Culture, Heritage, Communities and Local Economies

The Cultural Engine

Providing expert and friendly support for organisations making a difference in their communities and improving local economies.

We partner with Local Authorities, Government Agencies, Universities, Trusts, Charities and other Community or Social Organisations by providing capacity and knowledge to:

  • Identify & secure funding.
  • Develop, manage & deliver projects.
  • Write relevant & deliverable strategies.
  • Support business planning & operational development.
  • Nurturing excellent cross-sector partnerships.
  • Undertake research.
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Our Services

In order to complete a successful project there are a number of different skillsets that are important to make a successful proposal become a reality. We are well skilled in a number of fields and can help you in a number of ways to reach your goals with a wide range of skillsets.

Case Studies

Resorting to the Coast – Tendring Coastal Towns

Working with Essex County Council and many local partners we developed the ‘Resorting to the Coast’ stage 2 HLF application which included writing a comprehensive interpretation strategy about the undiscovered…

Southend-on-Sea Film Festival

The Cultural Engine provides support for this important event on Southend’s cultural calendar, working with the White Bus to secure funding from the British Film Institute each year, writing activity/summary…

St. Mary the Virgin Church

The Cultural Engine worked with St Marys to develop their initial Heritage Lottery Fund grant application and in particular helping them to set the context and guidance for future work…

Latest from the News/Blog

Video of CERG’s Tony Sampson Discussing the Imaginarium and Mezzolevel at i-PLACE Conference (26-27/11/2025)

In this i-PLACE talk, Dr Tony Sampson, Reader in Digital Communications at University of Essex, sets out a new way of thinking about how policy is designed, translated, and implemented. The presentation introduces the concept of the mezzo-level: an intermediate scale of governance operating between macro-level strategy and micro-level lived experience. Tony argues that many…

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A Reflection on the Imaginarium’s Beth Chatto’s Meanwhile Garden: The Urban Wild and Other Disturbances

A Reflection on Beth Chatto’s Meanwhile Garden: The Urban Wild and Other Disturbances A sold out evening with the Cultural Engine Research Group’s Imaginarium, on 12th February 2026 at the Commons Café, The Minories, Colchester, Essex. The evening opened with Stuart Bowditch’s performance of “Homage to the Waiting Room.” Given Colchester’s history of former “meanwhile”…

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Funding Success

Sharing the good news from the Essex Business School and School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex that CERG’s joint interdisciplinary application to the Innovation Fund has just been approved. The project, which is… “an outcome of Dr Tony Sampson’s (EBS and project lead) and Professor Tom Cameron’s (Life Sciences) collaboration with the…

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Get in Touch

Whatever your requirement, you can be assured that we are here to help.