'Culture'

South Tyneside Council has set itself a big challenge for the coming months. The Council has given itself the goal of making culture something for the many, not the few, something for the average man in the street, not the elite of the big cities.

Over the past year, hundreds of people across South Tyneside have been involved in the creation of a plan for culture in the borough. The result of this - the Council's Cultural Strategy called "Catch the Spirit" is now complete.

The key aim of the Cultural Strategy is to make South Tyneside a better place to work and live, but also to visit. The Strategy will capitalise on the attention drawn to the North East as a whole by the Newcastle Gateshead Cities of Culture 2008 bid. After all, why should these big cities get all the limelight, when an area with a culture as rich and diverse as South Shields deserves just as much recognition on the Regional and National stage?

Too often, South Tyneside has been ignored and overlooked in favour of the louder voices of areas such as Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland. The Council's Cultural Strategy will show the world that the Borough has just as much to offer culturally as is larger neighbours.

But what is culture? And why should it interest 'normal' people, rather than an elite with plummy voices and superior attitudes?

Well, culture means different things to different people. To some people it is opera, fine art galleries and the theatre. To others it is ham and pease pudding stotties, Brown ale and the comedy of the Little Waster. It is the fog rolling up the Tyne on a damp evening, or a Saturday afternoon spent chanting on the terraces, whether your team is Newcastle or Sunderland. Culture is what newspaper you read, what accent you have, and what experiences we share as a community. Our culture is all around us, wherever we are, and whatever we are doing.

In short, culture is what makes us the people that we are, and what makes us unique. Our culture is what sets aside South Shields and South Tyneside from the rest of the North East, and from the rest of the country, and what unites us with them. Culture is our way of life, our beliefs, our attitudes and our traditions.

So why is culture so important to us? After all, if it is founded in the past and in our history, what does culture have to offer us in the 21st century?

The cultural industries are the fastest growing sector of the UK economy, offering more employment opportunities than any other. Developing and showcasing the culture of South Tyneside - be it the arts venue of the Customs House, the ethnic diversity of our communities or the sculptures along the Riverside area gives us the chance to show the dynamism, diversity and enthusiasm for change and modernisation that exists here.

The culture of South Shields is something that we should be proud of. It is what makes us the people that we are, but also the people that we want to be. It is our industrial heritage, but it is also our future as we develop and change the culture of South Shields to make the town become an affluent prosperous place where we all want to live and work.