Dear all,

Please find below the latest monthly update from Paul Kaynes, regarding the Culture Programme for London 2012 in the region.

Regards,

Tom.

1.   Open weekend 2010: the dates for next year’s Open weekend have been confirmed as 23-5 July 2010. Online registration isn’t open as yet (it will open early in the New Year) but we’d like to encourage cultural organisations and local authorities to start planning events which can take place over the weekend. We’re looking for events which respond in some way to being part of the London 2012 Games programme – existing events which augment or develop their programme to reflect the Open weekend, or events staged specially to coincide with the weekend. Please e-mail me with any ideas or plans you may have, and disseminate this date widely amongst your networks. More news in the next few months as themes are confirmed and registration opens.

2.   Artists Taking the Lead: as you may have seen, the winning commission for our regional Artists Taking the Lead project is Imagineer’s amazing Godiva Awakes which will see a massive puppet of Godiva made by artists together with the people of the West Midlands travel to London for the Games in 2012. The programme includes a major event in Coventry as Godiva awakes from her slumbers, then celebrates her journey powered by several cyclists. You can find out more about the plans here: http://www.imagineerproductions.co.uk/projects/current.

3.   Discovering Places: one of the Cultural Olympiad’s major national projects, Discovering Places held its regional meeting in October. The programme aims to connect young people to some of our nation’s hidden gems - historic and contemporary buildings, public spaces and natural places. The attached document provides more information – and the first manifestation of this exciting programme is next May Day bank holiday weekend (1-3 May 2010) when there will be a weekend of activities across the country to connect people to their local natural environments. The programme is led by Heritage Link (http://www.heritagelink.org.uk) and there will be the chance to sign up in the New Year. Please pass on this information to interested colleagues.

4.   Community Games: following this summer’s pilot games, the Legacy Trust team in the region based here at the Arts Council will shortly be announcing tendering opportunities for organisations that wish to deliver any or all of the toolkit, training and advocacy programmes for the Games. The tenders will be announced at the end of November or early December with the aim of commissioning the work early in 2010.

5.   Inspire mark applications: the way to become part of the Cultural Olympiad is to apply for the Inspire mark to be used in association with a programme or activity which reflects the inspiration of London 2012 and the three core values of welcoming the world, inspiring young people and leaving a positive legacy. Applying for an Inspire mark is straightforward and can be processed very quickly and brings many communications and profile benefits – if you have a programme or event which you think might qualify, speak to me.

6.   Contacts: should you need to contact us

Naomi Temple, WM Legacy Trust Programme Manager: naomi.temple@artscouncil.org.uk

Clare Tougher: WM Legacy Trust Programme Assistant (p-t, Mon-Wed): clare.tougher@artscouncil.org.uk

Sue Elwell: Assistant to WM Culture Programme (p-t, Wed-Fri): sue.elwell@artscouncil.org.uk

Helen Annetts: External PR support for WM Culture Programme: helenlannetts@hotmail.co.uk

Lauren Amery: Cultural Research Analyst: lauren.amery@wmro.org

Paul Kaynes, WM Creative Programmer: paul.kaynes@artscouncil.org.uk or paul.kaynes@london2012.com.

Regards,

Paul

Paul Kaynes

West Midlands Creative Programmer, London 2012

Arts Council England, West Midlands

82 Granville Street, Birmingham B1 2LH

Direct Line: 0121 631 5724

Mobile: 07545 421725

Email: paul.kaynes@artscouncil.org.uk