“You’re not from New York City, you’re from Rotherham”: £14m boost expected from children’s capital of culture celebrations

Next year, Rotherham will be the world’s first children’s capital of culture, and the borough will see a 365-day festival celebrating the “arts, creativity and community”.

The idea came from young people living in Rotherham who wanted to improve the town’s reputation.

The team behind the celebration says it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Rotherham to celebrate its young people and their creativity.

Around £4m of investment has already been secured, from organisations such as the Arts Council, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and The European Regional Development Fund.

One of the festival’s themes is titled ‘You’re Not From New York City, You’re From Rov’rum’ – which hopes to inspire change in young people and build pride in Rotherham as their home.

RMBC, which is leading the project, expects almost £14m to be invested into the scheme in a boost for Rotherham’s economy.

And the benefits are already being felt – 57 young people have been employed as trainee creative producers and more than 70 per cent of these have gone into further work or education.

Almost 60 schools and colleges have taken part in pre-festival events, and 61 young people have achieved a bronze Arts Award – a national accreditation scheme.

Activities for next year will be co-produced by local children and young people, who will be trained in roles such as producers, artists and project managers.

During last week’s cabinet meeting, Councillor Victoria Cusworth said there has been ‘scepticism’ over the plans when they were first announced in 2022,

“It’s just staggering what’s already been delivered,” added coun Cusworth.

“The events are one thing but the skills that our young people have learned through apprenticeships and traineeships…is just brilliant, and will really set some young people up for life that might not have has access to those kind of opportunities.”