Ten areas around the country are to pilot the Government’s £25 million Find your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school. Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.
In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.
The ten lead organisations chosen as pilots are:
• Bolton Borough Council;
• The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
• Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
• Hampshire County Council;
• Leeds Children’s Services;
• Leicestershire County Council;
• ‘Liverpool City Region’ Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
• North Somerset;
• Telford and Wrekin Council; and
• Tower Hamlets.
The pilots will trial different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences both within schools and in professional art settings. Different approaches will be used, based on partnerships between schools, local authorities and arts organisations, so that creative practitioners will spend time in schools, as well as children getting the chance to gain experience outside the classroom.
The areas, from 141 that applied, will become the first Find Your Talent areas and build on existing investment and experience, currently taking place around the country.
Find your Talent will include giving young people the chance to:
• perform on stage and attend top quality performances, exhibitions at museums and galleries, and heritage sites;
• get hands-on experience of the creative industries including film making, radio and TV;
• learn a musical instrument, and take part in a musical performance in front of an audience;
• produce creative writing and appreciate authors and how they work;
• learn about – and practise – new media and digital art; and
• develop art and craft skills.
