Arvon makes pandemic platform permanent, redevelops Yorkshire base

Creative writing charity Arvon's virtual platform Arvon at Home, which it describes as its "4th House", is to remain permanently in use, following its success during the pandemic.

Meanwhile the company has announced a major redevelopment project for its Yorkshire premises Lumb House.

The charity has said its virtual platform has expanded the organisation's reach by 500%, after launching with a live reading by Cathy Rentzenbrink in April last year. Arvon at Home offers a weekly programme of live guest readings, masterclasses, craft of writing sessions and online writing weeks. Over the past 12 months, the company has reported taking over 13,000 bookings and reaching over 5,600 individuals, generating more than £175,000 in freelance income for writers during the pandemic.

Writers who have taken part in Arvon at Home events include Monica Ali, Raymond Antrobus, Simon Armitage, Alice Birch, William Boyd, Vahni Calpildeo, Kate Clanchy, Kit de Waal, Louise Doughty, Bernardine Evaristo, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, A L Kennedy, Rachel Long, Hisham Matar, Hollie McNish, David Mitchell, Michael Morpurgo, Maggie O’Farrell, Max Porter, Roger Robinson, Kamila Shamsie, Lemn Sissay, Colm Tóibín and Sarah Waters.

Arvon is also to invest in the redevelopment of its Yorkshire base at Lumb Bank, an 18th-century mill owner's house which once belonged to poet and author Ted Hughes. Gagarin, an award-winning architectural practice based in Halifax, has been appointed, and the redevelopment is being spearheaded by Lumb Bank co-directors Rosie Scott and Helen Meller. The project is part of the company's wider plans to make Lumb Bank a cultural hub for the north of England.

The company's Learning programme has also been restructured, with a new Learning & Partnerships team in place, comprising staff from the company's four residential writing retreat houses and overseen by artistic director Mary Morris and learning and partnerships co-ordinator Sophie Lloyd-Catchpole. The team recently launched its first Arvon online workshops for schools and young people, with over 1,000 students booked for the first three events. The workshops will now take place monthly. Combined with additional schools and partnership online activity, a new programme of local community engagement and Arvon’s residentials, the aim is to increase the total number of young people and disadvantaged adults with which Arvon engages each year by 500%.

A number of key staff changes have also been made including Natasha Carlish, director of Arvon’s house in Shropshire, The Hurst, adding to her role the position of Arvon deputy chief executive. Mary Morris, director of the Devon writing house, Totleigh Barton, has become the company's new artistic director. Eliza Squire, former director of Totleigh Barton, and Helen Meller, former director of Hebden Bridge Arts Festival and also co-director of Lumb Bank, have become co-directors of the 4th House. George Palmer, who oversaw the 4th House’s creation, has been promoted to director of digital and communications, and Dan Pavitt has become Arvon’s first digital operations co-ordinator.

Commenting on the developments, Andrew Kidd, Arvon c.e.o., said: "Along with virtually every other arts charity, Arvon has faced extraordinary challenges since the start of the pandemic, and the furlough scheme, the Culture Recovery Fund, Arts Council England and our incredibly generous and loyal supporters have made a crucial difference to where we find ourselves 12 months on. So too has the ingenuity and determination of Arvon’s staff, who have turned the most difficult of circumstances into an opportunity: to help sustain thousands through lockdown by engaging them with the transformative power of creative expression, to provide essential income for professional writers, and to reach more people than Arvon ever has before."