It can regard the presence of employees or Councillors on the board as a conflict of interest where the Local Authority is the major funder.

Therefore, it is recommended that the new Charitable Company remains independent separate from the Local Authority in terms of the makeup of its Board of Trustees. However, it is recommended that a Memorandum of Understanding and Support is developed to set out the close working relationship between the Charitable Company and Wrexham County Borough Council and outlining the Local Authority’s commitment to engage with and support the organisation on an ongoing basis

According to the report, once the charitable trust is established and becomes a legal entity, a public engagement exercise will be carried out by a community engagement committee which will be led by the trust.

This engagement exercise is promised to be informative and will update members of the public, community and businesses on the progression of the Trust and the bid for City of Culture 2029. It is unclear if

The ‘consulation’ part of the report before councillors is vague, stating “There has been significant involvement and support from the wider community and a number of significant stakeholders in the development of the Wrecsam2025 bid, which continues and supports a further bid in 2025 for UK City of Culture 2029”.

Wrexham Council’s environment, business and investment scrutiny committee meets on Tuesday (November 7) to discuss the report.

As well as probing the bid progress, sums spent so far and how the new entity is funded, councillors will be asked to support the establishment of the proposed trust, and the proposal to name it Wrexham Community and Culture Trust/Ymddiriedolaeth Cymunedol a Diwylliannol Wrecsam.

By Rory Sheehan / Wrexham.com