“It was a wonderful day and I left re-energised – thank you!”
“The high calibre and relevance of other attendees was very noticeable – this is quite rare at conferences I’ve been to over the years!”
“A very well-organised and engaging conference. It was great to connect with others working in philanthropy and fundraising.”
Figurative Philanthropy for Arts & Culture hosted its second annual philanthropy conference – The Power of Place: Cultural Philanthropy in 2026 – at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester. The event was a gathering of over 130 delegates from the arts and culture sector across the UK to discuss, debate and challenge the power of place-based philanthropy in the arts, sharing best-practice and inspiring stories.
“Culture is more than aesthetic pleasure. It builds confidence, strengthens cohesion, improves wellbeing, fuels innovation, and creates jobs.”
These were the words of Paul Callaghan, CBE, DL, FRSA, Chair, Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust. His keynote revealed why he became a philanthropist, how this led to the vibrant cultural regeneration of Sunderland, and his belief that culture is “the soul of a place”, building ambition, pride and confidence.
You can read Paul Callaghan’s full keynote speech here THE POWER OF PLACE
Responding on behalf of Figurative, Trustee Sir Vernon Ellis highlighted the work of FPAC and the belief that building a coherent story around a place can help to drive new philanthropy.
Our roundtables sparked further forward-thinking conversation – delving into topics including match funding and social impact as a driver of funding.
The closing expert panel, chaired by Moira Sinclair OBE, Chair, Factory International, brought the day together asking: why is it so difficult to make the case for arts and transform ‘givers’ into ‘cultural givers’? It can be succinctly summed up by Dave Moutrey’s observation: “place-based philanthropy must be designed not assumed” and Fezzan Ahmed’s call for communities to be “stewards” of community-based initiatives.
“If you do good things, good things find you.” Nicky Twemlow, Made in Stoke.
Thank you to panellists Fezzan Ahmed, Alex Day, Dave Moutrey OBE, Jessye Parke, and Nicky Twemlow for sharing insights and experience so generously.
“Philanthropy is vital in this time of transition for the sector… and it’s so important as a sector to work together to make the case for the power of culture to unite and inspire us. What we need to do now is to use our imagination, which is, very fortunately, not a scarce resource in the cultural sector. At Figurative, in all our projects, we’re hoping that applying imagination to financial instruments, and all sorts of partnerships, will support the sector to thrive.” Fran Sanderson, CEO, Figurative.
Culture shapes communities, creates pride and grows confidence. And our conference The Power of Place reminded us why philanthropy matters more than ever. This event was made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
