Volunteering is giving your time to help others. However, our project is examining how volunteering also impacts upon volunteers themselves. Read Dr Oyinlola Oyebode's blog on how volunteering positively impacts individuals' wellbeing and their pride in the city of Coventry.

£172.6m of investment has been secured by Coventry after being awarded UK City of Culture, new research involving the University of Warwick has found.

Detailed in the Performance Measurement and Evaluation Interim Report, the awarding of UK City of Culture to Coventry has also led to £500m city regeneration activity linked directly to the secured investment and over £5m being invested into the local arts sector – with cultural activities taking place in each of Coventry’s 18 local wards and participations from all 42 neighbourhoods.

Coventry City of Culture Trust, in partnership with the University of Warwick and Coventry University and strongly supported by Coventry City Council made a clear commitment to the monitoring and evaluation of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. This was established during the bidding period prior to the city winning the title. The evaluation programme has also been established in the context of a broader UK policy and organisational environment that has seen a step-change in expectations around evaluation, impact reporting and learning.

This research asks how the police can use City of Culture as a platform to engage the public, whilst also managing crime and protecting event attendees. The project explores the potential for police partnerships around arts and culture, and how this can support crime reduction and protecting vulnerable people.

Coventry City of Culture are looking for 5,000 volunteers throughout the year, to spend as much or as little time as they can, to showcase the city. City hosts will provide a friendly and welcoming face for visitors, guide visitors and event spectators, provide information about the city and events, and support areas of displays and artwork.

In return, volunteers will be rewarded with limited edition uniform, training, rewards from our partners and professional head-shots.

This project aims to understand how, and to what extent the City Host volunteering programme, supporting Coventry City of Culture, impacts on those who volunteer as City Hosts.

As the ethos of any City of Culture is rooted in place, it is important to find out about those who don’t engage to ensure opportunities are provided for all citizens to get involved and participate. Information about those who do not participate is as equally important as for those who do.

As Coventry embarks on its year-long celebration of the title of UK City of Culture, a team of researchers at the Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies at University of Warwick will work together with residents in the city to unearth the impact of the title on their lives and work.

With so much going on at Warwick with City of Culture, we've put together a brief roundup below to highlight everything that is happening and how you can be involved.