Exciting News from Starling HQ!
/The Covid19 pandemic has presented many challenges but has also afforded everyone some unexpected blessings. Here at Starling Arts we may not have been able to sing or carry out our day-to-day activities in-person for a year, but we have been reflecting on our values, goals and ambitions for the company in a post-pandemic world.
As a result, we are having an exciting restructure and Starling Arts is now officially a Community Interest Company (CIC). We’ll be making more of a song and a dance (quite literally!) about this change in the coming months with exciting project news and website updates, but if you want to understand CICs a bit more, we’ve answered some questions you may have below!
Why have you decided to become a Community Interest Company?
Until recently, Starling Arts operated as a partnership. Up until now that hasn’t affected the work we want to do but, as we look to the future, we’d like to seek more financial support to allow us to create singing projects with communities and groups who might not have the resources to support the work we do with them. This funding might come from trusts and foundations, grant bodies like the Arts Council, individual giving, or a mixture of different sources. Through this support we’ll be able to gather the best teams to create amazing projects exploring the positive impact that singing can have on health and wellbeing for numerous communities and groups.
As a CIC our work will be tied to important social aims, and all profits will be used for the benefit of the community. It is our goal to reach even more people with the extraordinary magic of group singing, and becoming a CIC will help us to meet this goal.
What is a Community Interest Company (CIC)?
A CIC is a not-for-profit organisation
A CIC must have clear social objectives and works as a social enterprise, providing tangible benefits for communities
As a CIC there is a ‘lock’ on all Starling Arts’ assets. Put simply, if we no longer operate, our things and money go to another community organisation to ensure they’re still used to benefit the community
What are the main social objectives of the Starling Arts CIC?
Our social objectives haven’t really changed, but we are now legally constituted to offer people access to high-quality group singing opportunities, increase participation and involvement in singing for well-being activities, continue to use tools such as mindfulness, movement and music to supplement wellbeing, and we’ll continue to be ambassadors for increasing awareness on how singing can be used as a tool for personal, health, social and emotional development.
Will anything change for me as a member or supporter of Starling Arts?
Our choirs will still operate under the CIC’s core objectives and we will always look for ways that our members and supporters can contribute to our community projects, such as joining us to sing within a community or helping to make other projects happen. Going forward we very much hope that our members and supporters will be ambassadors for and of our core objectives, supporting our projects and continuing to fly the Starling flag beyond the rehearsal or performance space.
A huge thank you to everyone for their loyalty and support over the last eleven years.
Here’s to the exciting times ahead!
Anna & Emily
