We are delighted to confirm the recipients of the Youth Arts Small Grants Fund, thanks to funding from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland. This fund enables us to support five projects for young people in Renfrewshire, each with a focus on positive mental wellbeing, that allow young people to creatively explore and process what has happened in their lives over the last year, as well as looking to the future.
Jenni Mason, Artistic Director said: “We are committed to creating exciting and accessible opportunities for young people, so we jumped at the opportunity to distribute funds to develop new projects in Renfrewshire. We’re looking forward to watching these projects as they develop, and seeing the positive impact on our communities.”
About the successful projects:
Project: BUILD A BOOK Artist: SUSAN KIRKWOOD
In this project nursery school children will take part in fun creative workshops with a focus on exploring and creating stories. They will take part in creative adventures and over the workshops will create their own stories, culminating in a published book of the children’s creations at the end of the project.
Project: SCREAM Artists: JOSIE YOUNG AND SARAH HOGG
Working with a group of Renfrewshire Girl Guides, the project will empower and build confidence in girls from S1-S3. The sessions will explore the emotions of anger/ frustration and joy using devising, dance and games. It will put their concerns and voices at the centre, using the form of physically creating as an outlet for their emotions, building to a showcase performance.
Project: DARE TO DREAM Artist: KAREN HERBISON
In partnership with The Star Project in Paisley, this digital project aims to offer a safe creative outlet for vulnerable young people who have experienced isolation and who do not necessarily feel comfortable attending in person groups or activities. The project will allow young people to explore various creative skills including creative writing and performance in a safe and supported digital space, working towards creating final resource, decided by the young people.
Project: WHAT’S NEXT Artists: JORDAN BACKWOOD
What’s Next is a project with three key strands: inspiring young people in p5-7 from 3 Renfrewshire schools to be creative in the classroom and devise performances that allow them to reflect on their experiences of the past year.; supporting teachers across Renfrewshire to learn new skills to devise performances with their own classes; and offering paid training and mentoring to emerging artists (18-25) with an interest in facilitation.
Project: COLOUR TRAIL Artist: VANESSA RIGG
Colour Trail is a series of promenade style weekly creative workshops aimed at children aged 2+ and their parents/carers. Each week will involve creative play, dance and music with a different colour as the main weekly theme. The project will be delivered in partnership with Renfrewshire dance company, Right to Dance. Some of the sessions will take place outdoors to enhance the sensory experience and the overall wellbeing benefits of being and playing outdoor.
The successful applicants will commence projects from the end of April this year and will have until March 2022 to complete their projects.
Funded by the Scottish Government’s Small Grants Scheme through Creative Scotland.