LYAN News

LYAN YOUTH ARTS EVENTS - JUNE 2006

LYAN held a conference and seminar this June; both events were designed to find out how organisations and people working in the Youth Arts sector in London feel about the recommendations made in the Youth Matters Green Paper. We also wanted to hear people’s views on LYAN, and whether or not they felt they needed a networking and support body for the sector. We heard some very interesting views.

The first event was called “YOUTH ARTS BEYOND THE GREEN PAPER� and was held at the Theatre Museum. Celia Coram, LYAN’s Director opened the event by talking about the DfES consultation process and going through the responses made by youth and youth arts organisations, including LYAN. There was much to be welcomed in the Green Paper’s proposals but there were criticisms, particularly concerning the leisure discount cards for young people, currently being piloted. We had five speakers from the youth arts and funding sector speak about their organisations and how they would be working with young people in the future to ensure they are at the forefront of all their activities, from consultation through to the implementation of projects and schemes. This was followed by a panel discussion.

SPEAKERS WERE:

- Abigail Moss - Education & Learning Head of Development
Arts Council England, London

- Gloria Copeland - Young Roots Co-ordinator
Heritage Lottery Fund

- Sue Rolfe - Head of Audience Development
Theatre Museum

- Rick Hall - Chair of Artswork & Leader Ignite! (NESTA)

- Elizabeth Lynch - Creative Projects Director
Roundhouse

In her speech Abigail Moss from Arts Council England, London talked about their plans for the future and how they had spent a considerable time looking at the Every Child Matters and Youth Matters Green Paper's. She also spoke of some of the principles behind how ACE London wants to work in the future, a key point being putting art at the heart for children and youth matters.

“Art is an incredibly powerful way to reach young people and children. Art absolutely should be there and completely recognised.�

As part of the discussion that took place after the speakers Elizabeth Lynch from the Roundhouse picked up on the importance of the arts, she however felt that in order for the arts to be used as a key tool to promote change:

“More politicians and arts organisations should be bolder about the impact of the arts on our society; they need to be more confident advocates of how important it is. They should use more case histories to demonstrate this.�

Abigail went on to speak about how local authorities would need to take a more proactive role:

“Local authorities have a duty to provide Positive Activities for Young People. It’s also really important that ACE engages with these processes, especially empowering young people to become involved in the arts…..We want to promote young people’s understanding as global citizens.�

This is something that LYAN has always strived to achieve through partnerships with organisations such as EQ (formerly Metier) on the Youth Arts Workforce Development Plan, with LIFT on various theatre projects, Junmo Generations for the GLA’s China In London Season and most importantly through the FLYA (Festival of London Youth Arts) that engaged young people and youth arts groups from all over London.

Sue Rolfe from the Theatre Museum agreed with ACE, London that local authorities should be doing more activities for young people but she was concerned about their commitment to pan London schemes.

“Theatre Museum does a lot of work with the National Museum of Performing Arts that works pan London. We tried working with Local Authorities but found it very difficult. They seem to be very focused on their own boroughs and don’t seem willing to become involved in pan-London projects.�

The Every Child Matters Green Paper raised some very important issues that seem to have pre-empted funding bodies to what the Youth Matters Green Paper would say about young people being a key element of any service or project aimed at them. This has seen a very marked shift in the way they are directing their funding, more is going straight to young people rather than youth arts organisations. Gloria Copeland the Young Roots Coordinator for the Heritage Lottery Fund, a scheme that is targeted specifically at funding for young people spoke about the projects they fund.

“The Young Roots scheme was set up because the Heritage Lottery Fund felt very few young people were involved in heritage and even fewer had the opportunity to be involved.�

She went on to talk about how more money will be available to young people in 2007, to look at the Slave Trade and its impacts on the present day.

