In 2022 Rural Media Charity (RMC) https://www.ruralmedia.co.uk/  was successful in its bid to the Government’s Stronger Towns Fund https://strongerhereford.co.uk to establish a major new resource for Herefordshire and the rural West Midlands to be called StoryPoint that will provide access to new cutting-edge facilities & skills, strengthen social mobility, and create new cultural and employment opportunities. 

In November 2023, with support of Stronger Hereford and The Charity Bank, Rural Media purchased the building above and commenced detailed planning to establish a digital culture hub as a permanent cultural asset for Herefordshire and the West Midlands.

StoryPoint (700m2) will be based in the centre of Hereford and contribute to “levelling-up” Herefordshire by creating an ecosystem of digital creativity and innovation for Herefordshire and the rural West Midlands.  Opening in July 2025 StoryPoint will mark Herefordshire out as a cultural leader in rural economic regeneration and social mobility. It will aggregate in a single, fully accessible, contemporary space the creative technologies, tools, and expertise to inspire and raise the skill levels of creative and cultural entrepreneurs, SMEs, students, public, private and VCSE sectors in the county, enabling them to take advantage of the booming, post-Covid-19 digital economy.

Studio-based and remote incubator/accelerator programmes will enable young creative talent to establish new cultural enterprises in Herefordshire and the West Midlands, strengthening the talent supply chain - both in and out - for the public, private and VCSE sectors.

Centralized resources, e.g., broadcast-standard video, radio and interactive studios and equipment, together with access to experienced industry professionals and their networks will underpin and drive Herefordshire's national and international brand and profile, adding momentum and competitive edge to the county's tourism sector, and providing work experience and employment for developing and established talent. Online courses, co-working deskspace, mentoring, internships, funding, and membership services will complement live boot camp, workshop, and cross-discipline collaboration events, providing a year-round programme to drive new ideas, research, and project/production development.

StoryPoint will be structured around 4 skills and cultural development strands:

• Multi-level digital creative skills training (film, TV, audio, digital marketing & comms)
• Cultural & creative business development, and entrepreneurship (incubator space – physical and remote; workshops; mentoring, accelerator programmes; leadership & governance; professional networks; investment and finance models)
• Broadcast and standard film & TV and audio facilities (production studios, meeting and creative collision spaces, remote conferencing and live streaming facilities and support, strategic partnerships, and access to regional broadcasters and distributors)
• Still and moving image exhibition functionality, and home to Herefordshire’s culture platform, The Shire https://www.the-shire.co.uk

StoryPoint will:

• Capitalize on the growth of creative industry micro-businesses choosing to locate outside urban conurbations, work more remotely, collaborate digitally, freed from previously entrenched geographic constraints.
• Benefit public, private and VCSE sectors and zero-carbon targets by building digital skills, e.g., remote conferences, lo-fi content production, board and management online portals, that will reduce travel and engender greater flexibility in work locations.
• Combat rural isolation by empowering the community through improved digital literacy training.
• Address the critical issue of ex-migration of young people from Herefordshire and rural West Midlands, and attract young talent seeking to establish creative enterprises in the area through the combination of skills, business support, ideas exchange, and access to national and international networks.
• Draw upon Rural Media’s expertise in inclusion, diversity and social mobility to engage communities traditionally excluded from access to creative and digital skills training and employment.
• Address local and national priorities by drawing on Rural Media’s expertise in generating investment and capacity for skills-led production, e.g., ‘Greening the City’ (zero carbon / nature-rich), ‘Same but Different’ (diversity and inclusion), and ‘Digital Me’ (improving community digital maturity).
• Support and facilitate digital activity of Herefordshire’s Museum, Library and Archive (MLA) services by training staff and volunteers to produce, exhibit and distribute content digitally, creating exciting immersive and interactive experiences in heritage sites, including open spaces, expanding audiences and promoting new online sustainability models.
• Raise residents’ sense of pride in their city and county through public exhibition (physical and remote) of cutting-edge digital cultural content, distributed via social channels for residents to share and respond to.
• Inspire and transform the way residents and visitors experience Herefordshire, and businesses reach out to new markets and investors through StoryPoint’s production, up-skilling and entrepreneurship development services, carrying creativity, innovation, and ambition at its core.
• Attract start-ups from further afield to re-locate to Herefordshire and encourage fringe enterprises and collaborative projects to spin-off thanks to high-speed digital connectivity and the growing profile of StoryPoint as a rural exemplar.

We envisage refurbishment and re-fit to complete in April 2025 and StoryPoint to open in July 2025 with a comprehensive skills, events and knowledge transfer programme, together with co-working spaces, exhibition & meeting spaces, broadcast standard podcast, audio and film & TV studios.

Further information:

Nic Millington, FRSA
CEO
Rural Media Charity
[email protected]
07710 941 077
W. www.ruralmedia.co.uk  www.ruralstudios.co.uk