London’s theatre producers and owners will be given more support by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) to ensure the accessibility of their events in the build-up to the Olympics and Paralympics. SOLT already produces the Access London Theatre Brochure giving details of assisted performances taking place in London theatres and information about the access provision at each individual venue. It also runs signed Theatreland Walking Tours each summer. It will now be employing an access officer to develop its work in this area, and will be joining forces with Inclusive London, the new website launched by the Mayor of London.
Arts Council England’s Artsmark scheme, the national award scheme that recognises the commitment of schools to the artistic development of young people, has extended its remit. Schools in England, including special schools and pupil referral units, have for 10 years been able to apply for recognition of their work with an ArtsMark award, but for the first time, further education colleges and youth justice settings are now also eligible. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2012.
London 2012 Ceremonies has launched a campaign to recruit 1,000 adults to volunteer as performing percussionists to participate in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Previous performance experience is not required, but performers need “lots of enthusiasm, personality, a positive attitude, huge amounts of energy” and must attend two or three rehearsal sessions each week in East London from March 2012. A broadcast audience of over one billion people is expected for the events.
Thirteen recipients are sharing over £100,000 in grants from the new Clore Poetry and Literature Awards, funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation. The programme is designed to target the development of imaginative new poetry and literature initiatives for children and young people, in and out of school, and the Awards will be worth a total of £1m over five years, from 2011 to 2015. The closing date for entries to the second round of awards is 30 September.
New guidelines have been drawn up to help charities learn and benefit from unsuccessful grant applications, and help grant-makers to support unsuccessful applicants. ‘The Art of Refusal: Promising Practice for Grant Makers and Grant Seekers’ has been published by the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School, based on qualitative research funded by the Charities Aid Foundation among more than 100 grant making organisations and 40 grant seeking organisations. For grant seekers, the guide discusses the role of having preliminary contact with grant makers, receiving and responding to unsuccessful applications, seeking and using tailored feedback, and managing the news of grant refusal within their organisation.