Development (Arts) Sub-Committee 3 August 2005
From Nigov
D108
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2005
Contents |
MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT (ARTS) SUB-COMMITTEE
Members present: Councillor Kelly (Chairman); and Councillors Cunningham, Hartley, Lavery, Long, P. Maskey and Newton.
In attendance: Ms. S. McCay, Head of Economic Initiatives; Ms. S. Stevenson, Culture and Arts Manager; Ms. L. Holmes, Arts Communitations Officer; Mr. R. Kane, Culture and Heritage Officer; and Miss L. Hillick, Committee Administrator.
Apologies
Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Adamson and McCausland.
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of 1st June, which had been printed and circulated, were taken as read and signed as correct.
Artist in Residence
The Sub-Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to Arts projects which would be undertaken by the Artist in Residence:
“Purpose of Report
To introduce a presentation by Dr. Eleanor Wheeler, Artist in Residence, Belfast City Council and to provide an outline of expenditure for arts projects.
Background
Members will recall that a report on Creativity in the Built Environment was submitted to the Development (Arts) Sub-committee of the 1st June 2005. At that meeting Members requested a presentation from the newly appointed Artist in Residence.
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The Artist in Residence post is grant aided through Project – Engaging Artists in the Built Environment. Dr Eleanor Wheeler’s appointment is on a part time basis from April 2005 – March 2006. The post is to provide creative input to the regeneration and development projects specifically along the prioritised nodes of the Arterial Routes as agreed through the Development Committee. These are outlined below:
Phase I Phase II
Lower Antrim Road Lower Crumlin Road
York Street / York Road Lower Ormeau Road
Mid-Donegall Road Albertbridge Road
Lower Newtownards Road Upper Springfield Road
Lower Falls Road Upper Shankill Road
Lower Shankill Road
The role of the Artist in Residence is to facilitate creativity. There is no direct budget for her work, however, many of the regenerative projects in which she will be involved have a budget for expenditure which includes public art work or other creative improvements. In addition, resources have been secured through the Urban Cultural Programme for Cultural Path-finding as part of the Celebrate Belfast programme. This expenditure has been approved through the Development Committee.
A key element of the post is to facilitate creative discussions and visioning exercises with wider stakeholders in the arterial routes areas including elected members, community and youth groups, schools, and businesses as well as with developers, architects and design professionals. It is recommended that expenditure from within the Culture and Arts budget is used to support this area of work.
The indicative costs identified below as Arts expenditure include costs associated with facilitation, materials to support facilitation work, design work and production of graphics, exhibition cost and recording for project monitoring, evaluation and dissemination. The budget breakdown and exact nature of work will be determined through discussion with key partners and an ongoing programme of public consultation.
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The other figures and potential list of funders is not exhaustive and is provided for information only. Figures are subject to confirmation and appropriate approvals by the relevant Council Committees or external partners. The exact budget will only be determined on completion of the facilitated workshops and confirmation of the project brief.
Outline of Proposed Work
Project Area / site Description Resources / Funding Timescale Arts Other
North Belfast Carlisle Circus 1. Schools art project
2. Community Engagement
3. Exhibition in PLACE
4.Temporary Arts project
5. Installation eg. Fire Drawing £6,500 £40-50K Urban Cultural Programme - cultural path-finding
Arterial routes: Brighter Belfast Urban II (Future permanent Art work) Sept – Nov 05
Jan –Feb 06
Jan – April 06
TBC Lower North Belfast
York Road / Brougham St 1. Environmental Improvements : Gates / signs
2. Community Arts Project £1,500 £40-50k Parks Arterial routes: Brighter Belfast Urban II (part of a larger project for environ- mental improvements and Public Art)
Oct 05 – March 06 South /West Lwr. Donegall Rd / Lwr Falls
Broadway 1. Cross Community pathway signs Project
2. Banners on Broadway Towers £3,500 £8-10K Urban Cultural Programme (cultural path-finding) Oct 05- Jan 06
Spring 06
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Project Area / site Description Resources / Funding Timescale Arts Other
West Upper Springfield 1. Shop Fronts: Top of the Rock
2. Signs £1000 up to £50-65k Arterial Routes: (shop refurbishment) Dec- Feb 05/ 06
West Lower Shankill 1. Primary Schools design project
2. Community consultation
3. Designs on Westlink Bridge, Peters Hill £1,500 £10-20K
Arterial Routes
Sept – Dec 05 East Lower N’Ards Rd. 1. Strand Walk Fence: Community signs project £1,500 £10-20K Arterial Routes:
Aug – Nov 05 Citywide Leisure Centres 1. Summer Scheme project with Leisure Centres in PLACE
2. Sited plaques in leisure centres
3. Art trail / postcards £1,000
£8-10K
PLACE /
Urban Cultural Programme (cultural path-finding)
Aug – Dec 05 Citywide 4 Health and Wellbeing Centres (North and West) 1. Signs / plaques with community / user groups
2. Art Trail £1,050 (To be confirmed)
Sept – Jan 06 TOTAL £17,550
Environmental Implications
Positive implications for the built environment.
