[cma-l] Fwd: Leeds Children's Services named as one of ten pilot areas for 'Find Your Talent' programme to give young people five hours of culture a week

[CMA-L]

Fwd:

A Partnership led by Leeds Children's Services has been picked by the
Government to be one of ten areas around the country to pilot the
Government's £25 million Find your Talent programme. The scheme will
give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality
cultural experiences for a guaranteed five hours a week.  Children in
the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in
the cultural sphere.

In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to
experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The pilots will trial different ways of offering young people a range
of cultural experiences both in and outside of school. The activities
will go wider than the core school day to include extended schools and
positive activities offered by local authorities and other providers.

The other nine lead organisations chosen to develop schemes are:
* Bolton Borough Council;
* The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including
Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
* Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
* Hampshire County Council;
* Leicestershire County Council;
* 'Liverpool City Region' Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
* North Somerset;
* Telford and Wrekin Council; and
* Tower Hamlets.

The areas, from 141 that applied, will become the first Find Your
Talent areas and build on existing investment and experience,
currently taking place around the country.  The pilots - covering work
both in and outside the classroom - will showcase different
approaches.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said:

"Find Your Talent is a really exciting initiative that could transform
children's lives. Engaging with culture is not a luxury, or an add-on,
for young people. It matters in its own right, and can be a way of
developing essential life skills like communication, creativity and
team working.  Too many young people - millions of them just in my
lifetime, I fear - have had to leave school without ever really
finding out what they could be good at: the things that could be the
basis of a fulfilling life.

"These pilots will kick off the long process of putting that right.
Their importance cannot be overstated."

Ministers will now also be working on proposals to galvanise the
enthusiasm for the initiative from all over the country.

Andy Burnham continued:

"I've been knocked out by the quantity and quality of the applications
we've received since we first launched this initiative. It would be a
real shame if this momentum was now lost, so we will also be looking
at ways to harness that energy, and I hope to have firm proposals to
do that in time for the pilots' launch in September."

Children's Minister Ed Balls said:

"Giving young people the opportunity to take part in cultural
activities will not only enrich their lives - but also help them
learn. Schools already offer many cultural activities in school hours,
for example in music, art, and English in the curriculum, and there is
already much cultural activity taking place outside school and beyond
the school day. The five hour offer is about building on this and
giving all children and young people the opportunity to take part in
cultural activities.

"The pilots will explore different approaches to making a reality of
Find Your Talent. We will work closely with schools as the pilots are
taken forward to ensure a bureaucracy-light approach. But it is not
just about schools: a whole range of bodies including museums,
theatres and local arts organisations will be involved, working in
partnership with schools."

Issued jointly with the Department for Children, Families and Schools