Engagement

An initiative developed by the Southbank Centre during the Covid-19 pandemic to reach those most isolated by the lockdowns is to be relaunched.

The Art by Post scheme scheme involves delivering free activity booklets to care homes, hospitals, charities, arts organisations, specialist dementia services, prison facilities and housing initiatives to give people an outlet for artistic expression. 

The initiative previously reached almost 4,500 people, 90% of whom said it had given them something to look forward to and 75% of whom said that it had improved their wellbeing. 

The scheme will return in partnership with the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), with six new creativity booklets designed for people with long-term physical and mental health needs.

Participants can refer themselves or be referred by a friend, family member or professional service. Organisations can also sign up to receive the booklets in bulk.

The new booklets provide free poetry and art activities designed by artists and activists to nurture creativity and support wellbeing, with a focus on how to care for the health of the planet.

“At NASP we’ve witnessed the life changing effect social prescribing – connecting people to non-medical support to address problems like isolation or stress – can have on people’s mental and physical health,” said Sunita Pandya, Interim CEO at The National Academy for Social Prescribing.

“However, we are also keenly aware that some green social prescribing or arts for wellbeing projects aren’t accessible to those who cannot leave the house. 

“These booklets – which are being offered to link workers for distribution – make social prescribing activities available to all. We can't wait to see the work they inspire.”
 

A collaborative workshop is planning to make outdoor musical instruments more accessible, particularly to young people who are blind or partially sighted.

The workshop, a collaboration between Percussion Play, the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) and the Amber Trust, will take place at RSBC’s Life Without Limits Centre in London in April, to discover how Percussion Play’s instruments can be improved and made more accessible for vision-impaired children and young people.

The session will be facilitated by Amber Music practitioner Gennie Joy, who will guide children and their families in how to play instruments from Percussion Play, including Babel Drums, Cyclone, Cavatina and Tubular Bells.

Percussion Play hopes the workshop will help it identify the shapes, heights, colours and finishes most beneficial to people with vision impairments.

The instrument manufacturer also hopes to create a new instrument specifically for people who are blind or partially sighted during the collaborative session.

“We are excited to be working with the RSBC and The Amber Trust to discover how we can make our instruments even more inclusive,” said Jody Ashfield, Co-Founder and CEO of Percussion Play.

“Our instruments are designed so everyone can enjoy making music and we hope to improve our current range by engaging with young people who are partially sighted and discover what changes could be made to make them more accessible.”

National Youth Theatre has announced IGNITE Your Creativity, a partnership with Netflix that aims to introduce young people to backstage and technical careers in film, TV and theatre.

The programme is designed to offer opportunities to more than 500 young people aged 14 to 25 in South Wales, West Yorkshire and the North East of England in its first year.

“Theatre is one of the great pipelines to TV and film but sadly the pipeline of opportunity for so many young people has been broken for so long,” said Paul Roseby, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of National Youth Theatre.

“Certain parts of the creative industries are growing, but ironically so is the skills gap in production talent. This partnership will help redress the imbalance”.  

The programme is currently recruiting young people in Newport, South Wales, where participants will work with Urban Myth Films and their Newport-based film studios, the Sherman Theatre, National Youth Arts Wales and local community organisations and schools. 

The programme will expand to West Yorkshire and the North East of England later this year, delivering 20 free community and school workshops in each area. It will also offer set and theatre visits and free week-long courses led by industry professionals.

“Our industry has a pronounced absence of socio-economic diversity partly because it’s freelance, which makes it tough for those from less privileged backgrounds to gain a foothold,” said Anne Mensah, Vice President of UK Content at Netflix.

“IGNITE Your Creativity has been designed to raise awareness and aspirations, and build confidence and networks so that young people don’t need to have existing industry connections, live in a big city or have a degree for a career in TV and film.”

A large chunk of official audience figures for UNBOXED festival came from viewers watching Countryfile on the BBC, it has emerged.

Organisers of the £120m project said a total of 18.1m people had “engaged” with the project, consisting of 2.8m people attendeding events last year and a further 13.6m engaging with broadcast and digital content.

The Times reports that the 13.6m figure included five million Countryfile viewers watching an episode in October when the programme reported on one of the projects, Green Space Dark Skies.

Speaking in parliament, Labour MP Nick Smith raised the Countryfile figures with civil servants and ministers and questioned whether the festival had "made the impact it intended".

"The department [DCMS] reported in November that the figure for audience engagement was just over 18m," he said. 

"That sounds a reasonable reach, but it turns out that a one-hour “Countryfile” TV special was doing the heavy lifting with five million viewers — nearly a third of the total."

Smith has asked for the matter to be considered as part of a wider evaluation currently taking place.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £4.9m for the restoration of historic buildings at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

The work, which will be overseen by Barts Heritage will focus on conservation of the Great Hall and the Hogarth Stair, a staircase featuring two seven-foot-high canvasses painted by William Hogarth, depicting stories from the Bible.

The paintings require specialist cleaning and conservation, and the hall is also set to undergo extensive restoration work, including the repair and strengthening of the timber staircase and conservation work on an 18th Century chandelier. 

“We’re thrilled that our funding will be used to conserve these unique examples of Hogarth’s work and revitalise the stunning stair Hall for more and more people to appreciate and enjoy when visiting the historic buildings,” said Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive at The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project includes an outreach component via a programme offering cultural and educational activities such as therapeutic artmaking courses, sensory heritage walking tours and mindfulness activities. 

Young people interested in heritage conservation can apply for placements, apprenticeships and volunteering roles.

Will Palin, Chief Executive of Barts Heritage said the project combines “the much-needed restoration of the one of the most important historic hospital buildings in the UK with a pioneering heritage and health programme”. 

“We are thrilled to have secured this transformative grant from the Heritage Fund and look forward to welcoming the public both during restoration works and after the project is complete,” he said.
 
 

Urgent action is required to protect local cultural services in the face of the cost of living crisis, a Local Government Association (LGA) report has concluded.

The Commission on Culture and Local Government, set up earlier this year by the LGA, found that the cost of living crisis, combined with the prospect of recession, and pressure on public services pose "new challenges".

"Under these circumstances it would be tempting to dismiss investment in cultural services as a luxury we can’t afford," the report states.

"But for the same reasons, these services have never been more important. 

"Cultural services, organisations and practitioners bring people together at times of crisis and celebration, they provide support and social connection, create jobs, develop new adaptive skills, and underpin empathy and critical thinking."

The report calls on local government, regional bodies, cultural arms-length bodies and national government to work together with cultural organisations and communities to "take immediate action to safeguard the future of local cultural infrastructure".

It says this should be followed by a longer-term action plan to deliver a series of outcomes including targeting regional inequalities and enabling local authorities to develop and deliver meaningful place-led strategies for culture, and a "power shift" towards place-led approaches to enable communities, cultural providers and practitioners to shape local decision making.

Baroness Lola Young, Chair of the commission, said: "Access to culture and creativity provides hope and inspiration and enriches people’s lives. That access must be fair for all.

"I hope our findings and recommendations will help councils, regional bodies, cultural arm's-length bodies and national government to work together with cultural organisations and communities to weather the latest storm and secure the future of this vital community infrastructure.”