West Midlands Arts, Health and Wellbeing

Warwickshire County Council is seeking expressions of interest from artists/organisations to showcase innovate projects and to deliver workshops, as part of our keynote conference on Living Well With Dementia on 17th September 2013.

We recognise the value of arts and creativity to support people with dementia, and carers, to live well with dementia. We therefore want to reflect this within the conference and have opportunity for innovative projects to showcase their work to Commissioners in Warwickshire, via a market stall display and via the delivery of workshops on the day. There is no restriction on artform and can be participatory or as audience.

There is a limited budget which will be negotiated on an individual basis.

To apply, please express your interest by:

Submitting a short Artists Statement (no longer than two A4 typed sides) to ewaniepsuj@warwickshire.gov.uk  that describes you’re work, how it supports people with dementia to live well and what you can bring to the conference. A contact sheet with the main contacts details for youre organisation and up to 6 images of work/projects can also be supplied.

In Harmony Telford/Stoke seeks a committed and enthusiastic PR professional or agency to fulfil the PR needs of this life changing music based programme. We seek someone who does not just tell the story, but becomes a part of it and uses the individuals and their communities as a way of truly engaging people in the story as it unfolds. With exceptional skills and contacts you will work with the traditionally accepted cultural press and through new and alternative routes which help us to involve the widest possible audience locally, nationally and internationally.

The maximum budget available for this freelance commission is £10,000 which includes all expenditure / any VAT / travel costs etc etc.

The full brief and details can be download from here:-

http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/near-you/jobs/harmony-telford-stoke-trent-pr-freelance-brief

Contact: Richard Shrewsbury info@inharmonytelfordstoke.org

Our In Harmony programme blog is online here which also contains a number of short films from the project so far:- http://www.inharmonytelfordstoke.org/

Dudley Kick Ash is a youth-led programme using the arts to encourage young people to be smokefree. During the week of August 5 2013 we plan to transform a space in Dudley town centre into a temporary installation which will be open to the public the following week.

We aim for five groups of young people across the borough to create elements of the installation, incorporating a variety of art forms from music to digital technology. Performing arts could be included as film projections rather than live performances. We are seeking five artists to work all week on the project, one of whom will have a role in overseeing the artistic direction of the installation.

We will consider applications from one organisation offering a team of artists, as well as applications from individual artists to form our own team.

To read the full brief go to:
http://www.westmidlandsartshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/news/116/95/CALL-FOR-ARTISTS-Dudley-Kick-Ash-Installation-Dudley-Town-Centre.html

The deadline for receiving expressions of interest is 9am on Friday 24 May 2013.
A panel of young people will interview artists who have been shortlisted on Thursday 13 June from 4pm onwards.

Please send your expressions of interest to kim@creativehealthcic.co.uk and feel free to email me with any queries too.

The Hilden Charitable Fund has announced that its Summer Playscheme Grants Programme is now open for applications to help community groups run Summer Playschemes for the benefit of children from refugee and ethnic minority families. Funding of between £500 and £1,500 is available for Summer Playschemes for children aged 5 - 18 years lasting for 2 - 6 weeks with strong volunteer support. The funding is available to voluntary agencies with an income of less than £120,000. Some priority will be given to projects which show they are inclusive of children from refugee families, and show BME involvement. The closing date for applications is the 17 May 2013. Read more..

Expressions of interest are sought from a community organisation to manage a new Musical Connections Project. The Project has been funded for 4 years by a Big Lottery Reaching Communities Grant and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. Musical Connections is a community music project which provides a network for isolated and housebound individuals using music as a tool to create positive change. The Project, previously managed by Sound It Out, has developed a 142 strong project membership who can access a combination of one-to-one and group music making sessions encouraging both individual development and engagement in social activities thereby promoting positive mental health and wellbeing for members. Project co-ordination will be required for 15 hours a week for a fee of £13,000 per annum. For further information please email Jo Neale, Head of Performing and Creative Arts, Community Engagement Team, BSMHFT: jo.neale@bsmhft.nhs.uk

There has been huge amount of interest in the Developing Arts for Health Artist Professional Development Programme from artists working regionally and nationally. The programme provides participants with the knowledge, arts/health-specific skills and confidence appropriate for practitioners who wish to develop arts work in a health and wellbeing setting. This year the APDP will take place over three workshop sessions at Birmingham Children’s Hospital - a great opportunity to attend a training programme in a NHS setting. Developing Arts for Health is accredited by Staffordshire University and available at Masters Level. You will also be supported to undertake a short practical placement as part of the course. If you are interested in applying for the course, please contact kategant@creativehealthcic.co.uk for full information and an application form.

Workshop Dates:
Friday 19 July 2013, 10.30am – 4.00pm
Friday 2 August 2013, 10.30am – 4.00pm
Tuesday 13 August 2013, 10.30am – 4.00pm

Closing date for full applications: Monday 20 May 2013

Staffordshire County Council’s Community Arts Fund helps to support Staffordshire’s communities in their access to a wide range of cultural activities.

Community Arts Fund
Applications of up to £800 are welcome to run an arts activity or event which benefits the community, widens participation and promotes accessibility.
 
Activities must take place between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2014.
Deadline for applications is 20th December 2013.
 
For more information, please visit our website:
www.staffordshire.gov.uk/communityartsfund

For any further information, contact:
Tracie Meredith, Community Arts Officer, tracie.meredith@staffordshire.gov.uk, 01785 278571