Equality Implications
None.
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Capital City Strategy Reference
Becoming a better place - to ensure the importance of design in all matters to do with the physical environment of the City; to promote dynamic precincts and neighbourhoods.
Believing we are worth it - to create happening and dynamic spaces in the city.
Culture and Arts Plan Reference
Leadership - to build effective internal and external partnerships
Place - to promote creativity in the built environment
Budget
A budget of £20,000 was approved by the Development (Arts) Sub-Committee in April. Contributions as part of the successful funding applications to support the Artist in Residence post and to support the commissioning of a landmark piece of art at Broadway Roundabout have already been agreed by Sub-Committee.
It is recommended that the remainder of these resources, are used in particular to facilitate community engagement and discussion and to enable the creation of supporting materials as indicated in the report and to aid the development of artist briefs.
Recommendation
It is recommended that members note the report and approve the outline areas for expenditure of the budget already allocated for Public Art.
Decision Required
To approve the foregoing recommendation.”
It was reported that the Artist in Residence, Dr. E. Wheeler, was in attendance to provide a presentation in relation to the arts regeneration and development projects which would be undertaken at various locations throughout the City and she was admitted to the meeting and welcomed by the Chairman (Councillor Kelly).
Dr. Wheeler outlined for the information of the Sub-Committee the role of public art in the regeneration of the City. She stated that her role would be to:
• liaise with planners and bring a creative input into regeneration and development projects within the arterial routes;
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• inform and involve community groups in planning public art projects throughout the City; and
• engender a positive attitude to the inclusion of art within public spaces.
She then proceeded to outline the previous projects in which she had been involved. These had included the Gasworks site, the Mater Hospital and the Parkside Community Garden. Dr. Wheeler pointed out that she had consulted with various Departments throughout the Council in relation to the arts projects which she would be undertaking. She stated that she had received a great deal of support, interest and assistance from various community groups throughout the City.
After discussion, the Sub-Committee agreed to adopt the recommendation contained within the foregoing report.
Integrated Cultural Strategy
The Sub-Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to an Integrated Cultural Strategy for the City:
“Purpose of Report
To update Members on the creation of an Integrated Cultural Strategy for Belfast and to propose a revised outline timetable.
Background
The launch of the Culture and Arts Plan for Belfast City Council in June 2003 was a major milestone in developing a cohesive strategy for the Council’s support of cultural organisations. One of the key undertakings for the Plan is to create an Integrated Cultural Strategy for the City.
The Chair of the Development (Arts) Sub-committee held a meeting on 28th April, 2004 at the Lyric Theatre as an initial meeting to help the gather opinion on how best to design and implement a process, the outcome of which will be an Integrated Cultural Strategy.
Main points arising from this meeting were:-
The need to: - Reflect on previous consultation processes including Imagine Belfast Process, and the Culture and Arts Plan and learn lessons from them. - Clearly understand why we need a strategy. - Consult with sectors at an early stage in genesis of ideas, however it was felt that the community sector need really clear objectives on which to comment.
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- Engage with existing resources and networks so that everyone has ownership of the process and to use data bases that already exist. - Get input from audiences and from ‘the man on the street’ – the people are outside the ‘loop’ and existing networks. - Have buy in from other statutory agencies eg. ACNI and Laganside. - Have an advisory group to assist the process.
Strategy document should:- - Have aspirations, and statements which are manageable and relevant. - Not just be a glossy document, should have a functional purpose, be action oriented and time-bound. - Be organised so that you can easily find a statement/range of statements that apply to you.
Other points: - BCC officers should be enablers in providing input to the process. - The sectors should be more involved in the actioning of strategy – working with the Development (Arts) Sub-Committee. - Not everyone will be satisfied with whatever process, conclusions that are reached.
