Participatory arts

A performing arts group serving children, adults and people with special educational needs is at risk of closure due to cutbacks by Thurrock Council in Essex.

The council has debts totalling around £1.5bn and has announced plans to withdraw £126,000 in funding for youth work, the BBC reported.

Victoria Jarmyn, CEO and Founder of JTD Arts, said that her group had received funding from the council for 14 years but that she had no promise of further funds from April.

JTD also receives funding from Active Essex, but the uncertainty over continued funding from the council has left her “a bit petrified", she told the BBC.

“These adults have been coming here and they have relied on this service and it has helped them integrate within the community to be able to become a lot stronger within society,” she said.

“To take that away has quite a lot of impact on their life skills.”

The group operates from the Thameside theatre complex in Grays, which is under threat of sale. A 2021 report found that the venue cost £500,000 annually in running costs and that refurbishment would cost £16m.

Councillors are due to discuss the complex’s future next week.

Conservative Council Leader Mark Coxshall denied that the Thameside would be closing.
 

A £120m celebration of British creativity attracted a total of 2.8 million visitors, newly published audience data shows.

As well as 2.8 million people visiting free live events for the Unboxed festival, 13.5 million accessed digital and broadcast content and 1.7 million took part in learning, volunteer and community participation activities, organisers claim.

The headline figure includes the television audience of a special edition of the BBC programme Countryfile broadcast last month, which featured a 15-minute segment of content created by Unboxed.

The figures fall significantly short of a “stretch target” of 66 million set by the festival’s chief creative officer, Martin Green, who recently left Unboxed to run next year’s Eurovision song contest in Liverpool.

The National Audit Office is currently conducting an official probe into the value for money provided by the government-funded festival - widely dubbed 'The Festival of Brexit' - following a critical report by the DCMS Select Committee which concluded that the investment was "an irresponsible use of public money".

Stuart Andrew, the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Civil Society, said the festival had “taken culture to the doorsteps of millions in communities right across the UK” and “inspired people who attended events, got involved online or watched on TV”.

Since February, 10 free Unboxed projects have opened across the UK. These include a decommissioned gas platform called See Monster in Weston-super-Mare and a trail through the solar system called Our Place in Space in Northern Ireland, Liverpool and Cambridge.

Funding totalling £114,051 is being awarded as part of an ongoing grant scheme to support local culture and creativity in Wakefield.

The grant scheme, run by Wakefield Council, is designed to support art, culture and creativity to flourish in the run-up to its Year of Culture in 2024. 

Each artist or organisation will be awarded between £1,000 and £15,000 to work with local communities.

The council has announced details of 16 of the projects to have received funding so far. They include creative activities themed around mental health and tailored to people at risk of homelessness, visually impaired people and pregnant women.

“This investment will enable diverse and high-quality creative projects right across our district,” said Michael Graham, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport.

Applications for Made in Wakefield grants remain open until October 17.

HOME Slough has launched the On Your Doorstep programme, an arts grant funding scheme that aims to bring communities together through new arts and cultural experiences.

The overall funding total is £15,000. Grants of between £500 and £1,000 will be awarded to individuals, groups and organisations to fund an arts event or activity.

“On Your Doorstep is an opportunity for people to bring new arts and cultural activities to their local communities,” Jake Orr, creative producer at HOME Slough, told Slough Express. 

“We want to commission anything – knitting, dance, film, puppetry or craft – that is arts-based, high-quality and will attract new audiences to get involved. We are looking for great ideas and for people to have some fun.”

Events can offer any type of cultural activity but in order to be considered for a grant they must be free and allow as many people as possible to participate. 

Submissions are reviewed by HOME Slough’s Community Programming Board, a group of local Slough residents, and successful applicants will be offered guidance and support to help develop the initial idea.

The first commissioned work is expected in September and activities will continue into next year.