Winter/Spring training courses

If you have friends or family who’d like to get involved in Preston FM, then point them in the direction of our new round of training courses.

There are three sets of courses running through February, March and April. Full details are on the Preston FM website.

• Fundraising Team
  Tue 26th Jan, 6:30pm
• Music Team
  Thu 18th Feb, 6pm
• Steering Group
  Tue 23rd Feb, 6:30pm

The training room will be unavailable for general use at the following times over the next two weeks.

• Sat 30th Jan – ALL DAY
• Mon 1st Feb – 6-8pm

Here’s the staff rota for the next two weeks – please try to approach the on-duty member of staff with any studio problems, so that the rest of us can get on with other tasks:

• Tues 26th Jan: Kez
• Wed 27th Jan: Neil
• Thu 28th Jan: Liz
• Fri 29th Jan: Kez
• Mon 1st Feb: Kez
• Tues 2nd Feb: Neil
• Wed 3rd Feb: Kez
• Thu 4th Feb: Neil
• Fri 5th Feb: Richard

We’re proud to be broadcasting a new drama – Divided We Fall – throughout February on Preston FM.

The series will look at the issues of violent extremism and how young people can get sucked into it. Following the radicalisation of a young Muslim Asian boy and a white ex-soldier, the drama explores what makes people vulnerable to extremist views and what alternatives there might be.

There are twenty episodes in total, being broadcast at ten-to-ten in the evening, Monday to Friday, throughout February – with a special omnibus edition before the Arts Scene repeat on Sunday mornings. All episodes will also be available as podcasts via the Preston FM website.

The Drama has been commissioned by Shahbash, a not-for-profit-organisation working in the Muslim communities across Lancashire, with funding support from the Home Office. It’s produced by Mannmade Productions.

Every 6 months we make time to sit with each of our current broadcasting volunteers to have a catch up, talk about how things are going with their show and discuss any changes or queries they may have about the upcoming new schedule in April.

We have been attempting to contact everyone by phone and e-mail over the last couple of weeks to arrange a time and date to catch up with you, but there are still a number of people who we’ve not been able to reach so far. If you haven’t yet booked a time for your catch up session, please get in touch with Neil at the station asap.

The catch up session will only last an hour in total. It is important that we have a catch up session with each broadcasting volunteer in order to create the broadcast schedule for the next phase. If you don’t arrange a catch up session with us, it could result in you losing your show in the next phase.

If you haven’t completed your folder for accreditation, now is the time to get it all done & dusted.

The plan is to have the folders ready for submission by the end of the first week in February, so we have arranged a number of sessions this week with Darren, who will be available to help with any parts of your folder you may be unsure with. These drop in sessions take place on:

Tuesday 26th January – 5.30pm-8.30pm
Wednesday 27th January – 12pm-4pm
Saturday 30th January – 10am-2pm

You do not have to come in for these full sessions but that is when he will be available to help. When you come in could you bring in any preparation work you may have at home as the more evidence we can provide, the better.

8th March 2010 is International Women’s Day. Preston FM will be joining other community stations around the globe to broadcast a full day of programming dedicated to International Women’s Day and the issues that surround women. (In a very similar style to what we did for World AIDS Day in December)

We’re really interested to hear from you if you’d like to be involved in creating programmes or features for the day. Support and assistance will be available from other volunteers are staff – you just need to bring your interest and enthusiasm.

If you’d like to get involved, please contact Liz (liz@prescap.co.uk)

Community Radio Business Development Manager
£22,000 + commission + car + 5% pension contribution

Full time – 12 month initial contract, with potential for extension to
minimum 3 years subject to funding

With 25 years’ experience in delivering innovative and effective
community based arts and media projects, Preston Community Arts Project (Prescap) operates a highly successful full-time Community Radio project in Preston (Preston FM) and works closely with four other Lancashire-based organisations delivering similar projects.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a new Business Development Manager to form new relationships and deliver new business on behalf of all five full-time community radio projects in Lancashire.