Developing a Cultural Strategy
The Development (Arts) Sub-committee of 2nd June 2004 considered these comments and approved a process for development of the strategy. They considered that:
- development of the strategy should be undertaken through the sectors as this approach would enable a direct assessment of sectorally specific areas. - the overall format for the strategy should be by development or aspirational themes or objectives rather than by sectoral areas.
Consultation
The process of creating the integrated cultural strategy should be undertaken with extensive consultation with the key partners:
Agency / strategic partners
Involvement to include but not be restricted to:-
- High-lighting institutional priorities - Contributing research information to support the strategy - Identifying resources - Co-ordinating consultation through their existing networks e.g.Cultural Forum, - Agreeing key priorities for the integrated strategy
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Arts and heritage sector
Council to use existing forums and facilitate the formation of additional key forums. Council also provide a process brief for how the particular groupings can feed into the strategy development process. One mechanism to engage support is to hold a symposium on cultural strategy with participation from the sectoral groups.
Community Groups, Audience and Public Consultation
Public meetings held in each Partnership Board area of Belfast will enable broad based consultation with community groups and individuals who may not be engaged with the arts. Other methods to include media campaign, e-mail/web based consultation, and use of ‘PLACE’ as a consultation venue.
Neighbouring local authorities
As driver of cultural and economic development in the region, Belfast should also be cognisant of the views of both neighbouring local authorities and other local authorities in Northern Ireland. Formal structures such as COMET may be an appropriate route.
Proposed process
It was proposed that the process of creating an Integrated Cultural Strategy follows the format outlined below. The proposed actions undertaken or proposed and the schedule outlined below would result in a cultural strategy in a period of 8 months. This also coincides with the process to form the new Development Strategy.
Action Progress and future proposals Identification and development of sectoral groups New communications mechanisms such as the Festivals Forum and the Multi-annual funding clients meetings, IMPACT consortium and existing groups such as Belfast Arts Marketing Group are proposed as sectoral groups rather than creating additional ones.
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Action Progress and future proposals Symposium on creating cultural strategies It has been suggested that the proposed symposium is held to comment on and develop an early draft of the cultural strategy rather than as an initial action. October/November 2005 has been suggested as an appropriate time.
Scoping the proposed strategy The breadth and scope of the proposed strategy still needs to be identified. Eg. it seems likely that it will not specifically address sports and leisure, however, libraries and museums may be relevant areas to include in consultation with the relevant bodies.
Consultation on themes and priority areas for development of the strategy. Consultation has begun with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure. They have agreed to support the development of the strategy and combining consultation with the consultation on the Arts Council strategy may be an option.
Identification of baseline research and feedback on baseline research To include a review of existing data and research into specific areas such as social and economic impact of the arts.
Collation of detailed information on needs and aspirations To include benchmarking activities and possibly familiarisation visits to other cities. To correspond to practical Short/medium/long term objectives
Draft of Integrated Cultural Strategy circulated for consultation It is suggested that a draft strategy should be available in December 2005/January 2006
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Action Progress and future proposals Feedback on consultation Required by early February 2006
Finalised Cultural Strategy For approval by Sub-committee in March 2006.
Launch April/May 2006
Environmental Implications
None.
Equality Implications
None.
Capital City Strategy Reference
Transforming Leadership.
Culture and Arts Plan
Leadership
B. To create an integrated Cultural Strategy
Budget
A budget of £15,000 has been approved by the Development (Arts) Sub-committee on the 2nd June, 2004 to facilitate meetings with sectoral groupings, run a cultural strategy symposium and complete baseline research and to co ordinate consultation with partners, audience and community groups.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Members note the above report and approve the revised process towards creation of the strategy.
Decision Required
To approve the foregoing recommendation.”
After discussion, the Sub-Committee agreed to note the contents of the report and approved the revised process associated with the development of an Integrated Cultural Strategy. In addition, the Sub Committee agreed that a special meeting be held on a date to be agreed in conjunction with the Chairman (Councillor Kelly) to consider the above-mentioned draft Strategy.
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Festivals Policy
The Sub-Committee considered a report in relation to the progress which had been achieved in respect of the Council’s Festivals Policy. A copy of the report is set out hereunder:
“Purpose of Report
To update Member’s on progress with regard to festivals policy and development and to recommend to Development Committee support for festivals under the Urban Cultural Programme grant.
Background
The Development (Arts) Sub-committee has been taking forward work on a Festivals Policy. This has included the establishment of a Festival Forum and ongoing dialogue with other funders.
