MYAN E-Bulletin: Issue 15: Mar - Apr 2008

1. MYAN News / Other News

MYAN NEWS ITEMS

New web profiles required / update your news & activities / e-bulletin feedback

Please give us your feedback on your MYA e-bulletin. What do you think about the format and content? Has it helped you find jobs, funding, events or contacts? What changes would you like to see?

If you are a MYAN web registered organisation, please update your Autumn / Winter activities and news by logging on at:

http://www.manchesteryoutharts.org/providers_admin/login.asp

If you've forgotten your login email info@manchesteryoutharts.org for a reminder.

If you're not already a member please register as an organisation
http://www.manchesteryoutharts.org/register.asp

or as an artist
http://www.manchesteryoutharts.org/artists_register.asp

We're currently looking for more Young People to showcase on the MYA website. Are there any that you work with that would like to have a short interview and have their photo taken and put up on the website? Have a look at our current profiles for a flavour of what to expect: http://www.manchesteryoutharts.org/interviews.asp Please email a.robinson@manchester.gov.uk with any suggestions.

Opportunities with Creative Partnerships Manchester-Salford

From April, the Creative Partnerships team will be offering its programme across the whole of Greater Manchester and will be seeking new creative agents and practitioners, as well as partner organisations and schools.

Anyone wishing to join the Creative Partnerships Manchester-Salford mailing list to receive information about how to make an application or an expression of interest should contact Claire O'Brien on 0161 838 5647 or email claire.o'brien@creative-partnerships.com

OTHER NEWS ITEMS

Five hours a week of quality arts and culture, for every child...

This February the Government announced that each child should be offered at least 5 hours of high quality culture per week, in and out of school. They are seeking expressions of interest from partnerships wishing to explore how this could be achieved. The deadline for submitting an expression of interest is 7 April.

As a minimum young people should have access to a range of the following opportunities:

• attending top quality theatre, orchestral and dance performances
• visiting and engaging with national and local exhibitions, galleries, and museums
• visiting heritage sites, significant contemporary buildings and public spaces
• opportunities to engage creatively with library and archive services
• learning a musical instrument
• playing music or singing in ensembles
• taking part in theatre and dance performances
• producing a piece of creative writing, taking part in a reading group, or listening to authors talk about their work
• learning about and making films, digital or new media art and
• making a piece of visual arts or crafts

Background
Culture enriches lives; and all children and young people should have the opportunity to engage with high quality cultural experiences no matter where they live or what their background.

This programme will give them the opportunity to learn in and about culture, developing as critical spectators, participants and creators of the cultural world around them. They will learn through culture using engagement with the arts and other activities to boost attainment, other skills and personal development. It will be an opportunity for all, but there will be a particular focus on those who would otherwise miss out.

Where young people show particular talents, the programme will ensure that they have the opportunities to develop and to progress into careers in the cultural and creative sectors. There will also be scope for communities and young people themselves to be involved in further designing the offer depending on local needs.

Young people will be offered:

• a depth and quality of cultural engagement not just access or one off activities
• a vibrant local offer with access for everyone, and the opportunity to develop talent and excellence and help particularly talented young people to have a career in the sector
• the opportunity to encompass experiences from birth to their transition to adulthood at 19
• the opportunity to be part of a multi-layered offering which includes culture on the curriculum and/or positive activities provided by local authorities and other providers in informal settings

For further information on how to submit an expression of interest, please download the prospectus and application form from http://www.creative-partnerships.com/offer

Creative Partnerships welcomes expressions of interest from partnerships who might like to pilot the programme locally. For further information please contact offer@creative-partnerships.com

Children, Young People and Families Grant Success

PRESCAP, in partnership with CapeUK, the regional Arts Award Agency for Yorkshire region, have secured £55,000 from the Children, Young People and Families grant programme supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, to bring in a mentor in each regional agency to work specifically with BME organisations.

CapeUK and Prescap will work with 10 voluntary sector organisations which serve BME communities across Yorkshire and the North West to support them to embed creative approaches into their work with young people. The aim will be to build the capacity of organisations to deliver the Young Peoples Arts Award. Mentors will, through tailor made approaches, support organisations to embed the Arts Award into their work, enable collaboration between diverse organisations and develop exemplar models for the national Arts Award network.

PRESCAP is really pleased and excited that this bid has been successful. It will give us an opportunity to support a number of groups wanting to include Arts Award in their projects, and, because ongoing evaluation is built into the project, it will also give us a much clearer insight into what support groups especially voluntary sector groups and organisations require to enable them to buid Arts Award into their work. It will also provide a focus for creative collaboration across the North West and Yorkshire regions.

The project will last a year starting in April 2008. The first step will be to appoint a mentor within each region. We will then be contacting groups which might be interested in becoming involved in the programme, and developing a project which suits their ideas and is appropriate to the young people with whom they work.

If you would like more information about this programme please contact PRESCAP on info@prescap.co.uk or 01772 887785.

Manifesto for Children’s Arts

On 21 July at the Unicorn Theatre, London, Action for Children's Arts will present a Manifesto for Children's Arts - a call to action for everyone who believes in the transforming power of the imagination in children's lives.

The manifesto will be based on what children say - we have commissioned Dr Vicky Cave to run a series of workshops with children in different parts of the country to explore with them the place that the arts have in their lives and on the views of adults who care about the arts for children.

Please click on the link to tell us what you think about the state of children's arts today and what our priorities should be for the future.

The conference at the Unicorn Theatre in July will be an opportunity for everyone who cares about children's arts to make their voices heard and commit themselves to what we all believe in - action for children's arts.

Visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=c_2fCV_2b7XYvF_2bA_2fr_2bgfkrHbQ_3d_3d to take survey.

National Year of Reading

>The National Year of Reading (NYR), which launches publicly in April, is a year-long celebration of reading, in all its forms. It aims to help build a greater national passion for reading in England - for children, families and adult learners alike.

From now until the end of March, organisations and authorities are asked to take the Reading Challenge, to pledge and plan their support. The NYR.

For more information contact the Manchester Coordinator, Nicky Parker on n.parker@manchester.gov.uk or visit the website www.yearofreading.org.uk

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