“Young Roots gives young people the chance to do things differently and teaches heritage organisations how to reach out to young people.�

It’s great that funding bodies are giving grants directly to young people instead of organisations, as who knows better than young people what they want. But this does have some disadvantages, as often it is these very organisations that provide young people with the much needed support they need, by giving them a safe arena to explore their ideas. Sue agreed bypassing organisations could be problematic:

“I’m concerned how the funding situation is going.�

Rick Hall from the Ignite! programme at NESTA spoke about the expectations of young people:

“Young people are expected to inhabit two different cultures, one is the culture of adults and the other is their own culture.�

This confusion makes people forget that young people are far more resourceful than they are given credit for:

“…we’re too busy thinking of them in terms of being the next generation and trying to equip them with the creativity; we forget that they are far more resourceful than we think. They are far more relaxed enough to wait for solutions and knowing what to do, when you don’t know what to do!�

He feels that the arts and youth arts in particular should be about giving young people the opportunity to take risks and try something new and that we should see them as a tool to learn from;

“We should stop thinking of them as the artists of tomorrow or the future; they are the artists of NOW!�

Elizabeth feels the Roundhouse provide young people with the perfect place to explore such ideas and creativity:

“The re-opening of the Roundhouse has brought up many issues. There has been a lot of chaos but with some order!�

She went on to speak about the different challenges they faced staging two shows, one by a professional company working with professional actors and the other that had a cast of young people. The biggest challenge the young people faced was access to the space, which only happened eight days before it opened, but in a very short time they managed to bring the show together.

The panel discussion followed with Gloria, Rick, Elizabeth and Sue being joined by Carol Jackson of the YALP programme (a joint NIACE and National Youth Association initiative) and Joanne Blaker a young, youth arts volunteer, whose recent volunteer experience includes the Birds Eye View Film Festival and IntoArt.

There was not enough time left for as many questions as we would have liked but there were the inevitable comments about core funding and the demands that funders put on voluntary organisations such as: “Many voluntary groups don’t have the resources to provide evidence. Time is also taken up repeating evidence to funders, who have already been given information�.

Jo Blaker said: “Processes are important. Sometimes sharing construction of a project helps participants learn skills and talk about processes they have been through. I am volunteering for an organisation called IntoArt, which is producing a book on looking at the processes taken by different groups to get their projects up and running. The book is due to be out next year.�

Another contribution from Elizabeth Lynch was: “In terms of accountability or impact, there has to be a balance – inspire people to do things. But how do we justify spending this money? It’s a tenuous, tight rope!�

The conference was closed by Celia Greenwood, Chair of the LYAN board and Director of the Weekend Arts College, who thanked everyone for attending and summed up by saying: “I’m glad that the rest of the world has caught up on that we need to build a legacy for young people in the youth arts sector.�

“PUTTING YOUTH ARTS WHERE IT REALLY MATTERS� – A follow up seminar and planning meeting held on Wednesday 21st June, 2pm – 4pm @ The Red Gate Gallery, 209a Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8RU.

The seminar was designed to follow on but also be a separate forum to look practically at some of the issues raised at the conference. It was also an opportunity for members and contacts of LYAN to come together to talk about the future of LYAN and the sector it was set up to serve.

Wozzy Brewster, Director of Midi Music Company and ex-chair of LYAN chaired the meeting and began by saying: “First off, I just wanted to say that for me – and I am sure for a lot of you, a young person is someone between the ages of 14-25 years and not as the Youth Matters Green Paper states ‘someone between the ages of 14-19’. In terms of mainstream education they have reduced the age range termed as ‘young people’. We all work with young people and know that they don’t stop needing support and advice when they reach the age of nineteen. Most young people are just beginning their education at that age and deciding where they want to be.�

Wozzy went on to say that: “The formal education system seems to have lost the ability to communicate with many young people. As well as youth crime there is an increase in exclusion from school. That’s where the youth arts sector comes in – yet there seems to be a distinct lack of mention of the youth arts sector in ‘Youth Matters’. It talks about Connexions, the youth service and schools but as a sector we are not mentioned in the document. Yet the youth arts sector has been instrumental and an integral par of giving young people opportunities to grow and develop themselves outside of formal education routes.�

We invited Veronica Jobbins from Laban , to act as an animateur to stimulate discussion.

