ARTS & cuLTuRe


Bonington Theatre to receive upgrade of facilities


Gedling Borough Council (GBC) has confirmed plans to invest £1.3m in the bor- ough’s leisure services. As part of the council’s plans, £250,000


will be spent on the publicly-owned Bonington Teatre, which is set to bene- fit from improvements to its seating areas, dressing rooms and bar area. The council has plans to complete


this work over the next 18 months although details of the work and tim- escales have yet to be finalised. Details: http://lei.sr?a=x8w6m


19.8m visit London 2012 Festival


The London 2012 Festival attracted more than 19.8m visits during its run from 21 June – 9 September. Official figures show that


the £63m event – the culmina- tion of the Cultural Olympiad – included 621 productions and projects resulting in 13,006 performances and events at 1,270 venues across the UK. More than 200 works were commissioned for the festival, which also included 160 world and UK pre- mieres and leſt a legacy of 176 permanent artworks. Around 80 per cent of the 19.8m visits were


for free events and a poll taken during the festi- val showed that 85 per cent of attendees said the event was a positive addition to the Games. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 people


signed up to London 2012 to receive informa- tion on cultural events linked to the Games, with the strongest interest coming from young audiences, women and black, Asian and


Te scheme will help young people find work


NSA to provide creative employment scheme


The National Skills Academy, the delivery arm of Creative & Cultural Skills, has been named the new national provider for the Arts Council’s Creative Employment Programme. The programme aims to help young


unemployed people find paid entry level work in the arts and cultural sector. Te decision was the result of an open


application process and means the Skills Academy will be responsible for deliver- ing the Arts Council funding of up to £15m which will directly benefit unemployed young people. Te Creative Employment Programme will give young people at the start of their careers paid opportunities to access on the job training, skills and expe- rience that potential employers will value. It is aimed at unemployed people, gradu- ates and non-graduates, aged 16-24. The initiative looks to support up to


6,500 new apprenticeships, pre-appren- ticeships and paid internships in a variety of roles across the arts and cultural sector at a time when many young people are strug- gling to find paid employment. Skills Academy, the national delivery arm


of Creative & Cultural Skills, will deliver the programme through its network of Further and Higher Education partners.


10 Arts Council reveals restructure details


Arts Council England (ACE) has revealed detailed plans for a restructure, forced upon it as it looks to deal with the government’s budget cuts. Te changes are set to take


place on 1 July 2013 and come as a result of the Government’s requirement – made as part of Arts Council England’s settlement for 2011-15 – that the organisation reduces its administrative costs, as applied to its grant in aid for the arts by the end of March 2015. In a statement ACE said: “Making savings on this scale has required a major restructure and a sub- stantial reduction in staff numbers, and will call for new ways of working. “In shaping its new structure the Arts


Te festival included a total of 13,006 performances of a wide variety


minority ethnic (BAME) people. Te results will be welcomed by the festival organisers, whose key aim of the London 2012 Festival was to use the power of the Games to engage new audiences with the arts. Ruth Mackenzie, director of London 2012


Festival and Cultural Olympiad, said: “We asked partners and artists to create ‘Once in a Lifetime’ work to match the scale of London 2012 Games.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=t9P5O


Alan Davey, Arts Council CEO, described the restructure as “challenging”


Council has been guided by the principle of remaining one national organisation with local presence, able to continue to deliver its 10 year strategy ‘Achieving great art for everyone’ and ‘Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone’.” Among the announced changes are a 21 per


cent decrease in staff numbers – leading to 117 jobs being cut – and a 50 per cent reduc- tion in property costs due to downsizing of


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


office space. To assist with the measures and to streamline operations, five areas covering London, the south east, the south west, the Midlands and the north will replace the Arts Council’s current regions and areas. Alan Davey, chief executive of ACE, said:


“These savings have been challenging to achieve, given our already pared down struc- ture. There is an absolute need for us to remain an intelligent investor, leading growth and ambition in an arts and cultural sector which contributes so much to the wealth, quality of life and reputation of our nation.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=b2E9L


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2012


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