The New Town Culture Programme: Promoting Cultural Exchange between Artists and Children's Workers

Rachel Hughes and her colleagues reflect on their research into a multi-agency partnership between a local authority children's services department and arts-based workers. They explore how neoliberal culture presents dilemmas to the work. In particular, they identify that children's services workers experienced a barrier to engaging in cultural exchange activities alongside young people in feeling that they did not have the time or 'permission' to do so. They argue that collective reflective practice is needed to engage with and resolve these tensions.