About Us

About Us

We are a registered charity, formed in 1991. Since 1992 we have made over 100 awards to artists and arts organisations in the City of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (including North and North East Lincolnshire).

We are committed to supporting highest standards of arts practice in our area through provision of an annual Award programme and development workshops.

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Our Mission

  • To be artist-led and responsive to the community we serve.

  • To invest in high quality work that shows ambition and clarity of purpose.

  • To support all artists, at all stages of their practice.

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Neil Roberts

Honorary Treasurer

As a Director of Wright Vigar Chartered Accountants, Neil’s day job finds him advising and helping clients from a wide range of industry sectors across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. In addition to being a Trustee for the St Hugh’s Foundation for the Arts, Neil also embraces opportunities to promote the local community and is a board member of the North Notts Leader Project supporting local rural developments projects.
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Amie Alissa Watson

Trustee

Amie Alissa Watson, Founder and CEO of Slow Circular Earth, spearheads a social enterprise inspiring and empowering women through practical climate action and community cohesion. With over two decades teaching fashion and design, she harnesses creativity to foster a more sustainable future for all.
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Sue McCormick

Trustee

Sue McCormick is a freelance producer and consultant who has worked for over 20 years across the theatre and live performance sector in the UK and internationally.
Recent companies worked with include Pentabus, Smallpetitklein, Kazzum, Punchdrunk and the Children’s International Arts Organisation (CIAO!). Institutions worked with include the Clore Duffield Foundation; Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.  Previously Sue managed a range of organisations including Total Theatre Network, SETA and Blackfriars Arts Centre.
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Kayla Dougan Bowtell

Trustee

Kayla is a movement specialist and performance maker.  As Senior Lecturer in Dance at the University of Lincoln she has been instrumental in the setting up of the undergraduate and post graduate Dance and Choreography programmes. In addition to her work at the University she continues her practice as an artist and facilitator in different community settings. 
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Phil White

Trustee

Phil is an award-winning radio presenter, producer and senior manager. He is a talented painter who is currently expanding his art practice to include 3D and sound elements as part of his work. Phil trained as a theatre designer and he sings counter tenor in a male acapella chorus.
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Annabel McCourt

Trustee

Annabel is a contemporary artist whose work ranges from lens-based gritty social-realism, through to installation art, moving image, public art and architectural interventions inspired by fact, folklore and legend. She has over 20 years of industry experience, exhibits internationally and was the recipient of the St Hugh’s Foundation’s Main Award in 2018.

www.annabelmccourt.com
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Tom Briggs

Co-Chair

Tom is a producer working primarily in community decision making and co-creation with communities in Northamptonshire.  He studied Drama at University of Lincoln before co-founding Flickbook Theatre & Spud Collective, which created new networks, workshops and platforms for artists in Lincolnshire.
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Tanya Akrofi

Chair

Tanya is a writer and oral storyteller who takes inspiration from myth and folklore, bringing their magic to the telling of true life tales. She is a workshop facilitator, mentor to young creatives and a community arts advocate, helping to shape arts-based solutions to current social issues.

https://www.wildflower-storytelling.com/
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Sally Harrison

Administrator

A native of the south Lincolnshire Fens, Sally is an experienced arts, marketing and project manager most recently as venue manager and programmer for the civic arts centre in Spalding, the South Holland Centre which she ran between 2004 and 2020.  In that role she was a founder member of the influential Lincolnshire One Venues (LOV) network working in partnership with many funders and regional arts organisations.  She is now an arts freelancer which she combines with time for walks, travel and her grandchildren.
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Dr Kevin Byron

Trustee

Kevin Byron graduated from Hull University with a Ph.D. in Applied Physics and then worked in telecommunications research for twenty-five years. More recently he undertook research on creativity, and is a freelance educational consultant working with researchers in UK and European Universities. In 2023 he published the book ‘What Inspires Art?’
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James Trowsdale

Trustee

James is Strategic Lead for Culture at North East Lincolnshire Council overseeing the delivery of Grimsby Creates (Cultural Development Fund) and numerous heritage initiatives enabling significant growth of creative activity in North East Lincolnshire.  He has a wealth of experience building creative partnerships in the Humber area and beyond, previously working for both Hull and Coventry Cities of Culture securing multi-million pound support for transformative creative place making.  Outside of work James is a Grimsby Town fan, school governor at Barton St Peters school and a coach of a junior football team.
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Tessa Oram

Trustee

Tessa grew up in Lincolnshire, and then spent many years in Hull and East Riding, where she was involved in education, and the charity world. She now lives in Rutland, and works as a fundraiser for a community environmental CIC.  She studied English at Hull University, and has a great interest in theatre, writing, community collaboration and involving young people in the arts. 
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Catherine Anderson

Trustee

Catherine is a creative producer and facilitator based in the East Midlands. She has worked with organisations such as UK New Artists, SessionsArts, Threshold Studios, and the Lincoln Arts Centre to deliver dynamic projects and support artist development, and is part of the exhibitions team at the Hub, Sleaford. As co-founder of Obscene Pomegranate, a platform dedicated to amplifying LGBTQ+ artists, she has curated exhibitions such as "Spare Me the Details" (2024) and published magazines celebrating underrepresented groups.