£95,000 funding boosts cultural activity
for young people in the Borders
SELKIRK-based Voice of My Own has been awarded £95,000 from Creative Scotland to enable young people in the borders region to create, film and broadcast multi art form projects as part of Time To Shine, Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy.
Young people based in the Borders will have the opportunity to create, film and broadcast multi art form projects through Arts in the Frame delivered by Selkirk based Voice of My Own (VOMO) in collaboration with local and national youth arts and youth service providers.
VOMO project manager, Robert Sproul-Cran, hopes this new arts programming on the web-based VOMO TV will lead to long term benefits for the Borders.
He said: “This funding represents not just a cash injection to the Scottish Borders, but an injection of support to communities which have missed out in the past.
“Our young talent has always had to leave to be trained, and then stay away to find a job.
“Even worse, many young people couldn’t even get training places because they had no chance to gain the experience they needed for their CVs.
“Now, VOMO’s achievements are being recognised, and that’s fantastic news for the prospects of our young people.
“The young people will also be able to record music on location and in the studio, and we will have training sessions in audio as well as moving pictures.”
This news comes at the same time as Creative Scotland has awarded Targeted Funding to the Scottish Book Trust in Edinburgh (£95,000) and An Lanntair in the Western Isles (£89,000).
The funding aims to create enhanced access opportunities for Scotland’s young people to take part in creative activities.
Find out more about the vision and key recommendations set out in Scotland’s national youth arts strategy here: http://ow.ly/MNvcc
Colin Bradie, Youth Arts programme manager, Creative Scotland, said: “In support of the recently established nine Youth Arts Hubs, this new funding is enabling organisations to explore and develop further ways in which the breadth and depth of youth arts engagement across Scotland can be extended.
“The Young Writers Programme will nurture emerging young Scottish writing talent, while Arts in the Frame and Uncharted will create opportunities to creatively address rural access issues in the arts in the Borders and the Western Isles.
“VOMO and An Lanntair will act as regional focal points for youth arts to develop more sustained access for young people through removing social and geographic barriers to participation.
“These ambitious projects, designed to address gaps in provision, will be created by young people, for young people.
“They will also create valuable opportunities for young people to develop new skills and gain experiences which will benefit their futures in many ways.”
Scottish Book Trust are now recruiting a full-time Young Writers co-ordinator to develop and deliver the programme.
The co-ordinator will liaise with the young participants and partners, and will monitor work published online. The post will be supported by Scottish Book Trust’s Writer Development Team and Marketing Team and will have access to the wider expertise and support of the staff.
For further details, please visit: http://scottishbooktrust.com/vacancies
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Time to Shine
Published on 8 November 2013, Scotland’s first National Youth Arts Strategy, Time to Shine – which is centred around the three key themes of creating and sustaining engagement; nurturing potential and talent; and developing infrastructure and support – 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 visit: http://ow.ly/MDBx2.
Follow the latest from Time To Shine @TTSYoutharts.
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here.
We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life.
We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery.
For further information, please visit www.creativescotland.com.
Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Media contact
Sophie Bambrough
Media Relations & PR Officer
Creative Scotland
E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 131 523 0015
M: +44 (0) 774 760 6146
Switch Board: +44 (0) 330 333 2000
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