How Arts Council England’s Let’s Create strategy shapes our work in Bradford
Creativity, Culture and Community at the heart of local life
The National Literacy Trust is proud to be working in partnership with Arts Council England to deliver community-led literacy and creative initiatives through its Let’s Create strategy; placing creativity, culture, community and participation at the heart of local life.
Bringing stories to the streets: The Bradford Stories Bus
Since 2014, the National Literacy Trust has worked closely with schools, families, libraries and cultural institutions in Bradford to embed storytelling and creativity into everyday life. In 2020, guided by the principles of Arts Council England’s Let’s Create strategy, we undertook extensive consultation with over 70 community groups, local leaders and 180 children across six primary schools. The findings revealed a clear barrier: many communities lacked accessible and relevant opportunities to engage with creative and literary activity, especially in the city’s most economically deprived wards.
In response, we knew that we needed to remove barriers and find a way to reach families where they are. We created a mobile creative space to bring story-sharing events, author visits, writing and drawing workshops and crucially books right to the heart of communities. Our Bradford Stories Bus, an imported iconic US school bus converted into a cosy library and sharing stories space, has enabled us to increase access to high quality reading and creative writing activities by taking these activities to places and spaces beyond schools, libraries, community centres and cultural venues.
The bus has enabled us to deliver a year-round programme that reflects the stories, identities and aspirations of the people of Bradford in places that matter to them.
Why this work is more urgent than ever
Writing for enjoyment among children is at a historic low, with fewer than one in three children saying they enjoy writing in their free time. By making writing and creative expression a visible and valued part of everyday life, we aim to reverse this trend and ensure every child can discover the joy and power of writing. When children write for pleasure, they write more often, building essential skills that support their creativity, confidence and wellbeing.
Bradford: Celebrating identity through story
Bradford has officially launched its year as UK City of Culture 2025 and we are working alongside local communities to deliver a range of literacy and storytelling programmes that celebrate local identity, promote cultural inclusion and improve outcomes for children and families, particularly in areas experiencing disadvantage.
Share your story: Inspiring Bradford’s Young Writers
A centrepiece of our 2025 programme is Share Your Story, a campaign designed to inspire both avid and reluctant writers across Bradford. Through a series of family-friendly events and at-home activities, Share Your Story encourages children to try their hand at poetry, storytelling, comic design and writing raps. Whether at a local event or in the comfort of their home, children are invited to explore their creativity and share their voices, deepening their connection to the city and to one another through story.
Building partnerships for greater impact
As we move through this landmark year for Bradford, we are deepening our partnerships with local cultural stakeholders, including the Bradford City of Culture team. As part of UK City of Culture 2025, the Bradford Stories Bus will partner with The Beacon, a mobile performance space designed to bring culture directly into communities, creating new opportunities for co-created, community-led events. Both mobile venues will ensure creative activities reach every community in Bradford, with our own work focused on using this city-wide celebration to promote the creative act of writing.
We are also working in partnership with local businesses, such as Morrisons, to extend the reach of our programmes. As part of our collaboration, the Bradford Stories Bus will deliver a series of mini-festivals at Morrisons stores throughout the year, bringing creativity and literacy into high-footfall, everyday community spaces and aligning with the City of Culture’s wider public engagement efforts.
A model for lasting change
This work is only possible through the sustained support of Arts Council England and the vision set out in the Let’s Create strategy. By placing cultural participation, co-creation with communities and accessibility at the centre of our work, we are helping to shape a more literate, confident and creative future for Bradford’s children and communities.
Crucially, the success of this initiative lies in our public-private-philanthropic partnership model, bringing together Arts Council England, corporate partners such as Morrisons, and publishing houses including Walker Books. This collective effort is breaking down barriers to opportunity by increasing access to books, raising levels of reading and writing for pleasure and helping to embed literacy into the cultural fabric of the city so it can thrive.
Impact beyond creativity
Recent Key Stage 2 results in reading, writing and maths highlight encouraging progress in schools across our high-priority areas, particularly in those we have worked with most intensively through our place-based approach delivered in Bradford and 20 other towns and cities. In these schools, attainment has improved markedly over the past three years, closing the gap with the national average.
Working in partnership
We'd love to hear from you if you'd like to know more about partnering with us.
For all questions and queries, get in touch via email Bradford@literacytrust.org.uk.