National Youth Arts Strategy
£338,177 to boost youth arts
provision in West Dunbartonshire
CREATIVE Scotland is delighted to announce £338,177 support to help boost youth arts provision in West Dunbartonshire.
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.
West Dunbartonshire’s youth support organisation Y Sort It will work with partners to deliver #FreshCreations, a new space for West Dunbartonshire’s young creatives. #FreshCreations is both virtual and physical and connects young people to projects, activities, events and initiatives to inspire and invigorate. #FreshCreations will place young people at the centre of decision making and will make the arts a welcoming, accessible and relevant place to be.
Youth Arts Hub partners for the area include West Dunbartonshire Council Arts & Heritage, CAOS (Community Arts Open Space), Scottish Music Centre: ‘Music Plus’, Media Co-Op, West College Scotland, Tullochan, The Pulse, CAOSYoung Scot, Enable and The Prince’s Trust.
Daniel McCormick, vice-chair, Y sort it Youth Management Board, said:
“#Fresh Creations will offer local young people from West Dunbartonshire the opportunity to shape a new and improved programme of youth art activities and the opportunity to design and develop specific innovative youth art spaces for young people.
“I know first-hand how the support from Y sort it, can change any young persons life, the investment from Creative Scotland to create a West Dunbartonshire Youth Arts Hub won’t just be the beginning of #FreshCreations, it could mean a fresh start for many young people.”
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.”
Deborah Hockney, project manager, Earthtime, said:
“Earthtime is delighted to be working with Findhorn Bay Arts on this exciting new project and looks forward to bringing young families together to create new and innovative ways of sharing natural art with them.”
Iain Sneddon, Elgin Youth Development (Elgin Youth Cafe), said:
“On behalf of the Elgin Youth Development Group, we are delighted that the Findorn Bay Art’s Ignite project has been awarded funing from Creative Scotland’s youth arts development fund.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the staff of the Ignite project to help with the delivery of some of the creative arts projects. We see the development of both current and creative arts projects in Moray as a fantastic opportunity for the young people of Moray to be showcased and be recognised for their talents.”
Sam Eccles, director, the Touring Network, said:
“It is wonderful to see a collaborative approach result in a fantastic outcome for young people across the whole of Moray. To be in a unique position where we can work with those under-26 and allow them to define the cultural provision in the region is a fantastic opportunity not only for younger folk but also for those working in all areas of arts and culture. We are proud to be one of the partners working towards the common aim of improving arts provision across the Highlands, and look forward to working with so many other vital sparks, with the shared vision of l youth arts hub in Moray.”
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.
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