Youth culture – Student thinking

There are three arts centres on the campus of the University of Southampton; the Nuffield Theatre, Turner Sims Concert Hall and John Hansard Gallery. Although the three venues operate independently of each other, they have teamed up to co-operate in a new ‘smart card’ scheme, with the shared aim of engaging the 20,000 university students around them with their arts activity, says Anwen Cooper.

The university in conjunction with the Smart Cities Project has given financial assistance to the three venues to help with the setting up of the ArtsPass, which is believed to be the only scheme of its kind in the UK at the moment. After a year-long pilot scheme, it was officially launched last month.

Each student is issued with a multi-purpose student card, containing smart card technology, which can be loaded with information such as sports facility membership and subscription for bus passes. The theatre, concert hall and gallery bookshop have machines installed where students can top up their smart card with an ArtsPass. They pay just £10 for their initial ArtsPass upload, and £20 for any subsequent uploads. Each upload is equivalent to four tokens and each token enables access to one concert, art gallery event or book discount, or theatre production. Thus, students can gain access to an event for just £2.50, representing a saving of up to 75% on normal student prices. Not all events are part of the offer, but as the ArtsPass is valid for the whole academic year, there are plenty of opportunities for students to benefit from access to the arts at discount prices.

The marketing has been co-ordinated between the three arts venues to create a leaflet about the scheme. At the Nuffield, staff are very pleased with the take-up so far, and look forward to the scheme growing in popularity as new students settle into the university and find time to visit the arts venues on the campus. The ArtsPass is a valuable marketing tool attracting students who may not normally engage with the arts. Through technology, vital access has been opened up to the whole student body.

Anwen Cooper is Marketing Assistant at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.
t: 023 8031 5500; e: [email protected]; w: http://www.smartcities.co.uk, http://www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk, http://www.hansardgallery.org.uk and http://www.turnersims.co.uk

The Smart Cities Project is sponsored by the European Commission’s Fifth Framework Programme.