The Growing Old Disgracefully photographic competition has been launched on 6 November 2008 to coincide with UN Day of Older Persons. Open to anyone in the UK aged 55 or over, the competition encourages older people to illustrate the wide variety of ways and places in which older people learn. Judging will take place in early February 2009 and presentations of awards and photographic vouchers will take place at the end of March 2009 in Nottingham.
Further details can be seen at www.niace.org.uk or more information and an entry form please contact Lois Gladdish, Information Officer, Older & Bolder, NIACE, 21 De Montfort Street, Leicester LE1 7GE or email: lois.gladdish@niace.org.uk

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10 November 2008
© Heritage North

Entering into Service Level Agreements with a variety of public bodies is vital for community radio sustainability and also will become increasingly vital for the public bodies themselves. Public bodies already working with community radio realise the benefits that accrue from these partnerships in getting the message out to and receiving messages back from parts of the community they often do not engage with effectively. These communities are often underserved and under-represented in the services public bodies provide. Free download from: http://www.commedia.org.uk/default/documents/user/SLA_Guide.pdf

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7 November 2008
© Community Media Association

The Voluntary Development Agency has been supported through a Lottery Business Support Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to develop best practice child protection guidelines for arts sector organisations to support the development and implementation of policies. The guidelines, which formed the basis of free child protection training, are for use by organisations within the local arts sector. To download the Guidelines (PDF): http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2008/files/ChildProtection.pdf

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10 October 2008
© Arts Council NI

Make Your Mark in the Music Business is working in partnership with live music promoters, Curious Generation to find young people (aged 18-30) from across the UK who would like to set up and run a regular, live music night in their home town or city, but need help and support to do so. For those who love music, have a genuine interest in the music scene in their area and want more experience of the music industry, Curious Generation can provide credibility, a base and support. They’ll get the local venue’s agreement to host a regular night, give relevant training to manage and promote the event and offer some financial support. In return they need those involved to scout for new artists, liaise with the venue, oversee all sound and technical requirements, promote the event to the target audience, manage the night (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and become a guest contributor to the Make Your Mark in Music blog to share experiences. The deadline for applications is 30 November 2008.

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29 October 2008
© Make Your Mark

Culture Minister, Gregory Campbell has today launched the Northern Ireland Community Archive website www.niarchive.org Speaking today at the launch on the Lagan Legacy Barge, the Minister said: “This is an innovative new website which makes it easier to find photographs, documents or oral history information on local communities. “Community archives represent a bottom-up approach to documenting our heritage, they are the grass roots activities of recording and exploring history. In other words, they are created by communities and are held in communities, often outside the formal heritage sector. “The recent growth in community archives and a new realisation of their value and importance has made it necessary to find a way of bringing them together into a web portal so that stories can be shared,” the Minister said. The community archive project as it develops will help promote the use of the rich collections of material in museums, libraries and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Collections of material, written, visual and oral, are what constitutes a community archive which complement the formal historical record and bring to life individuals, communities and events that would otherwise lie dormant.
 
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23 October 2008
© Northern Ireland Executive

The eagerly awaited launch of 4iP in the West Midlands has arrived with regional screen agency Screen WM, Advantage West Midlands and Channel 4 unveiling their £10 million joint investment 4iP fund. In addition, Screen WM also announced a £1.3 million support package. 4iP is a creative pilot fund that aims to re-invent how publicly-valuable content is conceived, funded and delivered on new media platforms. There has been massive excitement and anticipation surrounding 4iP since the announcement earlier this year that a £10 million new digital fund had been secured, with Birmingham set to become one of the first UK commissioning hubs for England and Wales for 4iP. Submissions can be made to 4iP via its website, www.4ip.org.uk and all proposals will be considered as long as they support truly innovative use of digital media and demonstrate genuine public value. 4iP’s editorial focus will be on working with the best talent from around the region both individually and within more established businesses. The new £1.3 million support package, which has been announced today, will be delivered by Screen WM to support digital screen media in the region and will help with 4iP project development, major networking and showcase events, attracting top level commissioners to the region, and innovative cross-sector workshops to help encourage collaborations between regional TV, film, games, arts organisations and digital media companies.
 
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24 October 2008
© Advantage West Midlands

A massive £1 million grant has provided a major boost to the plans to restore and convert the Dewars Lane Granary in Berwick into an exciting cultural and exhibition venue. The Granary’s application and business plan received the highest possible open application grant from the Government’s Sea Change programme. It brings the total amount of funding pledged towards the transformation of the derelict 239-year-old building to £4.2 million and means that the project needs just £700,000 more to reach its target.  More talks will now be held with local backers to see if the final funding gap can be bridged. Finance already committed to the project, which unlocked the door to Sea Change money, has come from One North East via Northumberland Strategic Partnership, English Heritage, The Northern Rock Foundation, Berwick Borough Council, Northumberland County Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Youth Hostel Association and a host of donations from trusts and individuals.
 
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21 October 08
© One North East

Youth Music has 3 open funding programmes aimed at 0-18 year olds. Funding is available for not-for-profit organisations in England for 6-24 months towards sustainable projects that involve an element of musical training and development. Grants of £5,000 - £30,000 are available. Deadline for applications 15 December 2008. Website: www.youthmusic.org.uk/looking_for_funding.jsp

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8 October 2008
© Church Urban Fund

Voluntary Arts Network has a new Briefings sheet on ‘Voluntary and community sector jargon’, explaining some of the most common terms and acronyms used. Pdf, 171KB, http://www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map7823.pdf

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7 October 2008
© VoluntaryNews

The JRF’s recent public consultation revealed a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society. This Viewpoint continues the discussion about modern ‘social evils’ on the theme of ‘a decline in values’. Anthony Browne argues that, in the face of an unprecedented and unsettling decline in values, discussing the problem and its causes is the first step towards making things better. Download the report: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/pdf/2279.pdf

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24 September 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation