About
History of NRTF
| 1997 | National Rural Touring Forum registered with the Charity Commission |
| FUNDING – A successful bid to the Arts Council A4E funding programme for £500,000. This grant supported a three-year programme of project delivery through the partner members at a local level as well as organisational development for the sector as a whole. | |
| 1999 | CONFERENCE – in partnership with Highlights North |
| 2000 | PUBLICATION -The Promoters Don’t Panic Pack – a guide for local promoters subsequently used for a similar publication in Scotland |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Rural Arts North Yorkshire | |
| 2001 | A commissioned tour by the NRTF of Kala Sangam Rural Voices, a combination of South Asian music, dance and literature, funded by the Arts Council of England National Touring Programme for £38,430. NRTF identified a gap in programming and this piece toured nationally on a 21 date tour. |
| FUNDING – Regional Arts Lottery Programme award of £77,050 for organisational development. | |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Oxfordshire rural touring network | |
| 2002 – 2005 | FUNDING – A successful bid to the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for £95,000 for ‘Rural Connections’, a 3-year programme of 17 different projects run by member schemes. This grant levered a further £125,000 from other sources for projects. |
| 2003 | CONFERENCE – in partnership with the South West touring schemes, Take Art, Village Voice, Artsreach, Villages in Action |
| 2003 | PROJECT & FUNDING – NRTF commissioned Francois Matarasso to research and write about the social impact of rural touring, raising funding of £84,000 from Carnegie Trust, Countryside Agency and others. This resulted in ‘Only Connect’, the first attempt to document rural touring. |
| PUBLICATION – The Touring Scheme Toolkit – a step by step guide to creating and developing rural touring schemes (author Richard King, published by Arts Council of England) | |
| PUBLICATION – An audience research project by South West Arts Marketing and the National Rural Touring Forum | |
| PUBLICATION – Only Connect (author Francois Matarasso, published by Comedia) – the first large scale study of rural touring | |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Lancashire rural touring network | |
| 2004 | FUNDING – NRTF became a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) of Arts Council England. |
| FUNDING – NRTF received £10,000 of ACE managed funds to work towards increasing the availability of culturally diverse work on the rural touring network. | |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Rural Arts Wiltshire | |
| PARTNERSHIP – Member of the Arts Council of England ‘Economic Impact Study of UK Theatre’ steering group | |
| 2005 – 2008 | FUNDING – A second successful bid to the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for £100,000 for a further 3 year-round of projects run by members. Projects attracted an additional £200,000 from other sources. |
| 2005 | CONFERENCE – in partnership with West Midlands Touring schemes Black Country Touring, Arts Alive and Live and Local. The conference theme – Diversity |
| PARTNERSHIP – ‘Country Dancing’ – a national symposium on dance and rural areas jointly organised with the National Foundation for Community Dance and Dance South West | |
| PARTNERSHIP – Member of the Arts Council of England ‘Social Impact Study of UK Theatre’ steering group | |
| 2005 – 2008 | PARTNERSHIP – Member of the rural touring and cultural diversity initiative |
| 2006 | FUNDING – NRTF funded as part of Arts Council England, Yorkshire (£3,000) initiative to encourage international development through IETM. |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Creative Arts East. The conference theme – Engaging with the wider community | |
| 2007 | FUNDING – NRTF awarded funding of £40,000 towards a programme of CPD and international work. |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Arts in Rural Gloucestershire and the Theatre Production Office. The conference theme – Theatre and the rural community | |
| 2007 – 2008 | FUNDING – NRTF awarded £79,656 from ACE towards International Village of Culture |
| 2008 | PUBLICATION – Eyes Wide Open – a practical guide to rural touring for companies and performers |
| CONFERENCE – National Networking meeting Birmingham – Theme IVOC planning | |
| 2009 | PROJECT & FUNDING – NRTF organised International Village of Culture (IVOC) as a counterpoint to the idea of Liverpool European Capital of Culture which attracted funding from Culture 10 of £159,000. This comprised of collaborative creative commissions, an international showcase and the conference itself. Delegates came from the UK, France, Sweden, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Holland, Finland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. |
| FUNDING – NRTF awarded £10,000 from ACE, Yorkshire towards IVOC legacy which resulted in a tour of Baltic artists throughout the rural areas of the UK. | |
| FUNDING – NRTF awarded £10,000 from ACE for A night less ordinary project | |
| CONFERENCE –in partnership with the Northern Consortium of touring schemes, Culture 10 and Arts Council England. Conference theme IVOC International Village of Culture and Showcase festival | |
| 2010 | FUNDING – NRTF awarded £10,000 from ACW towards the costs of the 2011 conference |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Decibel and Arts Council England. National networking day Manchester | |
| PARTNERSHIP – Founder member of IVOC – an informal network of international partners aimed at linking rural communities (internationally) through live arts and culture | |
