How DIPACT Works
At DIPACT, ten years of practice have taught us something simple: we listen before we design projects and before we seek funding, because trust is not written — it is practised.
Founded in Manchester in 2016, DIPACT is an artist-led, community-powered organisation rooted in Manchester and Greater Manchester. We work with artists, creatives, community leaders, grassroots organisations and cultural partners to understand what is needed now, and to shape meaningful responses together.
Our work is not built around delivering activity to communities. It is built around creating space with people, where lived experience, professional practice, creativity and local knowledge all have value.
Shared leadership
Leadership at DIPACT does not sit only with directors or staff. Our artists, creatives, community members and collaborators are also part of how our work is shaped.
We believe people should have genuine agency to lead on their own ideas, influence decisions and bring their knowledge into the spaces we create. Our approach is based on practical listening, co-creation and shared leadership — listening carefully, trusting people’s expertise and creating the conditions for their ideas to grow.
For us, community benefit is not simply about how many people attend an activity. It is about who gets to lead, who is invested in, whose knowledge is valued and what remains after a project ends.
Investing in creatives
We do not see artists and creative practitioners simply as people delivering workshops. We see them as artists, professionals, community leaders and people with the potential to create long-term change.
We bring each creative’s own practice into our programmes, support them to experiment and develop ideas, create paid opportunities and help strengthen their longer-term careers.
As a small organisation, we are proud to have already created 24 paid commissions and creative opportunities. Three creatives we have supported have gone on to establish their own initiatives, and we continue to support and champion their development.
We believe creative people deserve more than short-term opportunities. They deserve investment, professional standards, trust and the space to build something that lasts.
Listening before delivering
Our programmes develop through ongoing conversations with artists, communities, community leaders and partners.
We ask what is missing, what is changing and what people need from cultural spaces now. That listening helps us respond to real experiences rather than designing projects around assumptions.
This approach has allowed us to work collaboratively with five major cultural institutions and more than 10 community organisations, groups and grassroots partners, while also supporting independent and community venues across Manchester and Greater Manchester.
Creating lasting legacy
We want our work to have value beyond the life of a grant or individual project.
That means building skills, confidence, relationships, leadership, creative practice and networks that people can carry forward. It means supporting artists to continue their careers, helping community ideas grow and strengthening the smaller organisations and spaces that make local cultural life possible.
Art can contribute significantly to connection and mental wellbeing, but for DIPACT it is also about professional practice, identity, leadership, opportunity and belonging.
We want the people who work with us to leave with stronger foundations for whatever they choose to build next.
Culture, belonging and multicultural Britain
Celebrating multiculturalism is at the heart of DIPACT.
Our work creates opportunities for different cultures, histories, traditions and lived experiences to be visible and valued, while also creating spaces where people can meet across difference and build something together.
We believe it is possible to honour heritage while creating shared futures in Britain. Manchester and Greater Manchester remain at the centre of our practice, while the learning and models developed through our work increasingly contribute to wider national conversations around culture, belonging and participation.
Holding high standards
Communities and creatives deserve high-quality experiences.
As DIPACT grows, we continue to strengthen our standards, governance, partnerships and sustainability while protecting the values that have shaped our work from the beginning.
For us, co-creation does not mean lowering expectations. It means combining professional standards with community knowledge, sharing responsibility, believing in talent and passion, and holding one another when support is needed.
This is how we believe sustainable cultural change is created.
Made possible together
None of this work happens alone.
DIPACT has been shaped by the generosity, creativity and commitment of our communities, artists, volunteers, collaborators, team members and partners. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has trusted us with their ideas, stories and creative practice.
We are also grateful for the support of funders including Arts Council England and The National Lottery Community Fund through Awards for All, whose investment has enabled us to create paid artistic opportunities, strengthen community-led work and continue developing our practice.
At the heart of DIPACT is a belief that when people are listened to, invested in and trusted to lead, creative work can become more than a project — it can become a lasting part of a community’s future.
