News

A new initiative will create 60 paid job placements for young people to act as inclusion facilitators in school drama programmes.

National Youth Theatre is running the programme in 15 schools as part of the Government's Kickstart scheme.

It allows 18-to-24 year olds on universal credit to facilitate two academic terms of inclusive theatre activity for disabled young people.

Paul Roseby, CEO and Artistic Director of National Youth Theatre, said: "Disabled people and all young people are most at risk of reduced opportunities post-Covid."

"Rising unemployment figures emphasise the urgent need for a social and cultural recovery that prioritises creative jobs, ensures accessible and inclusive opportunities and celebrates the diversity of British youth in all its forms and that's exactly what our new Inclusive Practice Collective is designed to do.”

5,000 volunteer 'city hosts' are needed for Coventry City of Culture.

Coventry City of Culture Trust and Coventry University Students' Union have launched a recruitment drive with the tagline "Coventry needs you!"

The first cohort of city hosts will be signed up by the end of April, with further drives throughout the City of Culture year, which begins in May.

The hosts will welcome and farewell visitors and provide information on installations and events.

Coventry City of Culture Trust Chief Executive Martin Sutherland said he looked forward "to seeing this programme blossoming over the coming weeks".

"We seek to engage residents in many ways, as audience members, participants, supporters and makers."

A Creative Industries Federation (CIF) survey has revealed that creative freelancers, micro businesses and those dependent on audiences have been particularly hard hit financially by the pandemic.

The survey of more than 800 creative practitioners and organisations found that those outside London have been worst affected, with respondents beyond the capital 8% more likely to see decreases in turnover of more than 75%.

Freelancers were 20% more likely than organisations to have seen a drop in income of 75% or more.

Across all respondents, those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were more than twice as likely to say it would take over 12 months to return to normal income levels, should the pandemic end tomorrow.

CIF CEO Caroline Norbury said: "These statistics reveal is that there are still many parts of our sector that are facing real, significant hardship, particularly small businesses, freelancers and those reliant on audiences.

"It is particularly worrying that the impact is being felt hardest outside of London, where we know the creative sector is likely to take longer to bounce back."

Scotland's Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop has requested an urgent meeting with her UK Government counterpart to discuss how the end of EU free movement is impacting the arts and cultural sector.

She has called on the Government to negotiate reciprocal visa-free access for artists and performers touring between the UK and EU.

In a letter to the UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, Hyslop argued that "extensive mobility arrangements between the UK and EU are crucial" yet "creative professionals now face significant barriers to these activities, including potential visa and work permit requirements, customs rules, and new rules for haulage, with increased costs and administration".

The letter follows a call with Home Office Minister Kevin Foster in which Hyslop raised similar concerns about the new immigration system and the impact of Brexit on creative professionals wishing to work in the UK.

Hyslop said: “Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit, but Scottish artists and musicians are facing huge barriers to touring and other short-term international work compared to their EU counterparts and will have to understand and comply with 27 different visa regimes. 

“It remains a fact that Europe is the most important international market for many who rely on touring, and action is needed now to support musicians and other creative professionals to tour again, when it is safe to do so."

22 more heritage organisations will benefit from £13.5m in targeted grants to restart regeneration and maintenance projects that were planned before the pandemic and now face delays or increased costs.

The highest award of £3.7m goes to the Black Country Living Museum, which is currently operating as a vaccination centre but prior to the pandemic was planning the single biggest development in its history. A further £1m goes to Brighton Museum’s Royal Estate.

A further £5m will go to 33 independent cinemas, including two major independent companies operating cinemas across England. Reel Cinemas has been awarded £1.5m to support 13 multiplexes and Light Cinemas will benefit from £2.9m to support 10 cinemas where broad film programming and community engagement can restart when cinemas reopen.

The grants are part of a final round of awards from the Government's £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund.

A planned roundtable summit organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is raising concerns about the editorial integrity of England's museums and heritage sector.

The meeting on 23 February will bring together heads of 25 heritage bodies in England “to discuss contested heritage and how to put the ‘retain and explain’ policy into practice”.

Those expected to be present will include national museums, arm's length funding bodies and organisations such as the National Trust.

The UK Government has made a series of interventions around heritage issues since the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down in Bristol last June.

In October, culture secretary Oliver Dowden wrote to national museums and heritage bodies advising they should comply with the Government’s position on the issue of contested histories, with the implication that funding could be at risk if they didn't. 

Museums Association director Sharon Heal said: "We should ensure editorial integrity and resist attempts to influence content and interpretation by interest groups, including funders."

She added the association would “unreservedly support” decolonisation initiatives in the sector.