The Clore Duffield Foundation has announced a £1.5m investment over three years in the creation of the Clore Social Leadership Programme, an initiative to search out and provide support for talented individuals to prepare them for leadership in the third sector. The new programme will be modelled on the cultural Clore Leadership Programme, founded four years ago under the Directorship of Lord Smith.
The Scottish Museums Council, the lead body for the funding, development and advocacy of over 340 museums and galleries in Scotland, has been renamed Museums Galleries Scotland. The new identity has been created to reflect the role the organisation plays as the strategic agency for the museum and gallery sector in Scotland and adviser to the Scottish Government on museum and gallery issues.
The Dutch Minister of Culture is introducing a digital personal card that provides school pupils with money to spend on culture. A Cultuurkaart worth e15 will be issued to 900,000 secondary school pupils during the 2008/09 school year, and is intended to be used at point of sale terminals installed at cultural institutions such as museums, theatres, cinemas and some shops.
The adult National Minimum Wage will rise from £5.52 to £5.73 in October 2008, with the rate for 18–21 year-olds increasing from £4.60 to £4.77, while the 16–17 year-old rate will rise from £3.40 to £3.53. The Government has boosted funding for enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and is planning new penalties for employers who underpay staff, as part of the Employment Bill which is currently before Parliament.
The fifth annual National Lottery Awards, which include categories for Best Arts Project, Best Education Project and Best Heritage Project, have been announced. An independent judging panel will shortlist ten projects. The first round of public voting, online and by telephone, runs from 16 June to 4 July, reducing the shortlist to three in each category. A second round of public voting from 21 July to 8 August will determine the winners.
w: http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
Those involved in music education, from teachers and community musicians to senior management and policy-makers, are being encouraged to sign up to a new social networking portal where users will be able to share ideas, reflect on practice and contribute resources. Funded by the Teacher Development Agency and managed by the National Association of Music Educators and the Music Education Council, the site will be launched in October.
w: http://www.teachingmusic.org.uk
Arts & Business has called for Birmingham businesses to invest in affordable works of art by regional artists through a new scheme called the Visual programme. The scheme has launched a new online gallery featuring work from 45 artists including Stuart Whipps, Stephen Earl Rogers and Jo Naden.
w: http://www.visualforbusiness.com
Culture Secretary Margaret Hodge has responded to a request by LibDem MP Don Foster for a breakdown in Arts Council England’s grant-in-aid funding for music in 2007/08 by type of music. She revealed the figures as: brass, £23,000; choral and gospel music, £113,000; early music, £208,000; experimental and electronic music, £249,000; folk, £321,000; chamber music, £659,000; contemporary popular music, £800,000; contemporary classical music, £892,000; jazz, £1m; world music, £1.6m; community music, £1.9m; classical and orchestral music, £21.5m; and opera, £36.5m. In addition, the Royal Opera House receives £26.3m for both opera and ballet.