Veronica said: “LYAN has faced a huge challenge since it lost its core funding from ACE, London. As a formal organisation that has been there for a number of years, we need to look at a number of issues today:�

• Why do we need an organisation like LYAN?
• Do we need an organisation like LYAN?
• What kind of support do we need for youth arts in London in the next few years?
• What sort of service should such an organisation provide?
• What do you think we need as a united networking type of body?

The result was a list of key tasks:

• Linking – it is important to network and link across different art forms; understand the importance of partnerships and provide young people a voice and a means to contact youth arts organisations and other young people; somewhere to go for advice. LYAN should also tap into existing resources and it should be an umbrella organisation, able to present a collective voice. There needs to be something in London that will connect to all its regions.

• Advocacy and Lobbying – London is the fastest growing cultural and creative centre in the country. An organisation like LYAN should tap into resources and be a force to be reckoned with; it should be there to celebrate publicly what the sector does as a whole and it should also look at how the youth arts sector works with the education system and local authorities; it should be thorough in raising the profile and status of youth arts in schools, local authorities, youth services and bodies such as Connexions; LYAN should ensure it is included in relevant consultations and also make sure that its work and information reaches smaller organisations.

• Opportunities for partnership – LYAN should be used as a foundation with partnerships to other organisations, perhaps with a collective pot of money that could be used for a foundation; join up the one-man bands that a lot of voluntary groups are (increased resourcing would allow for better and more effective staffing levels); networks such as LYAN should be given time to develop, funding is often cut off at the very point progress is being made.

• Contact with young people/bridging the gap – should an organisation like LYAN run events and activities for young people? After some discussion the consensus was “some but it needs to provide support to the professional organisations that work more directly with young people and have clear associations and partnerships.

After dividing into small groups, each group looked at a particular topic and made practical suggestions.

Advocacy & Lobbying. LYAN should:

• Be a central point for collecting the sectors response to government papers
• Produce reports to submit to government
• Provide consultations and a forum on issues that affect the youth arts sector

Dissemination of Information. LYAN should:

• Provide an up to date website
• Up to date mailing lists
• Online discussion forums for young people
• Newsletter
• Creative forums

Promotion. LYAN should:

• Put on special events, forums and marketplaces to present the youth arts sector
• Provide a newsletter/magazine
• Undertake collective PR services
• Provide listings for events, courses and programmes.

Linking, Partnerships, Collaborations & Resources. LYAN should:

• Extend the network by giving clear information about the network
• Give a clearer message about what belonging to the network means and what the values of the network are – emphasizing the importance of proactive behaviour “a network is only as strong as its members when they work together.
• Decide HOW to link people – electronically or face to face.

Training. LYAN should:

• Ensure that members jointly identify issues that are important to them.
• Hold more events – gather examples of good practice from members and bring in external experts.

Advice. LYAN should:

• Offer advice to young people and youth arts organisations
• Make use of people power
• Have a good website/database/mailing list
• Extend to legal/financial advice for youth arts organisations
• Support young people within the ACE initiatives that give money directly to young people
• Continue to work with the ACE Award and Duke of Edinburgh Arts Award
• Support young people in any use of the opportunity card should this be launched e.g. information on places they could use it in the youth arts sector.

Contact with Young People. LYAN should:

• Be a first point of contact for young people to find out about the arts/ creative industry sector
• Have an informative website
• Be a place for people to get their voice heard.
• Have young people represented on the Board (this is in LYAN’s constitution and has been covered until recently).

Representation. LYAN should:

• Continue to be an umbrella organisation.
• Ensure its information is in plain English and easily understood and accessed
• Be a central point for organisations to go to e.g. for help on promotion and publicity.

