On Wednesday afternoon Daniel and I were in Kentish Town, North London, to meet Tony Heaton, the Chief Executive of Shape. Shape is the major arts and disability charity, based in London, which works to support disabled people as artists and audience members. Shape is involved in running ‘Unlimited’ – the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad disability arts programme. We talked with Tony about showcasing some of the achievements of ‘Unlimited’ (particularly the five Unlimited International projects) within the annual conference of Amateo: the European Network for Active Participation in Cultural Activities, which Voluntary Arts is hosting in London in June. Tony also agreed to take part in a session within the Amateo Conference which will look at the involvement of disabled people in amateur arts groups across Europe.
For more information about the Amateo Conference 2012, and to book your place, go to: http://www.voluntaryarts.org/2012/02/28/everyones-a-winner-amateo-conference-and-annual-meeting/
Robin Simpson.
Filed under: meetings | Tags: Europe, ncvo, OTS, politics, UK, volarts, volunteering
On Friday afternoon I attended an Office for Civil Society Strategic Partners event, ‘European Years: What do they mean for us?’ at Europe House in London. Connecting the European Year of Volunteering 2011 with the European Year of Active Aging 2012 and the European Year of Citizenship 2013; this event involved the European Commission and key government departments coming together in dialogue with a range of civil society organisations. As the European Year of Active Aging 2012 begins, we shared learning from previous European Years as part of the last gathering of our European Year of Volunteering 2011 steering group. The general consensus seemed to be that the European Year of Volunteering had been very successful across Europe but only partly successful in England. The challenge was exemplified by one participant in a European Year of Volunteering event in Manchester who had memorably said “what on earth has Europe got to do with Oldham?!” There was some very sensible discussion about the need for a greater handover period between European Years – maybe three months at the end of each year in which the connections between the two themes are explored in more detail.
Robin Simpson.
Filed under: meetings | Tags: arts, DCMS, England, Europe, funding, olympics, politics, UK, volarts
I was back in London for a meeting at Queen Mary, University of London about the Points of Contact programme, organised by People’s Palace Projects. It feels a long time since we visited Brazil in March 2010 and a great deal has happened in the interim. There is a new Government in Brazil and a new Culture Minister – and there have been big changes to arts funding in England. So it was good to hear that People’s Palace Projects has now secured funding (from Arts Council England and the British Council) and agreement from the Brazilian Government to continue the Points of Contact exchange programme. The programme will now reflect five themes: youth arts, disability, digital, sustainability and the Cultural Olympiad (providing a link between the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games). In the first year of this second phase, Points of Contact will focus on youth arts, starting with the visit of a Brazilian delegation to the UK in March 2012. We talked about how those UK arts organisations involved in the first phase of Points of Contact have been influenced and changed by the programme and how we might be able to work with People’s Palace Projects in the next phase.
Robin Simpson.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I was in London for a series of discussions with Tom de Rooij from Kunstfactor (the Netherlands organisation for the amateur arts) and Kaat Peeters from Forum voor Amateurkunsten (the equivalent organisation in Flanders, Belgium). Tom is the new President of Amateo – the European network for active participation in cultural activities and Kaat is the Amateo Vice President. On Tuesday afternoon we were joined by Aled Rhys-Jones, the Voluntary Arts representative on the Amateo Board, to talk about the 2012 Amateo Conference which Voluntary Arts is going to host in London next June. We visited Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), which is going to be the venue for the Amateo Conference. Katy Spicer, the Chief Executive of EFDSS, gave us a tour of the building and told us about the remarkable history of EFDSS which was formed in 1932 by the merger of the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society, itself formed by Cecil Sharp in 1911 (see: http://www.efdss.org/front/History/history-of-the-english-dance-and-song-society/24).
Robin Simpson.
On Thursday afternoon I made a first visit to the HM Treasury building on Horse Guards Road. We actually walked right past the door to George Osborne’s office – though I’m not sure whether he was inside! I was there for a meeting of the Office for Civil Society’s European Year of Volunteering 2011 working group. As we approach the end of the European Year of Volunteering, we were joined by Gwen Wolf from the Department for Work and Pensions who is working on the preparations for the UK involvement in the European Year of Active Aging 2012. Gwen updated us on the Government’s plans for 2012 and we discussed possible links between the two years. We also heard from Roisin Murphy from KPMG about their EYV11 work to promote and develop Employer Supported Volunteering and the prospect of developing long-term sustainable partnerships between the voluntary and private sectors.
Robin Simpson.
Filed under: meetings | Tags: arts, Europe, Republic of Ireland, vcs, volarts
On Thursday and Friday I have been in Cork for the Creat and Voluntary Arts Ireland Arts and Civil Society Symposium. The event was held at Christchurch, Triskel Arts Centre – a converted church in the heart of Cork City’s shopping area. An audience of artists, arts organisations, academics, students and funders from across Ireland gathered to discuss how arts and culture can be reaffirmed at the heart of civic engagement. I chaired a breakout session looking at Measuring Artistic and Social Impact which was a practical and positive discussion about evaluation. It was particularly interesting to be talking about impact measurement again so soon after our Growing the Grassroots event in London. It was good to hear the debate about civil society and the arts in a Republic of Ireland context and to meet a wide range of people from the Irish arts sector.