The first meeting of the Belfast Festivals Forum was held on 27th January 2005. It was attended by over 30 representatives of Festival organisations and statutory agencies. A Festivals Action Plan has been adopted by the Forum and was approved by the Development (Arts) Sub-Committee in March 2005. The Forum has continued to meet regularly approximately every 6 weeks and three sub-working groups have been established to take forward action in relation to Marketing, Sponsorship and Equipment and Venues. The meeting in July included a networking lunch to encourage collaboration between Festivals and with other organisations invited to participate in the Forum.
A programme of Festivals Skills Development has also been running to support capacity building in Festival particularly on issues such as governance, business planning and strategic development.
Update on Festival Skills Development Programme
The Festivals Skills Development programme is intended for festivals not currently funded through Belfast City Council Multi-Annual and Annual Funding schemes. The following Festivals were contacted to gain information on the skill development needs of the organisation and to gain a commitment to participating in a programme of skills development. The development of the Festivals Forum and the skills development programme was advertised and widely published through media activity to encourage an uptake by festivals organisations. Festival organisations and updated contact details have been added as the scheme has progressed even if organisations could not be contacted in time to be included in the audit which informed the training schedule.
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The following Festivals were contacted as part of the Festival’s Skill Development Programme:-
An Droichead Ardoyne Fleadh Project Arts & Disability Forum Arts for All Association of Ulster Drama Festivals Belfast Musical Festival Belfast Music Society Belfast Pride Chinese Welfare Association Dance United Dundela Forum Association Feis Bheal Feirste Feis Phobal Feirste Friends of Woodvale Park Greater New Lodge Community Festival Greater Shankill Community Festival Greater Shankill Partnership Greater Shankill Partnership Board Greater Village Regeneration Trust Holy Lands Arts Festival Indian Community Centre Irish Congress of Trade Unions Mandarin Speakers Association McCracken Cultural Society Open Arts Ltd ROUTES/Littoral Sandy Row Festival Committee Sandy Row Project Team Short Strand Community Centre Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music St Georges Singers Suffolk Community Forum Ulster Scots Heritage Council West Belfast Athletic & Cultural Society
Several Festivals responded negatively to the audit:
- Feis Bheal Feirste indicated that the do not wish to participate in the survey. - Feis Phobal Feirste indicated that the festival no longer exists. - Greater Shankill Community Festival indicated that the Festival is on hold-until further notice. - Suffolk Community Forum indicated that its does not feel it is relevant for the forum.
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Funding for Festivals
A successful application to the Urban Cultural Programme for the Celebrate Belfast programme included support for festivals. This grant is being administered through the Development Committee. The resources are restricted to activities which must be completed before February 2006.
Under this support, funding was secured specifically for smaller and community oriented festivals. Members are reminded that there has also been funding allocated through a competitive grant programme under Enhancements of Programme funding and this has included support for the larger festivals particularly those who are existing clients through Culture and Arts Annual and Multi-Annual Funding.
Additional funding of £50,000 has also been secured for community festivals through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland ‘Art of Regeneration’ programme. These resources are available in the 2006/7 financial year. The conditions of this grant aid are such that we are not permitted to offer these resources through a competitive grant scheme.
It is therefore proposed that specific festivals identified through participation in the Festivals Forum and included on the calendar of Festivals are enhanced through funding through secured from these grant sources. Those who have participated in the Festival Skills Development Programme and have availed of the opportunity to develop their organisational capacity will be prioritised for support.
There are only a small number of festivals whose activities fall within the period from October to February. The larger festivals have attracted funding through the Enhancements to Programme scheme and are therefore not considered for further support. Further resources will be allocated for 2006/07 at a later stage.
It is recommended that the following festivals/organisations are considered for support through the Urban Cultural Programme resources.
Indicative allocation Ulster-Scots Festival (November) £15,000 Mandarin Speakers Association - Chinese New Year £10,000 Chinese Welfare Association – Chinese New Year £10,000 £35,000
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It is also recommended that the Council facilitate community participation in the following festivals which are being run directly as Council led initiatives. The resources will be used to enable community groups/organisation to participate in the festivals. It is envisaged that Council would ensure that there is representation from each area of the City:
Indicative allocation CS Lewis Festival ( and Lantern Parade) £20,000 Friendship Festival £20,000 £40,000
Any allocation of funds would be dependent on receipt of a full and detailed project proposal for the festival events with an adequate budget outlining all expenditure as well as any income secured or applied for. Details of the organisations status as a non-profit making organisation in line with established procedure, and of satisfactory governance and financial arrangements will also be necessary to ensure appropriate levels of accountability.
Environmental Implications
None.