| 2011 | FUNDING – NRTF becomes a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England |
| PARTNERSHIP – NRTF works in partnership with Jazz Services to support their Rural Touring Project | |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Essex on Tour. The conference theme – New Networks | |
| 2012 | NRTF successfully applies with Contact Theatre to the National Strategic Touring fund |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Arts Council Wales. The conference theme – Hard to reach communities2012 – New Directions Showcase Festival in partnership with China Plate and Warwick Art Centre | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| 2013 | FUNDING – NRTF awarded £25,000 from Creative Scotland towards the cost of the 2013 Conference held in Stirling.2015 NRTF successfully applies to Arts Council England for the second round of NPO funding. Taking the organisation through until 2018. |
| CONFERENCE – Developing Networks Conference in partnership with North East Arts Touring, Promoters Arts Network, Federation of Scottish Theatres and Creative Scotland | |
| NRTF support the North West schemes pitching & mentoring project with PANDA. Mentoring project supported The Edge attendance at the annual conference in Stirling and in 2014 Chanje Kunda has been selected to showcase at New Directions in York. | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| 2014 | CONFERENCE – New Directions Showcase Festival in partnership with China Plate and York Theatre Royal 15 – 17 July |
| PARTNERSHIP – present member of the Arts Council England Rural Stakeholders Group | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| PARTNERSHIP – support the North West schemes’ pitching 4 mentoring projects and its work with PANDA and Chanje Kunda was selected to showcase at New Directions in York. | |
| PROJECT – NRTF is worked with the Audience Agency to develop a project that informs touring schemes of their audience profile. | |
| 2015 | FUNDING – NRTF successfully applies to Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Funds for a 3-year Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) |
| CONFERENCE – in partnership with Creative Arts East and Applause Rural Touring Scheme. “Rural Touring is great at audience engagement!” 14 to 16 July at Wymondham College, Norfolk. | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| PROJECT – NRTF worked with touring schemes in the North and RASA theatre to produce and tour a new piece of work States of Verbal Undress. | |
| 2016 | FUNDING & RESEARCH – NRTF & Coventry University, in partnership, successfully applied to Arts Council England Research Grants Programme of £156,202 |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh & Brighton Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| CONFERENCE – New Directions Falmouth Cornwall in partnership with Carn to Cove (Cornwall) and China Plate (producers) to host New Directions showcase and rural touring conference. New Directions took place from 5th to 7th July 2015 at the University of Falmouth, Cornwall. | |
| PARTNERSHIP – Contact and NRTF working together to deliver touring productions into rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales as part of Arts Council England’ s’ Strategic Touring Programme. | |
| 2017 | EVENTS – Edinburgh & Brighton Fringe Village Hall sessions |
| FUNDING & EVENTS – Awarded £2300 by Cause 4 Arts and PhilanthropyFundraising Training towards Fundraising Fundamentals workshops at conference Being Bold | |
| CONFERENCE – Being Bold Conference in partnership with Northamptonshire Rural Touring Arts and New Perspectives Theatre Company, the 2017 conference took place at NottinghamshireUniversity and the Lakeside Theatre | |
| EVENTS – The first Rural Touring Awards with 6 categories | |
| FUNDING – NRTF was successful in achieving Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status during 2017 and will commence a new 4-year funding relationship with Arts Council England &om April 1, 2018, to March 31 2022 | |
| 2018 | PARTNERSHIP – NRTF partnered with Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on the very first Village Halls Week in January, co-commissioning Ian McMillan to write a poem to celebrate the week |
| RECRUITMENT – A new permanently employed Director was appointed in Spring. Holly Lombardo began her role as Director. | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh & Brighton Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| CONFERENCE – New Directions. Working in partnership with Live & Local and China Plate, NRTF presented the showcase at Worcester University. | |
| EVENTS – Rural Touring Awards with 6 categories | |
| 2019 | RESEARCH – CONCERTA research project in partnership with Coventry concluded |
| EVENTS – Village halls Week. NRTF partnered with Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on the second ever VHW. NRTF commissioned Kate Fox Stand Up Poet to write a poem | |
| EVENTS – Edinburgh & Brighton Fringe Village Hall sessions | |
| EVENTS – Rural Touring Awards with 6 categories | |
| CONFERENCE – In partnership with Bangor University, Wales | |
| 2020 |
Our Mission
National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF) will work strategically with partners to develop a programme that delivers high quality artistic work and cultural experiences, broadens and deepens audience engagement, and strengthens rural and other communities.
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Looking for Artists, Performers,
Promoters and Venues to give the rural
arts movement a stronger voice.