Unfortunately the symposium was somewhat overshadowed for many of us by a fire that broke out just after midnight on Thursday at the hotel at which many of the delegates were staying. A large blaze in the car park behind the hotel was extinguished before it spread to the hotel building and thankfully no-one was hurt, but the hotel was filled with smoke and we were not allowed back to our rooms until 4.30 am. It was a difficult and exhausting experience and I felt sorry for the speakers on the symposium agenda on Friday morning who faced a largely shattered and drained audience.
On Friday the Carnegie UK Trust sponsored a challenge debate as part of the symposium which saw speakers from Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Italy, England and Spain discuss ‘Arts, Civil Society and Crisis’. This looked at economic, social and political change across Europe and its impact on arts and civil society.
Robin Simpson.
Filed under: meetings | Tags: England, Europe, politics, volarts, volunteering
On Thursday afternoon I was in the grand surroundings of the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs building on Parliament Street in London – the new home of the Cabinet Office – for a meeting of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 working group. As well as a general update on the progress of European Year of Volunteering activities, we heard presentations from Volunteering England and Volunteer Centre Warrington on the specific strands of work focussing on employer-supported volunteering and volunteer management. We also discussed the details of the European Year of Volunteering Tour event which will take place at the Coin Street Community Centre, just off the South Bank in London, from 28 October until 3 November.
Robin Simpson.
Filed under: meetings | Tags: ace, arts, England, Europe, volarts, volunteering
On Wednesday I spoke to Michael Blake at Arts & Business who is leading the Culture & the Arts theme within European Year of Volunteering 2011 in England. Arts & Business is planning four key components of this work: there will be 6 ‘speed-dating’ events to match potential volunteers with arts organisations; ‘cultural ambassadors’ will be appointed to spread the word about volunteering; there will be celebratory events in London; and Arts & Business will develop volunteering toolkits for arts organisations or signpost to existing resources. We discussed this last point in detail in relation to the toolkit Voluntary Arts England is developing with Volunteering England as part of our Volunteering in the Arts project (funded by Arts Council England). We agreed to work together on this and to focus on trying to make existing volunteering advice and information more accessible for arts organisations rather than creating new resources.
Robin Simpson.
From Wednesday to Friday I have been in Ghent in Belgium at the AGM and conference of Amateo: the European Network for Active Participation in Cultural Activities. This year the Amateo conference was combined with Compendium – the annual meeting of experts and editors of the Council of Europe ‘Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe’ (http://www.culturalpolicies.net) to create an ‘International Congress on Active Cultural Participation in Europe’.
On Wednesday the two groups met separately: the Amateo AGM included a presentation about how we might secure European Union advocacy network funding for Amateo and presentations about the three linked Weeks of Amateur/Voluntary Arts in Flanders, The Netherlands and Scotland. We agreed that Amateo’s main priority for the coming year will be to expand these Amateur Arts Weeks into more European countries and to develop exchange visits for amateur arts groups during the weeks. Voluntary Arts Wales Chair, Aled Rhys-Jones, was re-elected to the Amateo Board and Tom de Rooij, Director of Kunstfactor in The Netherlands, was elected President of Amateo, succeeding Villy Dall (from AKKS in Denmark) who stood down at the end of his three-year term. Villy was the main driving force behind the establishing of Amateo and we owe him a great deal: he will be much missed from the Board.
On Thursday and Friday we joined forces with the Compendium delegates for a series of sessions about active cultural participation and the amateur arts. We looked at research into active cultural participation throughout Europe and how we might establish some Europe-wide evidence about the scale, diversity and impact of the amateur arts. This was followed by a look at how active cultural participation is supported throughout Europe, drawing on the current entries for each country in the Compendium. We also took part in conference sessions about: volunteering in the arts and the European Year of Volunteering 2011; arts participation, minority communities and intercultural activity; and cultural participation amongst the 50+ generation (in preparation for the European Year of Active Ageing 2012). We visited Trafiek – a community arts organisation based in one of the more deprived neighbourhoods of Ghent – to see the Brugse Poorten project which worked with local people and community groups to create 101 flags to adorn 77 gates in the Pierkespark. And we enjoyed a guided tour of the amazing, recently-opened Ghent City Museum (STAM) which tells the story of Ghent by combining a 13th century abbey with the very latest digital technology.
It was an extremely enjoyable and interesting conference. It was good to get the Compendium authors thinking seriously about the amateur arts. Next year Voluntary Arts will be hosting the Amateo AGM and conference in London: Kaat Peeters and her team from Forum voor Amateurkunsten in Flanders have set a very high standard for us to follow.
Robin Simpson.
On Thursday afternoon I attended a meeting of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 working group at the Cabinet Office. We heard presentations from v – the lead body for the Children and Young People theme within EYV11 – and from Volunteering England who have been appointed to lead on sharing learning from the EYV11 programme in England. We also had an update on EYV11 activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Robin Simpson.