Equality Considerations
Equality considerations are being met.
Capital City Strategy Reference
‘Believing we are worth it’ To establish a Council-wide policy of support for festivals
Culture and Arts Plan Reference
‘Celebration’ Build on existing strengths of Belfast festivals
Budget
A budget for this expenditure has been committed from the Urban Cultural Programme and secured through the Millennium commission and the breakdown of expenditure which includes £95,000 for festivals has been approved by the Development Committee. Some of these resources have been used as staff support for festivals.
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Recommendation
It is recommended that Members approve the indicative allocation of expenditure provided above before forwarding to Development Committee.
Decision Required
To approve the foregoing recommendation.”
After discussion, the Sub-Committee adopted the recommendation contained within the report.
Annual Funding for Culture and the Arts
The Sub-Committee considered a report in relation to Annual Funding for Culture and Arts for the 2006/2007 financial year. A copy of the report, with the exception of the appendices referred to therein, is set out hereunder:
“Purpose of Report
To request permission to progress Annual Funding for Culture and the Arts for the 2006/07 financial year.
Background
Belfast City Council’s Culture and Arts grants are for activities that benefit people living, working or visiting Belfast and which help arts organisations in Belfast to carry out their work.
At the Special Development (Arts) Sub-Committee meeting of 20th September 2004, Members considered the recommendations arising from an extensive and lengthy Funding Review, and approved revised procedures in relation to apportionment of funding under both Multi-Annual and Annual Funding for Culture and Arts.
The criteria for assessment are included in Appendix A of this report. The parameters of the grant and eligibility criteria are included in Appendix B.
It is noted within the guidelines, that for the purposes of assessing applications, we can only consider information submitted within the application form by the deadline, as late submissions of information cannot be considered.
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Conditions of Grant Offer
Standard conditions will apply to each grant awarded and these are outlined in a Letter of Offer. As all grants distributed through this scheme are less than £30,000, a formal service level agreement is not required based on a review of Economic Initiatives Grant Allocation Systems.
The standard Letter of Offer currently used is provided in Appendix C. Where items of information are missing from an application, such as an outstanding evaluation report, it is specified at the start of this letter that a grant cannot be released until we have all the materials outstanding.
Multi-Annual and Annual Funding Funding 2005 - 2006
11 organisations which were pre-selected by Members of the Development (Arts) Sub-Committee at their meeting of 13th October 2004, were funded through the Multi-Annual Funding for Culture and the Arts scheme in 2005/06, with an average grant of £43,545. A total of £647,596 was requested through this scheme, and £479,000 was distributed.
37 organisations were funded through the Annual Funding for Culture and the Arts scheme in 2005/06, with an average grant of £9,757. A total of £1,313,598 was requested through the scheme, and £361,000 was distributed.
A total of £840,000 was allocated through the Annual Funding and Multi-Annual funding schemes for the current financial year 2005/06.
The deadline for both schemes in 2005/06 was 17th December 2004. This was considered a late deadline, due to lengthy process required for implementation of the new funding system.
Proposed Annual Funding for Culture and Arts Scheme 2006/2007
The proposed deadline for organisations to submit applications to the Annual Funding scheme in the 2006/07 financial year is noon on Friday 28th October, 2005. Please see timetable below:
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DATE ACTION
9th September 2005 Advertise Annual Funding for Culture & the Arts
Week beginning 19th September 2005 (+ as required)
Funding Advice Sessions 28th October 2005 at 12.00 noon Deadline for submission of applications November and December 2005 Assessment of applications carried out by Officers and preparation of reports 9th January 2006 Finalised report prepared
2nd February 2006 Development (Arts) Sub-Committee
1st March 2006 Council Meeting
The Multi-Annual Funding clients are not required to submit a further application for funding at this stage of their 3 year funding, however they will be required to submit an update on their proposed plans for 2006/07, in advance of the new financial year.
Other Culture and Arts Funding Schemes
As Members will be aware, the Culture and Arts Unit also administer two other funding schemes:
- Rolling Programme to Support Innovation in Culture and Arts - Culture and Arts Development and Outreach Scheme
Members are advised that separate reports will be brought on the above two schemes in due course. This is due to the following reasons:
- A need to review the first year of the Rolling Programme in order to assess the efficacy of this grant scheme against the needs of the sector. - The Development and Outreach Scheme does not run within the financial year and therefore the call for applications will be issued at a later date.
Pending agreement by Council, it is considered that this Scheme be advertised in early September, with a deadline of end October 2005.
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Environmental Implications
None.
