Time To Shine, Scotland’s arts strategy for young people aged 0–25, was launched on Friday 8 November, 2013 by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs and Janet Archer, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland.

The strategy – which is centred around the three key themes of creating and sustaining engagement; nurturing potential and talent; and developing infrastructure and support – sets out a vision and key recommendations to enable Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve, in and through the arts and creativity.

At the launch, it was announced that youth arts in Scotland will benefit from £5m new funding from Scottish Government over the next two years and that this funding will support initiatives based on key objectives of the strategy. The initiatives are:

• A major new open fund for organisations to develop new routes for young people to participate in and access arts and creative activity.  Applications to the fund will open early in the New Year, via the Creative Scotland website

• The development of a new national digital platform to showcase and connect young people engaged in youth arts activity

• The establishment of a National Youth Advisory Group (NYAG). A group of young representatives from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will be tasked with making recommendations on the make-up and role of the NYAG, working in partnership with Creative Scotland

Going forwards, individual organisations will implement additional initiatives based on objectives in the strategy, with all work co-ordinated by a new, soon to be established youth arts programme management team.

The full strategy and accompanying documentation can be accessed here: http://www.creativescotland.com/time-to-shine

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, said:

“The launch of Scotland’s first ever youth arts strategy is an exciting moment. At its heart, the strategy promotes the real benefits and value culture can have on the development of our young people and our communities.

“The Scottish Government recognises the positive impact that arts and creativity can have and the strategy will, for the first time, provide strategic direction, vision and resources so that we can engage and inspire a whole new generation. Time to Shine builds on the well-established links between culture, education, youth employment and personal development.

“It is not only about providing enhanced access opportunities for all of Scotland’s young people but it goes further to support meaningful career pathways for our talent of the future; be it on stage, the screen, behind the scenes or in our world-leading creative industries.

“Perhaps most importantly of all, our aim is that this engagement with culture will nurture personal qualities that will help our young people to grow confidently as citizens and towards realising their ambitions, wherever they lie in the arts or elsewhere.”

Janet Archer, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland, said:

“Today’s launch of Time To Shine follows on the back of amazing work already taking place in youth arts in this country and the skills, dedication and energy of people of all ages involved throughout Scotland.

“Creative Scotland aims to ensure that this work continues and develops through the Time to Shine strategy. Putting young people at the heart of Scotland’s creative future will mean young people’s lives will continue to be enriched through engagement in arts and creative activity across Scotland.”

To read an extract of Janet Archer’s launch speech, click here: http://www.creativescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/editor/Time_to_Shine_-_Extract_from_Speech_by_Janet_Archer.doc

16-year old Tom Strang from Granton-on-Spey, who takes part in arts activity with Eden Court Theatre and is one of the young people advising on the make up of the National Youth Advisory Group, said:

“The arts give me a way to express myself through music, drama and dance. I hope that this strategy is taken on board by all arts provision providers in Scotland and reaches out to engage people who may not have had the opportunity to access the arts before. I also hope that it will lead to a future of even more high quality art being produced in Scotland.”

20 year old Jocelyn Gowans from Glasgow who works with YDance, said:

“Being involved in the arts means being part of a bigger picture, it expands your horizons.  I hope this strategy will bring art forms together so that practitioners can coexist and create a world of endless imagination and inspiration for Scotland’s young people”.

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