Slough Town of Culture could be 'equivalent of our London 2012', charity CEO says

Slough’s bid for UK Town of Culture could be an ‘instrumental’ change for young people who are ‘determined’ to defy the area’s perception, a youth charity CEO has said.

Rob Deeks, chief executive officer of Together as One, said Slough’s case was ‘incredibly strong’ and showed the strength and depth of talent the town has to offer.

Slough’s bid to be the UK’s first Town of Culture, a new competition run by the Government, could see it awarded a £3million grant to deliver a six-month arts programme.

Britwell resident Mr Deeks, 44, said: “For Slough, this could be the equivalent of our London 2012 – where everybody got behind a brilliant event.

“What many people do is mistake the fact that we have a high street that’s on the brink of regeneration, that is really quite run down.

“From that they take a view that this is a time where nothing’s happening – and actually nothing could be further from the truth.”

Slough scooped the unwanted title of the ‘UK’s unhappiest place to live’ in a 2024 survey by property website Rightmove.

But Mr Deeks said there was much more to the town than disparaging headlines.

“If a young person is passionate about music, they can do something practically every night of the week for free in Slough – you just can’t say that of many places,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter whether the medium is music, culture, heritage or digital – there are just so many opportunities going on in Slough.”

He said being awarded the title could be significant for the town’s young people, who were becoming increasingly determined to make it better.

Mr Deeks said: "My field is youth work and one of the things that I learned very early on is that if you label a young person and tell them often enough that they’re no good, then it doesn’t take long for them to take that on board and act out the worst of those expectations.

“What I would say about young people in Slough is that I think often they do pick up on the negativity and stereotypes about where they live.

"But I do think that more and more young people are feeling a certain protectiveness towards the town and a determination to make it better.”

The comments come amid the launch of a Town of Culture 2028 ‘steering group’, which has drafted in figures from across the cultural, business and political sectors in Slough to help oversee its bid.

Mr Deeks, the group’s chair, told the Express that while ‘we have our challenges’ in Slough, it was an ‘incredibly strong’ candidate for Town of Culture.

He said Slough’s success stories included youth dance centre Creative Academy and classical music performance group The Dionysus Ensemble, among a long list of organisations.

He said: “When you tell people that that’s something based within Slough, they’re surprised.

“If we can keep making sure that people become aware of this other side of Slough that they’re not necessarily familiar with, I think that that’s so important.

“If we manage to get Town of Culture, it will help to change the way people see Slough.”