Major arts investment marks a 'sea change' for Oldham

A Mossley arts organisation says a recent significant funding win represents a major boost to Oldham's “cultural power”.

Carnival arts organisation Global Grooves are celebrating a successful application to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Arts Fund.  

The team has secured three years of funding from the highly competitive national funder, which has since closed applications due to overwhelming demand.  

Global Grooves’ CEO Leon Patel said he hoped the investment marked a sea change for Oldham, whose cultural life has historically been underfunded in comparison to nearby Manchester.  

Figures from 2024 show that Oldham attracted just £2.44 per head investment from Arts Council England, whereas in Manchester the spend was £28.17 for each resident. 

Global Grooves have pledged that over the next three years they will engage with 90,000 people from Oldham, Tameside and beyond, create paid work for 150 artists and support 54 external organisations, “strengthening the local cultural ecosystem and keeping talent rooted here in Oldham and Tameside”. 

The funding will allow the team to significantly expand their programme, including the development of new local festivals and increased support for musicians, dancers, and visual artists. 

The investment will also support Global Grooves to explore and address deeper, systemic barriers to cultural access through their work at The Vale on Mossley's Micklehurst Road. 

Leon said that while the historic former mill continues to evolve as a space for local artists, grassroots groups and underrepresented artforms to shape activity themselves, the organisation is increasingly focused on how access is experienced more broadly. 

He said: “For us, access is not only about physical space; it is about who feels welcome, who gets to take part and who has a voice in shaping culture.  

“This investment allows us to better understand and challenge those barriers, and to work towards a more inclusive and equitable cultural offer for Oldham and Tameside. 

“Rather than seeking a standard ‘community arts’ investment, we are focused on longer term, strategic change, a shifting of cultural power.” 

Leon added that the funding will allow Global Grooves to work alongside communities across Oldham and Tameside and beyond, “co-creating new festivals, performances and training initiatives that reflect local interests, aspirations and ambitions.” 

He said that the funding is not only focused on creating new work, but also on empowering local people and reducing barriers to cultural participation. 

“The funding will help us to strengthen long term trust, increase opportunities for co-creation with local communities, and develop leadership pathways for talented local people," he said.  

"It will allow us to build infrastructure in a place that has been underinvested for generations. 

“Now that Paul Hamlyn has demonstrated belief in and commitment to Oldham and Tameside, we are in a much stronger position to bring further long-term national investment into the borough." 

Friends Leon Patel, from Mossley, Holly Prest, from Greenfield, and Brazilian artist Eraldo Marques launched Global Grooves in 2003 to bring people of all ages together through participation in Carnival arts.  

The organisation has since worked internationally, as well as maintaining a strong presence, Dipak Dristi group for older women and autistic social group A Team.