New arts projects create opportunities for Edinburgh communities

The Scottish Arts Council has awarded grants worth nearly £300,000 for three new arts projects in disadvantaged Edinburgh communities.

An award of £146,798 award goes to WHALE arts agency to allow them to run a three-year arts access project called ArtCentral, offering a range of activities to groups in the area who are vulnerable to exclusion. It will specifically target lone parents, individuals who have disabilities, are unemployed, or from minority ethnic groups or refugees. Through taking part in the activities, initially just for fun, the project aims to develop skills which will lead to further training, education or employment. Over the next three years, ArtCentral will involve 12 different projects in a range of artforms, three integrated theatre productions and three large-scale community events. It will also offer 33 young trainees a customised training programme shadowing a professional artist/mentor on practical projects.

The Greater Pilton area of Edinburgh also receives a boost, with a grant of £68,964 from the Scottish Arts Council to North Edinburgh Arts. Today's award will fund a programme of activity running from January 2002 to October 2003 - forming part of the festivities to mark the opening of the new North Edinburgh Arts Centre in September 2002, also funded with a £1.75 million Scottish Arts Council lottery grant.

North Edinburgh's Oyster Project involves a broad range of arts activities and a children's Out of School initiative which will culminate in a large-scale community performance by people of all ages. The project will explore the social and historical factors which have affected the community, taking as its starting point the events surrounding the dredging of the Forth in the 17th century which deprived the local fishing communities of their staple diet of oysters. The project is particularly aimed at people who are unemployed or living on a low income and those from minority ethnic backgrounds. Training and work with children and families are also important elements and around 120 local under-12s will take part.

The third grant of £67,800 goes to the Pilton Video Project to run a programme of video drama training in Pilton, Wester Hailes, Craigmillar and South Edinburgh. Set up in 1988, Pilton Video now has a city-wide remit to create learning opportunities for disadvantaged groups by providing equipment and training in video production. In this project the group is working closely with Queen Margaret University College and will help form links between the communities and a higher education foundation course. Activities planned include workshops for first-time writers and directors and a series of programme-making sessions. The finished videos are to be screened locally and at the Edinburgh Filmhouse.

Jim Tough, Head of Strategic Development at the Scottish Arts Council, said: ""It is really exciting to see such a concentration on projects benefiting some of the most deprived communities in the city. Past experience has shown how much local people can get out of such projects and, for many, getting involved in the arts will totally change their lives."

Notes to editors

1. WHALE has operated successfully in Wester Hailes since 1992, co-ordinating a wide range of leisure, education and training activities from photography, drama, and creative arts to community events. October 2000 saw the opening of a new Learning Centre for WHALE in Westburn Grove, built with the help of £650,840 from the Scottish Arts Council's National Lottery Fund.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council