The participants at the meeting then looked at what structure LYAN should have in future in the long and short term and longer for these ideas to be taken on board and for work to continue to happen. The following suggestions were made:

• A steering committee should be set up to work with the board (Veronica Jobbins spoke about the National Dance Teachers Association, organised by volunteers).
• Look for younger people who are a less occupied than some already are, who could be linked to an executive member to run different aspects of the organisation.
• Have panel members from each borough (ENYAN - the English Youth Arts Network has representatives from each ACE region) or link into the WEDGES – areas of London, that the Arts Council uses.
• LYAN should celebrate the big picture – London is the fastest growing cultural sector on the planet – and help young people find routes through to working in the cultural industries with advocacy and information linking in to the education and training resources.
• Membership – look at different ways that this could help. Are organisations prepared to pay a fee? If so, what should you get in return? Information should be free. Membership should be members who are representatives.
• Match funding – get together a pot of money that you then match funds for.
• Be a central point of contact for businesses, that want to do more community and volunteering of staff in the arts.
• Possible future funding – Arts to a social agenda – bidding for large chunks of money to deliver things on a pan London level; ALG and the Lottery could be looked at (Lottery by 18 July closing date). Look for 3 to 5 year funding.

Immediate Priorities

• Funding.
• Clear aims/goals
• Finding someone who will take responsibility for the website – space for someone to spend half a day a week updating.
• Keep the face of LYAN alive.
• Networking events – getting larger organisations to take on the responsibility to host such events – keep the momentum going until more funding is secure.
• Use the website and mailing lists to make sure that LYAN is still in everyone’s consciousness.

Offers of Help

• ENYAN can offer some support.
• ITC can offer a Training room to LYAN for use for free.
• Laban would be happy to host events – take on the work of organising networking meetings. Tie it in with other events they run.
• Duke of Edinburgh offering hot desk space.

The LYAN board will be discussing the outcomes of the two events, particularly the second and will look at the short term and longer terms plans.

If you would like to recieve the draft notes from the meetings or you would like to discuss any of the topics or suggestions raised at the two events then please contact LYAN by email on: lyan@youthartslondon.co.uk.

SPONSOR YOUTH ARTS IN LONDON!

LYAN believes that art enables young people not only to express themselves, but to discover themselves!
Now we need your help to make this continue to happen!

LYAN has contact with youth arts organisations and young people across London, so if you’re looking to tap into this enormous pool of talent, then read on!

We are looking for companies or organisations that share a similar ethos to LYAN to promote their services on the LYAN website. With an average of 25,000 hits per month, LYAN really does work hard to reach people across London, the UK and beyond!

By choosing to advertise on the LYAN website your organisation can help more young people make the most of the development opportunities available to them.

What we do:

- promote youth arts to wider audiences

- link young people with artists and arts organisations, youth services and opportunities for arts education in practice

- raise awareness of Youth Arts and issues affecting young people

- forge links with public, private and voluntary sector organisations, both locally and globally

Now you know a little more about us, why not get in touch and tell us what you do and how you want to positively benefit young people and their development.

Our policies are in accordance with the Child Protection Act and Equal Opportunities, therefore we are interested to hear from any companies or organisations that are sensitive to these issues.

If you are interested in having your advert on the LYAN website and have any questions, comments, and or concerns please feel free to contact us via email at: lyan@youthartslondon.co.uk.
Please put: “Sponsor LYAN� in the subject bar

We look forward to hearing from you and potentially working with you in the future!

Search the LYAN Youth Arts Directory

The Youth Arts Directory went live in December! With the help of our American intern Michelle Oldford from IES , who spent many hours updating the information, the directory is now up and running.

However, we will be working on it constantly to ensure contact details are up to date, as well as information on courses, workshops and disability acccess to your venue. So if you've not yet registered your entry email info@youthartslondon.co.uk and fill out a form to make sure we have the correct details about your project or organisation!

LYAN Youth Arts Workforce Development Plan

Workforce Development Plan - All London Youth Arts Nwtwork Members get a free copy of the Workforce Development Plan for Youth Arts. This is a document produced by LYAN in association with Metier (now called EQ) funded by the Learning Skills Council.

The report is the first of its kind on the youth arts sector and highlights training provision and training needs. It includes useful directories of youth arts organisations and other providers of training aimed at youth arts practioners and young people seeking to work in the field as well as examples of training courses.

If any one would like additional copies of the full report, these are available at a cost of £5.00 each or £10.00 for 5 (including postage). We also have copies of a short poster version at a cost of £5.00 for ten copies. Please contact us on 020 7482 3012 or email: alya@youthartslondon.co.uk We can also negotiate a deal for larger numbers of the report as required if you would like to circulate copies around your organisation or have some available for conferences and events.

Creative Learning Spaces - LYAN as part of the 'L' Group (a number of organisations across London that have an interest in youth arts) hosted the Open Spaces Conference on Monday 25th April at University of Greenwich Maritime Campus. The aim of the conference was to recognise and value the enterprise of young people's creative learning that takes place in voluntary and community contexts. More information on how they day went will be available shortly.

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Funding

Access Funds

Grants information for the British charitable and non-profit sector, this site aims to provide the latest funding information from Central Government, National Lottery, devolved governing bodies, EU and quangos.

Access Funds has a range of services to help you fundraise. These include a regular e-letter to keep you up to date on different initiatives avaialbel and information on training courses. The site also contains directories of funding programmes and guides to funding.

The site is currently offering a free seven day trial of it services.

For mor information email: info@access-funds.co.uk or visit the website at: www.access-funds.co.uk.

Local Network Fund for Children & Young People

The Local Network Fund for Children & Young People provides small grants and capacity building support for small voluntary organisations working with children and young people. The objective of the fund is to enable communities to develop projects and activities for children and young people with limited opportunites or access to services that many take for granted.

Most grants will range between £250 to £7,000, for one year's funding only. two year funding may be awarded to projects in exceptional circumstances, with the maximum two year grant being in the region of £6,000 each year for the two years.

Applications are invited under the themes outlined in the Every Child Matters Green Paper:

- Being Healthy
- Staying Safe
- Enjoying adn Achieving
- Making a positive contribution
- Achieving economic well-being

To apply contact the Local Network Fund National Call Centre on 0845 113 0161 (RNID Typetalk 18001 0845 113 0161) for an application pack. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but decisions on funding awards are made according to the schedule of the review panels in each Local Network Fund Area Office.

The Big Boost @ Princes Trust

Are you 11 to 25?
Do you want to improve your community?
Do you have an idea of how to do this?

The Princes Trust is working in partnership with UnLtd, The Scarman Trust and Change Makers to offer young people who are keen to get involved in their communities the chance to apply for a Group Award through the Big Boost Fund.

The awards help young people set up and run projects that will hopefully make a lasting difference to them as well as the areas they live in. A Big Boost Award means cash plus the support to help young people make their ideas a reality!

Funded by the Big Lottery Fund the programme awards grants of between £250-£5,000 to help individuals and small groups of people aged between the ages of 11-25, deliver projects in their local areas.

The programme will support a wide range of ideas, from ideas developed at school through to larger scale community projects – for example your project could be anything from a counseling helpline for young people to a youth magazine which raises awareness of issues that affect young people.

For more information and to find out if you or your group is eligible email Helen Streeter Group Awards Project Manager at helen.streeter@princes-trust.org.uk or call 020 7382 5182 or visit the website at www.princes-trust.org.uk.

LYAN is keen for its members and the young people it works with to take advantage of this excellent opportunity and is working with the Princes Trust to promote this programme.

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Jobs

Senior Arts and Events Manager @ LB Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets is one of London's busiest Boroughs for festivals and events and also provides a cutting-edge youth arts programme, operate an arts centre with theatre and workshop facilities and support a host of activities across the borough. They are now recruiting for a new post as a result of a restructure to enable them to meet the challenges of the new performance culture in Local Authority arts services, not to mention the exciting prospects around the Olympic Games.

They are now looking for someone with extensive experience of arts management and working collaboratively with community-based organisations in a multi-cultural setting. This is an exciting and rewarding post within an established and vibrant arts service. For further details regarding the post, please contact Stephen Murray on 020 7364 7910.

Closing date: 16 June 2006.

