Stratford Circus hosted a meeting of more than 40 chief executives from arts centres across the United Kingdom today.

They were gathered for the venue’s sold-out roundtable Future Arts Centres event to discuss the importance of arts centres to the cultural, artistic and social lives of town centres.

The event was facilitated by the National Partnership of Arts Centres. Clare Connor, Stratford Circus Director and NPAC co-chair, said it offered a platform for heads of these organisations to share their thoughts on leadership and celebrate the unique qualities of arts centres.

She said: “We know arts centres have a huge impact on their communities through the shear breadth of activities and depth of engagement at a local level, but we also often operate very independently from one another.

“I established NPAC in 2011 in response to the changing economic climate, during which it became clear that to survive arts centres needed to support, engage and inspire each other to grow. It’s wonderful to see the culmination of NPAC in Future Arts Centres, where we are building the

foundations for a broader UK-wide network.”

Clare Connor said Stratford Circus placed the community at the centre of what the venue offered in programming and events.

She said: “We work with an incredibly diverse community and, as such, our priority is engaging those who otherwise would have no opportunity to experience the arts. For example, we are dedicated to keeping prices affordable and providing discounted tickets for Newham residents and have developed a number of partnerships with local schools.

“This is one such initiative that we’ve found to be successful that we look forward to sharing with other arts centre leaders as a part of the Future Arts Centres roundtable.”