Artswork National Campaign 2010/11

Delivered by:

What is Youth Arts?

‘‘Youth Arts refers to young people taking part voluntarily in creative, cultural, or expressive activity outside of formal education’’

Sir Ken Robinson – foreword to ‘Taking it Seriously – youth arts in the real world

Why a Campaign?

ENYAN (English National Youth Arts Network) managed byArtswork, asked its membership of over 5500+individuals:

How can youth arts make an even greaterimpact on the lives of young people?

Those consulted included artists, creativepractitioners, youth workers, creative and culturalpolicy makers, community development service providersand young people

Campaign Feedback

The consultation revealed that youth arts

service providers need:

• Better information and to help prove their case to funders and key stakeholders

• Clearer channels of communication between sector professionals and politicians/ government ministers

• A platform to profile their work, both locally, regionally and nationally

Campaign Aims

• Produce evidence regarding the value of youth arts

• To increase knowledge, understanding and support for youth arts

• To make a stronger case to funding bodies

• To demonstrate the value of youth arts to services supporting hard to reach young people

• To highlight key national initiatives

• Showcase the valuable work undertaken by artists/ arts organisations with young people

Why this presentation?

This presentation is a great starting point to

introduce youth arts to new audiences and

to encourage sustained investment (both

financially and holistically) in services.

We will start with some FACTS…

Youth Arts FACTS

The impact of youth arts on learning

Among the benefits of youth arts are its ability to:

• Unlock a young person’s potential • Encourage creative thinking and problem solving • Help reduce the numbers of young people

leaving school with poor levels of literacy, numeracy and communication skills

Youth Arts FACTSThe impact of youth arts on personal and socialdevelopmentAmong the benefits for young people are:

• Increased motivation • Enhanced self-esteem and confidence • Involvement in worthwhile and creative activity • Diversion from negative or criminal activity • Development of positive group dynamics, including negotiation and

joint decision making • Improvement of social skills, citizenship skills and emotional literacy • Stronger self-discipline and greater ability to take responsibility for

their own actions • Courage to speak out/express themselves • Willingness to take an active role in their community

Youth Arts EvidenceTaken from ‘Their Learning Becomes Your Journey: Parents Respondto Children’s Work in Creative Partnerships’, Centre for Literacy inPrimary Education, December 2007:

• Parents perceive creative programmes as offering alternative long-term benefits which positively influence children’s aspirations as well as their learning

• When children are engaged in creative projects they describe these experiences extensively at home

• Such projects involve some parents in social networks of other adults in the wider community and help them take up cultural and other learning opportunities for themselves

The Major 3 –Year ‘PAYP’ (Positive Activities for Young People) Programme

Dates: Between 2003-2006 Participants: Approximately 290,000 young people ‘at risk’ aged 819. Project: Providing access to high quality arts, sports and cultural activities.

The programme achieved a range of positive outcomes for participating with young people,including:

• contributing to reductions in criminal and anti-social behaviour

• Supporting young people back into education, and offering opportunities for personal development:

The project was effective in supporting young people into training, 11,000(4.1%) outcomes were classed as in “Full-time FE/HE, and 3,300 (1.2%) asin “Full-time training”

58% of the respondents reported that they attended school more often since taking part in PAYP, with 62% indicating that they now attended almost all the time

Youth Arts Evidence

Youth Arts Evidence

From the Evaluation of Find Your Talent- a pilot project that took place in 10 areas across England and providedchildren and young people regular involvement with arts and culture

Benefits of the programme were found to include:

• High enjoyment and largely positive responses to the programme• Raised confidence levels especially among those with low self-

esteem and confidence prior to participating• Enhanced team working and communication with peers and tutors • Improved cultural and generic skills • Improved behaviour• More parental engagement

Youth Arts Evidence

What young people say:

‘Youth Arts transformed my life mainly, my confidence. I am much more

confident than I used to be…’ Damien Hayward,

working with Full Circle Arts, Manchester

‘When I was young I was kind negative minded, like I was

trapped in my own little box, [this project] has taught me to be

more positive and look to the better things in life, now I’m a

volunteer I can teach kids that’ Voltage Volunteer, Youth Music

Campaign InitiativesCampaign Launch

The National Campaign was officially launched at a conference on 15 th June 2010 at the Royal& Derngate, Northampton. Young People informed delegates about how youth arts had transformedtheir lives.

Online Campaign Resources

Keynote statements, campaign endorsements, case studies and resources have beencollated into resources which are being used as lobbying tools

Online Campaign Day

Wednesday 24th November 2010 saw the launch of the ‘Youth Arts TransformsLives – FACT! Campaign online. A new Youth Arts Portal was launched onYouTube.

To access video footage of youth arts projects and interviews of young people explaining theirexperiences please visit:

http://www.youtube.com/user/YouthArtsPortal

Campaign Initiatives

Following a successful nominations

process, 46 individuals working

with young people in the arts at

grass-roots level have been

commended for their work

These champions are working with

ENYAN to promote the campaign

locally and regionally

Regional Youth Arts Champions

James Carroll, evil.twin.education

Special Endorsement

National Campaign for Youth Arts

“Young people are the future of this country. Cultivating their creative energies,passion and sense of engagement is fundamental for the success of their ownlives and for the economic and cultural vitality of our communities. The youtharts movement has powerful roles in this process and is helping to transformthe lives of young people everywhere. 'Youth Arts Transforms Lives - FACT!’, isa national campaign to promote wider understanding of the positive impact of youtharts…As Honorary President of Artswork and the English National Youth Arts Network, Iam delighted to support this campaign and trust it will energise all those who arecurrently working in this vibrant field; attract new supporters and convince policy anddecision makers to do all they can to ensure the future of the arts for and by youngpeople”

Sir Ken Robinson

Who else is involved?

‘Youth Arts Transforms Lives – FACT!’ has been

developed and delivered by Artswork, the national youth

arts development agency supported by ENYAN Regional

Advisory Panels of youth arts specialists and the ENYAN

National Steering Group- a collection of leading youth arts

sector professionals

Details of these contributors can be found via the

ENYAN web site: www.enyan.co.uk

Find out more…

If you are looking to find out more about how

youth arts can transform young people’s

lives please contact:

enyan@artswork.org.uk

or visit the ENYAN website:

www.enyan.co.uk