Equality Implications
None.
Capital City Strategy Reference
‘Believing we’re worth it’ To create programmes to support cultural excellence.
Culture and Arts Plan Reference
‘Celebration’ To recognise and support excellence in cultural programming.
Budget
It is recommended that a provisional budget of £865,000 is approved in principle for Multi-Annual and Annual Funding for Culture and Arts in the 2006/07 financial year. This represents an uplift of 3% of the budget allocated to Annual and Multi Annual funding in 2005/06. This is pending confirmation after the 2006/07 Council budgets have been agreed.
£493,370 of this has already been committed in the 2006/07 financial year, to the 11 Multi-Annually funded organisations in the 2006/07 financial year as part of their three year funding agreements. This represents on uplift of 3% from these organisations’ grant in 2005/06.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Members of the Development (Arts) Sub Committee:
(i) Agree in principle the recommended budget of £865,000 for Multi-Annual and Annual Funding in 2006/07
(ii) Agree to proceed with Annual Funding as outlined
Decision Required
To approve the foregoing recommendations.”
The Sub-Committee adopted the recommendations contained within the foregoing report.
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Rolling Programme to Support Innovation in Culture and Arts
The Sub-Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 29th November, 2004, it had agreed to the implementation of a Rolling Programme to support Innovation in Culture and the Arts for the 2005/2006 financial year.
The Culture and Arts Manager reminded the Sub-Committee further that the purpose of the Programme was to assist arts or heritage organisations to avail of opportunities which would arise during the year, including those which were submitted after the closing date for annual funding or multi-annual funding applications. Grants awarded through the programme scheme would range from £250 to £3,000.
After discussion, the Sub-Committee considered each of the applications and agreed to adopt the recommendations not to provide funding to the Streetwise Community Circus School on the basis that both applications which had been submitted for funding by the organisation were in respect of projects which were ongoing activities rather than specific opportunities which had arisen and, therefore, do not meet the criteria of the funding scheme.
Heritage for Youth Project
The Sub-Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 6th February, 2002, it had agreed to appoint consultants to develop a series of pilot workshops to engage young people for the development of a Heritage for Youth programme. The Culture and Arts Manager reported that, during the consultation period, the sector had undergone considerable change, with further consultation revealing that carrying forward the second stage of the pilot workshop, as originally conceived, would not provide best value. She stated that the Culture and Arts Unit had identified recently Public Achievement, an organisation which was capable of carrying out work to directly engage young people in heritage issues. The Unit had received a proposal from the organisation for the delivery of a Heritage for Youth programme which would be delivered in partnership with the Ulster Museum.
The Culture and Arts Manager informed the Members that Public Achievement was a youth civic engagement initiative which focused on the most basic concepts of citizenship, democracy and public work. By encouraging young people to become more engaged in civic life, the organisation sought to empower participants to make effective and positive changes in their communities. The organisation’s most recent work had recognised that the museums and the built heritage sectors had traditionally a low record of engagement with young people and was seeking actively methods which would redress this imbalance.
She reported that the organisation’s proposal involved the creation of a partnership with the Ulster Museum to develop a programme which would afford a group of young people from across Belfast the opportunity to examine the built heritage of the City. The focus on the programme would be on Targeting Social Need and under the guidance of the curatorial staff from the Ulster Museum would result in the production of an exhibition. The participants would be provided with guidance and mentoring from the organisation’s staff to enable them to act as guides and peer educators. She explained that Public Achievement was neither a heritage nor arts based organisation and as such would not be eligible for funding under the Culture and Arts Grants Scheme. However, its ability to deliver this programme which already promoted and enhanced the Council’s current objectives meant that a partnership would be the most effective way to deliver this project. The proposal would involve the Council working closely in partnership with Public Achievement in implementing the programme and allow the Council to ensure that its outputs were closely monitored and in line with current objectives and the current state of the sector.
It was felt that this proposal, with its strong partnerships between stakeholders and direct engagement and empowerment of young people, offered elements that would be lacking in simply engaging consultants to deliver a schools programme. It was felt also that this proposal from Public Achievement would provide a better vehicle for the Council to realise its objectives in this area than had been the case with the original pilot workshops. Accordingly, she sought the Sub Committee’s authority to enter into a partnership arrangement with Public Achievement for the delivery of a Heritage for Youth Programme and recommended that the Sub Committee agree to provide funding in the sum of £5,000 for the delivery of the Programme.
The Sub-Committee adopted the recommendation and granted the authority sought.
Chairman
