Media Release: £290,069 to boost youth arts provision in Glasgow

National Youth Arts Strategy

£290,069 to boost youth arts
provision in Glasgow

CREATIVE Scotland is delighted to announce £290,069 support to help boost youth arts provision in Glasgow.

The funding is being announced as part of Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy Time To Shine and will be used to create a network of nine regional Youth Arts Hubs from a total funding package of £3.1m, across the country.

The Hubs – in Aberdeen and North East, Argyll, Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Highlands, Moray and West Dunbartonshire – are being formed through partnerships between local and national arts and youth services providers, to increase access to youth arts across Scotland across a range of art forms.

Glasgow Connected Arts Network (CAN) – a grassroots participative network of arts, youth and public sector organisations in Glasgow city – will work together to increase the access, quality and quantity of youth arts provision across Glasgow through greater collaboration, inspirational opportunities and more effective signposting.

Hub activity will include networking events, a youth arts festival, opportunities to explore art forms, review sessions with an art critic and an artist and mentoring opportunities.

GlasgowCAN partners are Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre, New Rhythms for Glasgow, Depot Arts, conFAB, Project Ability, DASH Club, Dancetime, Childrens Classic Concerts, Ignite Theatre, GMAC, Greater Easterhouse Arts Company, The Village Storytelling Centre, Plantation Productions, SWAMP, Hot Tap Media, Somewhere to_, Glad Cafe, Arts In the City, Core Assets, Bolt FM, Tron Theatre, Glasgow Life Arts Development and See Think Make.

On behalf of GlasgowCAN, Sarah Longfield, said:

“Glasgow Connected Arts Network are delighted to have been successful in receiving such a substantial grant to develop the infrastructure and breadth of youth arts across the city.

“We will be able to offer more high quality free arts provision for all young Glasweigans, targeting those who are harder to reach and linking up some of the excellent work already in place.

“We also welcome the opportunity to feed into a national network to share best practice and resources to strengthen youth arts opportunities across Scotland.”

Acting as focal points for regional youth arts delivery, the Hubs will nurture and celebrate ambition, enthusiasm and talent in Scotland’s young people by improving the regional infrastructure. Young people will be central to the decision making process and development of the Youth Arts Hubs.

Leonie Bell, director of Arts & Engagement, Creative Scotland, said:

“Through making connections and developing new projects these Hubs will enable more children and young people to take part in creative activities close to where they live.

“These Hubs will not only create opportunities for young people to shine and express themselves creatively; but also by placing them at the heart of the creation and delivery of the new work, the young people will develop skills and expertise which will be invaluable to their futures.”

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Sectary for Culture Secretary, said:

“The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all of Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve in the arts, and to make Scotland an international leader for creativity for children and young people.

“The Youth Arts Hubs will build on the well-established links between culture, education, youth employment and personal development, and will help us to deliver a step change in our youth arts provision in Scotland.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Time to Shine: The Hubs are a key element of Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy, Time to Shine. The strategy sets out a vision and key recommendations to enable Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve, in and through the arts and creativity.

For further information please see: http://www.creativescotland.com/what-we-do/latest-news/archive/2013/11/time-to-shine-scotlands-first-national-arts-strategy-for-young-people-launched-today

The £3.1m announced today is part of £5m funding awarded to Creative Scotland from Scottish Governments Young Scots Fund over the next two years to support initiatives based on key objectives of Time to Shine, Scotland National Youth Arts Strategy.

The Young Scots Fund was a significant initiative launched in the 2012-13 budget worth £50m that would invest over the following four years in emerging young talent in sport, enterprise and creativity.

This investment in our young people is an investment in a better future for Scotland. It will range across a number of projects. It will provide opportunities for developing, encouraging and building talent, for Young Scots to excel and realise their potential as our future entrepreneurs, creative practitioners and sports champions.

Creative Scotland is the national organisation that funds and supports the development of Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries.

Creative Scotland has four objectives: to develop and sustain a thriving environment for the arts, screen and creative industries; to support excellence in artistic and creative practice; to improve access to and participation in, arts and creative activity; and to deliver our services efficiently and effectively.

For further information on Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com.

Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland

Media Contacts

Sophie Bambrough
Media Relations & PR Officer
Creative Scotland

E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com

Switchboard: 0330 333 2000

T: 0131 523 0015

M: 07747 606 146

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Contact: Sophie Bambrough
Phone: 0131 523 0015
Email: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
Website: http://www.creativescotland.com