artswork

Artswork has been working with Hampshire County Council as a project partner to deliver the Hampshire Young Creatives Programme 2011/12.  This has been building on the programme of activity achieved in the Find Your Talent - PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire) pathfinder programme delivered between 2009 – 2011.
Hampshire County Council allocated funding to enable the scheme to continue to operate within the County as part of its focus on enabling young people to be the best they can be and to achieve their potential.

The Programme

The focus of the programme has been to:

• Develop cultural experiences for young people aged 0 – 19 outside of the formal school day or setting
• Develop activities with cultural partners in museums, libraries, archives and countryside as well as with arts partners
• Engage with community-based organisations as instigators and drivers of the programmes of activity in partnership with the cultural organisations.

There has been a particular interest in:

• engaging young people in care and young carers
• hard to reach children and their families
• young people in areas of disadvantage – including rural isolation, who are NEET or otherwise at risk.

In addition the programme has been keen to support activities which contribute to the up-skilling of the cultural and community sector workforce to ensure that cultural activities develop as mainstream within organisations.
There were three programme strands.

• Cultural Experiences
• Progression and Transition - this strand focused on projects that built progression routes and also raised aspirations and awareness at key transition/progression stages for a child or young person.
• Cultural Leadership - this strand offered opportunities for young people to develop and implement their leadership skills
• Project grants of between £500 and £3,000 were made available through the Hampshire Young Creatives Programme.  There have been two phases of the Programme. (NB deadlines for applications have now passed).

Children and young people in care were amongst the diverse groups of participants in projects supported by HCC as part of Artswork's delivery of the Hampshire Young Creatives Programme instigated and funded by Hampshire County Council.  11 Projects have been supported in the first phase.

The deadline for applications has now closed. Information about projects that have been selected for funding by Hampshire County Council will be available in mid January 2012.
For any further information, please contact Peter Taylor, Hampshire Young Creatives Programme Manager, via email and giving your telephone number.
peter.taylor8@btinternet.com