‘Find Your Talent’ scheme moves a step closer

UNITED KINGDOM – Ten areas around the country are to pilot the government’s £25 million (NZ$54.8 million) Find Your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school.

Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.

In time, the government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The pilots will trial different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences both within schools and in professional art settings.

Different approaches will be used, based on partnerships between schools, local authorities and arts organisations, so that creative practitioners will spend time in schools, as well as children getting the chance to gain experience outside the classroom.

The areas will become the first Find Your Talent areas and build on existing investment and experience, currently taking place around the country.

Find Your Talent will include giving young people the chance to:

• perform on stage and attend top quality performances, exhibitions at museums and galleries, and heritage sites;

• get hands-on experience of the creative industries including film making, radio and TV;

• learn a musical instrument, and take part in a musical performance in front of an audience;

• produce creative writing and appreciate authors and how they work;

• learn about – and practise – new media and digital art; and

• develop art and craft skills.

“Find Your Talent is a truly exciting initiative that could open minds and change young lives,” says culture secretary Andy Burnham.

“Enjoying and exploring culture and the arts is not a luxury, or an add-on, for young people. It matters in its own right, and can be a way of developing essential life skills like communication and creativity, and contribute to personal development and self-esteem.

“Too many young people still leave school without ever really finding out what they could be good at: the things that could be the basis of a fulfilling life.

“These pilots will kick off the long process of putting that right. Their importance cannot be overstated.”

Ministers will now also be working on proposals to galvanise the enthusiasm for the initiative from all over the country.