TAKING place from 9 – 18 May, Voluntary Arts Week celebrates creative participation – and encourages newcomers to get involved.
During the week, cultural groups in cities, towns and villages across the UK and Republic of Ireland will open their doors and hold special events to showcase their activities.
From precious rock polishing in Edinburgh to guerrilla knitting in Greenwich; choral singing on a bus in Glasgow to printmaking in Bangor and painting for over 50s in Cardiff – the activities in this year’s Voluntary Arts Week are as many and varied as the people doing them.
To find out what’s happening in your area, visit the Voluntary Arts Week website at www.voluntaryartsweek.org
And it’s not too late for cultural groups to get involved. Anyone running an event between 9 – 18 May can add their details to the Voluntary Arts Week website.
Throughout the year, choirs, drama clubs, painting groups, amateur orchestras, quilters and many more, get creative purely for the love of it. Voluntary Arts Week celebrates that activity – and encourage others to find out how good it feels to participate in the arts and crafts.
This year’s Voluntary Arts Week has two special strands:
- Take your talent outside and stage a music, dance or song ‘Flashmob’ in a public space. We’ve linked up with the Big Big Sing and The Big Dance Pledge to create special packs for groups to follow.
- Decorate your local area as part of the nationwide ‘CraftBomb’. Download the handy CraftBomb pack from our website to get you started.
Voluntary Arts Week is run by Voluntary Arts, the UK-wide development organisation for amateur arts and crafts. But the real stars of Voluntary Arts Week are the many thousands of amateur arts and crafts group who regularly bring cultural activity to their local areas.
To find out more about Voluntary Arts Week and how you can get involved, visit www.voluntaryartsweek.org or email info@voluntaryartsweek.org or visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/VoluntaryArtsWeek
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Voluntary Arts Week is an annual celebration of amateur arts and crafts. It began in 2011 as a way to shine a light on the diverse cultural activity taking place across the UK & Republic of Ireland, and encourage others to join in. To read more about Voluntary Arts Week, visit www.voluntaryartsweek.org
- Voluntary Arts Week is an initiative of Voluntary Arts, the development agency for arts and crafts participation in the UK and Republic of Ireland. For more information about Voluntary Arts, visit www.voluntaryarts.org
- Voluntary Arts acknowledges funding from Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Wales, Big Lottery and the Spirit of 2012 Trust. The Spirit of 2012 Trust was established with £40 million of Big Lottery Fund funding, to secure a lasting social and community legacy from the London 2012 Games. www.spiritof2012trust.org.uk
- For more information, quotes or photographs, please contact Cassandra Barron on email: info@voluntaryartsweek.org or tel: 07885 913289.
MEDIA RELEASE issued by Voluntary Arts Scotland. You too can post your story ideas for journalists (aka press or media releases), on allmediascotland.com. Email info@allmediascotland.com for more information.
Check out too twitter.com/nonstopstories.
Contact: Cassandra Barron
Phone: 01315617333
Email: info@voluntaryartsweek.org.uk
Website: http://www.voluntarartsweek.org