For an online application pack please visit the website at: www.towerhamlets.gov.uk or email jobs@towerhamlets.gov.uk or call 020 7364 5011 (24-hour recruitment line) or textphone 020 7364 4489.

Salary: £35,592 - £38,088. Please quote the reference number: ENV/473

Tower Hamlets is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from suitably skilled candidates regardless of ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality, religion or age.

Vacancies for Play Leader and Play Workers in Holborn

Holborn Community Development Project is looking for a play leader and play workers to work on an established estate-based holiday playscheme in south Camden.

They're looking for people with experience of working with children aged between 8 and 14 years in a voluntary and/or professional capacity who:

• are good at listening and socialising with children
• understand the needs of children and young people
• can provide a safe and stimulating environment
• are able to work well as a member of a team
• have good communication skills.
• are able to build good relationships with children, their parents & carers
• can work during school holidays Monday to Friday
between 11.45am – 6.00pm (occasionally 9am to 6pm)
• level 2 or 3 NVQ in Playwork (or equivalent) for play leader post
• experience & capacity to learn important for play worker posts
• £10.30 [£11.30 senior post] per hour (includes annual leave entitlement)

Local residents and speakers of Bengali and other community languages are particularly encouraged to apply. For application pack or for further information call Caroline Lister on 020 7404 6312 / 07870 197 834 or email hcdp@holborncommunity.co.uk
HCDP at Bedford House 35 Emerald Street WC1N 3QL. Closing date: Monday 10th July 2006

Internships for Huron University USA students in London

Huron University USA in London aims to deliver innovative, personal, high quality education appropriate to multicultural and diverse societies and an increasingly integrated global political, economic, and cultural environment.

Huron University now has many students looking to work as interns within various sectors of the Arts sphere. This
includes:

Art Museums - Past internships include the Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, Design Museum, and many more.

Art Galleries - A large number of galleries specialising in everything from classical French art through to British contemporary art, and artists from all parts of the world. Previous internships include the National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, the Tate and Tate Modern. Art Studios - Fine art, glassmakers, sculptors, ceramicists and many more.

Auction Houses - Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips and numerous smaller specialist organisations.

Art Funding and Administration - The Arts Council, the London Arts Board and many more. Art Travel and Writing - Art magazines.

Art Shows and Exhibitions - These are constantly changing.

Past internships include the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Portrait Gallery.

Design - Including interior, fashion, graphic, computer graphic, architectural, film, advertising, textiles, product, website, media and many more. Recent internships include the BBC Design Studios, Selfridges Design Department, Harrods Design Department, and George Toynbee-Clarke Mayfair (interior design).

The interns do not expect to be paid, but appreciate travel expenses! For more information please contact Anna Weston by email at: anna@huron.ac.uk.

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General

Document Exhibition @ SS Robin

The "Document" exhibition opens this week at SS Robin Gallery in London.

The exhibition, organised by the Association of Photographers, aims to showcase the importance of documentary photography as a snapshot of our times. The images represent some of the greatest photographs produced over the last 18 months and serve to celebrate and recognise contemporary documentary photographers.

Opening hours are Wednesday - Friday 12-6pm, Saturdays 12-4pm, and admission is FREE.

SS Robin is a unique centre for creative learning, based onboard the last remaining steamcoaster in the world. The project works with schools, teachers and community groups, tackling conventional barriers to learning with innovative creative workshops.

If you're planning an event or looking for an unusual venue for a meeting, SS Robin is also available for private hire, just call 020 7538 0652 to discuss your requirements.

All proceeds go to the Trust's work with local schools. To find out more about their work visit the website at www.ssrobin.org.

The SS Robin Gallery is directly below West India Quay DLR station, by the Marriott Hotel, or five minutes walk from Canary Wharf Jubilee Line tube station. SS Robin Trust, West India Quay, Hertsmere Road, London E14 4AE.

The Award @ Cornbury Festival

Are you taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award or just looking for some great summer events to go along to?

Duke of Edinburgh Award has joined forces with the Cornbury Festival on 8th and 9th July in Charlbury in Oxfordshire.

