• Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by email

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has received a further £2.5m from the Arts Council of England as a step towards securing a more stable future for the orchestra, which over the past two years has undertaken a complete review of its objectives and operations. The CBSO season just ended has seen the successful development of matinee performances and the introduction of Family, Rush Hour and Friday Night Popular Classics concerts, all of which have helped it to break its box office targets for the first time in six years. _

The Visual Arts and Galleries Association has launched a website which provides a fully interactive service for its members, including stop press information, listings for conferences and professional events, a discussion forum and hot links to other members. The public pages of the site include issues of relevance to the visual arts, with links to other advocacy and campaign sites, a directory of VAGA members and an outline of VAGA?s activity. w: http://www.vaga.co.uk _

The Royal National Theatre has published its Access Guide, a comprehensive booklet detailing the full range of its facilities for disabled people. A 44-page publication, which includes detailed maps of all areas of the building, it is published in large print, as well as in braille and audio tape formats, and is available online at w: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/access

Over 1,000 charities across the UK have signed up to a Donors? Rights Charter, which has been launched by the Institute of Charity Fundraising Mangers and supported by the Charity Commission. The 8-point charter, which has been conceived to give charity donors confidence that they will be treated with respect, sets out the principles by which charities undertake to support donors making gifts. For more information, e: info@icfm.co.uk, w: http://www.icfm.org.uk _

Metier, the National Training Organisation of the arts and entertainment sector, has succeeded in its bid to the New Opportunities Fund for funding to support is ?Arts Explorer? project. In partnership with AXIS, the Foundation for Community Dance, the National Association of Writers in Education, Sound Sense and ?writernet?, it aims to digitise around 10,000 pages of text, 8,000 images and around 50 hours of audio, video and film recording of good arts practice. w: http://www.nof-digitise.org

A new website has been launched to create an online resource presenting news and information about London?s dance performances and companies. The site was created by a web development team based at Sadler?s Wells. w: http://www.londondance.com _

The Arts Council of Wales has published its proposals for a new Welsh language touring theatre company. The proposals differ from those originally developed from the 1999 ACW Drama Strategy in that they do not rely on merging the financial resources of two existing producing companies, and no longer identify a specific location for the new company. Responses to the paper, which is at http://www.ccc-acw.org.uk/ publications.html should be addressed to Joanne Weeks at the Arts Council of Wales. t: 029 2037 6530, e: joanne.weeks@ccc-acw.org.uk _ S

South East Arts has launched a new online database of artists in education, aimed at helping schools, community groups and colleges find experienced artists and arts companies to work with. The database holds details of over 250 artists and arts organisations in the South East who specialise in education work, from one-day workshops and specialist training, to residencies and large-scale projects. w: http://www.artistsined.org.uk