Newsreel

Council-approved plans to demolish the Redgrave Theatre in Farnham have provoked calls for a Public Inquiry, with the Theatres Trust urging Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to use her reserve powers to save it. Although the theatre has been closed for ten years, the Trust believes that it can be reopened and used to provide a cultural centre for the redevelopment of the region. The demolition plans conflict with national and regional policy, including the Waverly Borough County Cultural Strategy ‘A Blueprint for Leisure, 2003–2008’, which identifies a lack of theatrical provision in the area and refers to the Redgrave as a cultural asset.

Interest in music GCSE has risen by more than 40% amongst those being taught through a new ‘Musical Futures’ curriculum which allows students aged 11–14 to perform and learn about rock music as part of their lessons. Set up as a small pilot scheme by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in 2003, it had since been rolled out nationally and is now used by nearly 700 teachers. Research carried out by the Institute of Education on the impact of the project found that 14% of students questioned were planning to take music at GCSE, compared with a national average of 7–8%.

Three new educational programmes to help equip young people for the world of work have been unveiled by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA). The initiative stems from the report ‘Delivering Work-Related Learning for an Innovation Nation’, by NESTA and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, which called on businesses to work more closely with schools. The programmes will involve pupils in authentic business experiences such as pitching for work, negotiating and communicating, and delivering products and services to deadlines.
w: http://www.nesta.org.uk

Festivals Edinburgh has launched a global marketing strategy of as part of a major cross-festival collaborative project. Supported by a £450,000 budget, funded by EventScotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government Expo Fund, the strategy is in addition to each individual festival’s own marketing campaigns and aims to raise international awareness of Festivals Edinburgh.

Using loud music as a form of torture has been jointly condemned by international musicians’ unions, following a motion put to the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) Congress by the British Musicians’ Union. The motion called on FIM to voice its united opposition to the practice, which the European Court of Human Rights has described as “degrading and inhuman”. The US’s Psychological Operations Company (PSY OPS) has confirmed that it uses incessant loud music to break detainees’ resistance through sleep deprivation.
w: http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk

A consultation on the ‘The Craft Blueprint’, an action plan for workforce development in the UK craft sector, is calling for views about the skills needed to secure a successful future for the industry. The plan has been drawn up through a collaboration between the Crafts Council and the Sector Skills Council, Creative & Cultural Skills, and aims to address the skills gaps in the craft sector. The online consultation closes on 31 October.
w: http://www.ccskills.org.uk/insight/craft/html