Go to www.artspider.org.uk/resources/other_info to get your copy.

Education Arts Service West Midlands, the region’s new online resource for the arts in education has launched! 

www.easwestmidlands.org.uk is an exciting new resource for the West Midlands region designed to support educators in both formal and informal settings, artists, arts and cultural organisations in all arts education work. We have been working hard to create this extensive resource and will continue to develop further features and new content areas.

The website’s key resource is the searchable Arts Directory, where educators and youth practitioners can search for arts partners - all of whom carry current CRB disclosure checks and references. You will find practical support on setting up and delivering projects, regular news bulletins and a range of interactive features enabling users to comment and discuss issues, review projects, submit case studies, highlight best practice and advertise opportunities.

To find out more about how the service can support your work visit www.easwestmidlands.org.uk. Please help us to create a vibrant and supportive online arts education community by registering with the service and spreading the word within your networks.

Musical Futures brings non–formal teaching and informal learning approaches into schools. It aims to make music learning relevant to young people, connect in school and out–of–school experiences, and find ways of engaging all 11–18 year olds in sustainable music making and learning.

‘Musical Futures: An Approach to Teaching and Learning’ guides teachers and practitioners through the ethos and approach of Musical Futures, providing practical advice and a range of resources.  The resource is free with a £5 postage and packing charge.

Order your copy now at www.musicalfutures.org.uk

This is an essential kit for anyone who is starting to work together with young people in the arts and would like a range of useful tools to support them in their work for a bargain price.

The kit contains the celebrated youth arts funding guide titled ‘Get Sorted: how to get organised, sort the budget and go for funding for your youth arts project’, plus three sets of practical guidelines: ‘Working together: using the arts with young people’; ‘Creating Respect: promoting an understanding of cultural diversity’ and ‘Access All Areas: disability and youth arts’. It is a valuable resource offering creative, practical help to anyone using or looking to use the arts in their work with young people, containing the ingredients that will support you to develop successful, informed and inclusive youth arts projects. 

Artsplan is pleased to offer the Youth Arts Starter Kit at a special price of £30 (incl P&P), a good reduction off the normal cost of each publication! A FREE 441 page Youth Arts Directory (05/06) will also be included in the items dispatched!

‘Culture for All: Integrating cultural opportunities into extended services and services for young people’ has just been published by the Training and Development Agency (TDA). Produced in collaboration with the Museums Libraries & Archives Council and Arts Council England, the booklet aims to help increase children and young people’s access to cultural opportunities.

The booklet acts as a good practice guide for children’s services and cultural organisations and features case studies that demonstrate how partnerships with local services and authorities can work to improve the lives of children by providing artistic and cultural activities.

Culture for All is available from the TDA website, please visit: http://www.tda.gov.uk/about/publicationslisting/tda0649.aspx

ENYAN has launched a new, free online resource ‘Young Arts Leaders’ which presents the findings of the network’s research into this area of rapid development.

This valuable resource aims to raise the profile of, and support the youth arts sector in, the development of leadership skills, aspiration and potential of young people within the arts and cultural industries.

It includes practical case studies, policy developments, funding opportunities, signposting to a host of valuable contacts and support, and a breakdown of the range of programmes and opportunities available including; ‘Accreditation’, ‘Volunteering’, ‘Peer-Mentoring’, ‘Youth Voice & Influence’ and much more.

You can download a free copy from the following link: http://www2.enyan.co.uk/download/304457542

Artsplan, the training and publications department of Artswork and in-house training provider for ENYAN, has published its new programme for 2009-2010.

The 2009-2010 Programme contains information about all of the services that Artsplan provides. It gives detailed descriptions about all of the youth arts courses on offer and, to help you decide which courses best suit your professional development needs, divides courses into different levels.

Artsplan has at least one Training Centre in every region of England, the Programme contains information about these centres and a calendar which details all of the training courses that are taking place.

For more information about Artsplan training and publications please visit www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan

The Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme website is now live, with plenty of information about current and planned activities to build the evidence base for culture and sport. CASE is the new three-year joint research programme led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with the Arts Council, English Heritage, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Sport England. The programme aims to improve the quality of evidence underpinning public policy in culture and sport, helping DCMS and partners to make better decisions about public investment.

The first major CASE project is to build understanding of why and how people engage in culture and sport, the barriers to greater engagement and the difference engagement makes to people’s lives and communities. The University of London (Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre) and Matrix Knowledge Group have been commissioned to conduct a systematic review of the evidence on these issues and to build practical modelling tools to help policy-makers develop initiatives to increase engagement.

For more information on this and other projects visit the www.culture.gov.uk/case. You can also sign up for a regular email update at evidence@culture.gsi.gov.uk

The National Youth Theatre has teamed up with IdeasTap, its new online partner, to provide a valuable on-line resource for young people aged 16 and over who are interested in the creative arts.
IdeasTap is a new and innovative free service for young people, offering many opportunities to get involved on exciting creative projects, as well as sign-posting useful progression routes and information. IdeasTap now also hosts all of the National Youth Theatre opportunities and activities for young people, alongside other prestigious partners such as the Old Vic, Polka Theatre, L’Ouverture and YCTV.
Register now at www.IdeasTap.com to check out the latest information and full details for IdeasFund, as well as the many and varied opportunities, articles and information currently available. When registering, please select ‘National Youth Theatre’ when asked ‘where did you hear about us?’.

www.ideastap.com

Government to announce ‘empty shop’ measures

Communities should use more empty shops as neighbourhood resources to help prevent town centres becoming magnets for crime, the government is to say. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will announce measures to make it easier for local groups in England to turn stores into showrooms for local artists

They are expected to include £3m of funding, faster planning procedures and standard short-term leases. There will also be extra powers to allow councils to take over premises. Ms Blears will use a seminar of councils, business leaders, landlords and town centre managers to set out the measures later.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7997449.stm