Mission & Vision

The Home of Creativity: Mission & Vision

Our mission is...

...to be the home of creativity for people in South East London, of all abilities and backgrounds, seeking excellent learning in the arts – providing a safe, vibrant and welcoming space to inspire and nurture our community of life-long learners.

We are one of the oldest arts education charities in London, set up by the community 140 years ago and a much-loved creative hub today – a centre of excellence for art and music.  Our purpose is to inspire, nurture and educate. From our vibrant, welcoming and historic buildings in South East London, we bring creativity to life in an uplifting, welcoming and safe environment. 

We believe in the power of the arts to enrich and engage, and in its capacity to provide opportunities for joy that bring people together – enhancing wellbeing and deepening community cohesion. Each journey into the arts is unique and our 120 talented staff and tutors believe passionately in our personalised approach to life-long learning that changes people’s lives. We are a place where people aspire to work – and where our staff, tutors and learners love to be.

Our mission is to ensure our adventurous range of creative learning opportunities are accessible to all ages, backgrounds and abilities, through innovative individual, group and online learning, alongside exciting and ambitious collaborations and partnerships.

Our vision is…

… to be an inspirational arts education hub that reflects the diversity of our South East London community by actively promoting inclusion in the arts. Supported by sustainable finances that enable us to broaden our charitable outreach, while preserving and developing our historic building – so that arts education reaches those who need it most for generations to come.

We will actively promote and encourage inclusion in the arts – by materially improving the diversity of our board, staff, tutors and learners. We will be a cultural hub for our diverse community to come together, learning from - and with - each other. We will innovate, develop and provide the highest quality arts learning that meets the needs of our local communities.

Our charitable outreach and initiatives will be effective and demonstrated through measurable results. Our ambition is to make arts education available to significantly more people in South East London, who would not otherwise have access to it. We will be proactive in working with other organisations and groups, to find opportunities that deliver the greatest societal impact for our community.  

We will make sure our grade two listed building is fit-for-purpose, environmentally sustainable – and provides an accessible and inspiring space for everyone. We will ensure we have strong and sustainable finances to allow us to continuously improve and thrive. We will be recognised for our innovative, uplifting and relevant programming – that inspires our learners in South East London and beyond.

Our Core values 

Excellence and Versatility

• we strive for excellence in everything we do – including the quality of tutors and staff, our teaching, programming and building
• we personalise our approach to the needs of our learners, inspiring and nurturing them – and responding flexibly to emerging trends and external events
• we hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism - in how we treat our learners, each other and how we approach our roles

Welcoming and Safe

• we have created a welcome and safe place of creativity and well-being for everyone - where people are genuinely supportive and care
• students and staff should feel safe to explore creatively in a positive and nurturing environment, that is uplifting and brings out the best in people
• we strive to be a safe place for staff to ask for help and support, develop – and share ideas, so that everyone can fulfil their potential

Inclusive and Diverse

• we promote inclusivity and diversity in everything we do – to ensure we are increasingly fully representative of our local community
• we make sure our offer – both in terms of employment and programming - is relevant and speaks to all parts of our community
• we identify and break down barriers to accessing what we have to offer – recognising where things might be intimidating and finding ways through that together

Creative and Vibrant 

• we are a cultural hub encouraging and enabling people to fulfil their creative potential – both staff and learners – so that they can express themselves and be who they want to be
• we are lively and vibrant – and bring positive energy and humour to what we do, creating opportunities for joy
• we are creative in our programming – challenging ourselves to provide an exciting and adventurous range of creative learning opportunities

Sustainable and Stable

• we plan for the future – building contingency into what we do and are aspirational and responsible in the way we raise money to ensure the Conservatoire continues to thrive
• we want to be here for generations to come – we are conscious of how we spend our money, time and use our resources
• we are aware of the impact we have on our environment – looking at the way we use materials, energy and our building.