Cornbury Festival is a large, established event, now in its third year. Visit the website to see this year’s line up which includes Robert Plant, Texas, The Pretenders, and The Waterboys, to Nerina Pallot, Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly and Fell City Girl: www.cornburyfestival.com.

There will be two stages, plus other festival activities away from the main arenas. Cornbury happens during a term time weekend, so there’s no excuse to miss it! And, if you are worried about missing the World Cup Final, it will be showing on the big screen at the festival!

If you are taking part in The Award then contact your Duke of Edinburgh co-ordinator for more information about how you can be at the Cornbury Fetsival.

Do you work with media volunteers aged 16-25?

Are you, or do you run a youth community media project?
Do you have a website for young people?
Do you make docs with teenagers?
Do you publish your own youth magazine or paper?
Are you based in England?

If the answer to some or all of the above questions is YES - Media Trust wants to hear from you!

The Media Trust works in partnership with the media industry to support voluntary and community sector communications. We are working to achieve the goals set out by the Russell Commission – to increase the number of young people volunteering in England by 1 million over the next five years.

They can offer you support training and a platform for all your hard work via the Community Channel and its website, as well as through our contacts within the TV, radio and print media industries.

Get in touch, just download and fill out the questionnaire HERE and they’ll do the rest! The questionnaire is also available from Sarah Mills - Researcher, or to download from the ‘latest news’ section of the Media Trust website at: www.mediatrust.org.

For further information please contact Sarah Mills at Media Trust on 020 7874 7607 or email: sarahm@mediatrust.org.

How much do you earn? Online Salary Survey @ ArtsProfessional

ArtsProfessional has launched an online salary survey for people working at all levels across the arts sector to help answer these questions.

Addressing areas relevant to employees, freelance workers and business owners, the ArtsProfessional Salary Survey is one of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken on the subject.

The survey has been launched as part of ArtsProfessional’s continued commitment to addressing the issues which really matter to people working in the arts.

Liz Hill, Co-Editor of ArtsProfessional said: “From the response so far, we can already tell that this is a topic which is very close to people’s hearts and we are urging anyone who has not already completed the survey to log on today and take part�.

You can access the survey via ArtsProfessional’s website at www.artsprofessional.co.uk. One lucky participant who completes the survey by 5 June 2006 will win a £100 Amazon voucher. The survey findings will be published in July.

ArtsProfessional is the UK’s leading arts management publication and is often first to report on major national arts news stories. Read by over 21,000 people every fortnight, each issue contains regular features and articles written by industry experts along with all the latest arts management and administration job vacancies.

For further information contact Chris Hopwood - Business Manager on 01223 200 200 or chris@artsprofessional.co.uk.

VirtualFestivals.com search for musical talent!

Festivals website VirtualFestivals.com and trade union Amicus is launching a search for new musical talent, the winners of which will get to play no less than five festivals this summer - Guilfest, Get Loaded In The Park, Bestival, Tin Pan Alley and Beautiful Days.

Ten bands will be selected from all demos submitted, all of whom will have their music made available via independent download platform Karma Download - the final two bands will be picked based on the popularity of their downloads and the opinions of a team of judges. The selected bands will get to play the five festival dates, plus have the opportunity to win a record deal and the services of a booking agent.

To enter the competition bands need to send a CD, preferably including a live and studio recording and, if possible, a video recording of a live performance, to: DISCOVERED!, The Little Barn, 7a Station Road, London SE20 7BE.

You must include their name and contact details, plus the names of two referees working in the industry (a promoter, label exec, journalist, DJ etc) who can vouch for you.

London Calling - the place to be seen and heard

A new music event in London calls for any devoted music fans and lovers of Dance, Electronic & Urban music to visit a new exhibition, conference and fair at London�s Earl�s Court. London Calling will include an educational programme and open doors to hose who are looking to fast track into the industry. The event is being held on 10th and 11th June, for more information visit the website at: www.networklondon.net.

Thank you to Creative London for supplying the information.

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