Young People Bring About Arts Revivial
One Voice Blackburn has been awarded £34,485 through the Arts Council for their project revival.
National Lottery Project Grants is the Arts Council’s open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations thanks to National Lottery investment.
It is noted that young people from the South Asian background are somewhat underrepresented in the arts sector. The challenges are pretty distinct in increasing the participation and engagement within the community for dance, drama and performance. Researchers have found that getting involved in the arts can improve a person’s confidence and self esteem.
One Voice Blackburn realise that creativity can help us perceive the world in new and different ways. It enables us to think outside the box and produce real pieces of entertainment. Young people have little access to either music or arts provision and miss out on the benefits these can bring to their lives in terms of personal development, social and educational attainment. They aim to create clearer, more accessible pathways for young people who are interested in pursuing a hobby in the creative sector.
The organisation has previously supported a drama and music project.
The WEGs pop group BANNED and drama performance ‘Creme De La Crime’ were the highlights of the One Voice Annual Dinner 2020.
The young people were supported by Peshkar, an Arts Council National Portfolio organisation and lead participatory arts organisation targeting young people deemed hard to reach and or socially disadvantaged.
The group were also supported locally, in developing their musical skills by McNally Music Tuition.
“We are delighted to be receiving this funding for our arts work,” said Kiran Sadiq of One Voice Blackburn.
“Over the last 4 years we have been working with young people from all sections of the community to increase participation in music, drama and digital media. With the revival project we will be concentrating also in the field of video editing, performance and creative media”
As part of the project One Voice Blackburn will produce a series of videos that will be planned and developed by young people. The videos will be showcased at the next annual dinner. They will be implementing digital training as well as story boarding skills, editing skills and music selection skills. There will be a focus on digital skills development in filmmaking, illustration, graphic design, animation and sound design. The project will give young people the opportunity to delve in a variety of aspects or specialise in one specific skill.
One Voice Blackburn seek to put young people at the centre of shaping the narrative of their hometown Blackburn post Covid-19, making it a place they want to live in and celebrate. The town has lost a real sense of community during the pandemic with increased tensions and segregation amongst its residents. Young people are best placed to help shape a new cultural and live performance scene which, is vibrant and accessible to all. We will deliver a series of both online and in person events across an 18 month period which brings young people and audiences of all backgrounds together, celebrating our shared but varied heritage.