About Us
The Culture Programmes Team maximises the social and economic benefits of culture for Leeds’ residents and visitors. Delivering and supporting a range of activities that celebrates the city’s rich and diverse cultural offer.
What We Do
The Culture Programmes Team manages Leeds City Council’s primary cultural grants programme, which provide support to creative projects as well as core funding for cultural organisations; creating opportunities for residents across the city to engage in cultural activity as a participant, an attendee or a creator.
The team also oversee the Leeds Culture Strategy and have responsibility for its framework and delivery within the city in line with the five current areas of focus:
Leeds 2023
A thriving and innovative creative sector
Children, families and young people
People, community and place
International.
The Culture Programmes Team ensures that culture is at the heart of the Council’s key strategies and policies. We are developing how we capture cultural impact to demonstrate the difference made against our priority areas, with a strong commitment to EDI and environmental sustainability across all work.
The Culture Programmes Team
For general enquiries contact us here.

Pam Johnson
Head of Culture Programmes

Gaby Paradis
Senior Manager Culture Programmes

Ann Wishart
Arts Development Manager

Abby Dix-Mason
Culture Development Manager

Sarah Priestley
Principal Officer, Culture Programmes

Hannah Farley
Principal Officer, Culture Programmes

Lisa Turney
Principal Officer, Culture Programmes

Ibrahim Patel
Senior Officer, Culture Programmes

Sarah Howells
Audience Development Officer

Heather Moss
Officer Culture Programmes
The Leeds Culture Programmes Team is part of a range of culture services provided by Leeds City Council.
Leeds Inspired is the what's on listings site for Leeds, offering a wide range of cultural events happening in the city. Event organisers log in to the site, add their events and we share them on the website, our extensive social media, and through our API which is taken up by Visit Leeds, Culture Hosts and other sites and apps. Thousands of events and activities are added across the city every year by hundreds of organisers - performances, comedy, gigs, film, creative workshops, talks and discussions, healthy living, exhibitions, family friendly events, festivals and much more. Just click here to see what's out there.
We also collaborate with, and support, the following teams and services:
The Arts, Events and Venues team manages a range of activities including Light Night Leeds, Breeze young people’s activities, alongside major events such as the World Triathlon and the programming and management of the Town Hall and Leeds International Film Festival.
Leeds Museums and Galleries is a family of heritage sites, museums, country house estates and a flagship art gallery. Leeds Museums and Galleries is the largest local authority-run museum service in England and has one of the most significant multidisciplinary collections in the UK.
Leeds Libraries delivers on five key priorities that inform all activity at the 34 community libraries across the city: economic recovery; children and young people; health and wellbeing; support for digital and learning; books, reading and culture. Every resident is supported at every stage of their lives.