Developing new leads for on-air income generation, as well as off-air services, you will seek and secure new opportunities from within the commercial, statutory and voluntary sectors across the county.

Closing date for applications: 12pm, Monday 8th February
Interviews: Week of 15th February

Applicants must be currently unemployed and live in (or be prepared to move to) Lancashire.

Application pack available at www.preston.fm – if you do not have internet access, please call 01772 880791 for an application pack.

In collaboration with and funded by Lancashire County Council’s economic development department, Lancashire County Developments Limited.

Post part-funded by the Ofcom Community Radio Fund

Wythenshawe FM, Manchester
Part Time, 2 days per week
£18,270 pro rata

Radio Regen is seeking a part-time Community Radio Journalism Coordinator to run a project to develop speech radio output by volunteers at Wythenshawe FM – a community radio station based in a deprived area of South Manchester. This is a unique opportunity to participate in the UK’s emerging community radio sector.

For more detail, visit the Wythenshawe FM website

Closing date: Monday 8th January

PRESCAP at the MELA 2009

Being part of Preston Mela is a fantastic experience for Prescap.  This year we built on previous years and encouraged new community groups to come along to the Mela. We introduced four community groups to South Asian design in benner-making workshops running up to Mela day. Workshops participants enjoyed working with professional artists and learning new art and design techniques, many came to see ‘their’ banner on the day.  We ran a lively workshop on the Park on Mela day, decorating banners in various styles.  Many visitors to the Mela have visited our activities before and seek us out to join in.

We made fifteen new 6m high banners to add to the collection so that we can enhance the site on Avenham Park. We now have twenty-nine and are intending to make more every year until we fill the park.   We often use the event as part of our introduction to working with Preston’s diverse communities for new artists and the Mela is a great opportunity for team building.

It’s always hard work but a great deal of fun too!

Future Heritage Video project

Prescap helped the Nguzo Saba Centre in Preston communicate the fantastic things that came out of their Style & Heritage project. The project gave young people from African Caribbean backgrounds an opportunity to explore their heritage through Dance, Design and Music and carry this experience forward into creative futures. Awards 4 All funded a new Video Camcorder, Digital SLR, lights and Laptop so that Prescap Artist Emily Voelker could teach members of the community how to film, edit and produce DVDs.

The young dancers made DVD showreels about their dances and Prescap produced a documentary that told the story of the project. We also got the project up on MySpace – Style & Heritage – so that the documentary and showreels as well as images of the fashion designs and the many performances from the project can continue the life of the project in the online world. Display boards that bring together images of all the aspects of the Style and Heritage project were produced to inspire young people in the future. The project was a collaboration between Nguzo Saba Centre and Merseyside Dance Initiative in Liverpool with partners, Lancashire Libraries and UCLAN and funded by Young Roots Heritage Lottery fund.

History Zone Installation, Preston

Aims:
• To create an interesting and eye catching piece that will provoke thought and feelings about the history and achievements of disabled people in Preston that will engage members of the public and other service users.
• To create a useable and interesting tool to enhance education about disabled people and their abilities, history and community. It should also be able to be taken to events away from the centre; the suggested method would be to make some detachable aspects of finished product and supporting leaflets.
• Develop potential interests in arts, historic research and radio work, and to enhance skills of service users; particularly arts skills, research skills, communication, sound recording and team working.
• Allow exploration of disabled peoples past and how disabled people were treated in the past.
• To work with outside organisations to share skills and understanding of working practice, providing training opportunities in media skills, communication, team work and other personal development.

Project Description
To create an interactive, educational installation at Moor Lane Resource Centre using “messy” art activities and new media. The installation will depict the history of disabled people in Preston whilst giving the service users of the Moor Lane Resource Centre an opportunity to take part in a worthwhile arts and heritage project that expands their skills and gives them an opportunity to explore and express their community’s history.

Artists: Kate Eggleston-Wirtz & Des Butler; Bazzer Crosby (webdesign)
Project Manager: Christine Stringfellow

Future Heritage Video project

Prescap helped the Nguzo Saba Centre in Preston communicate the fantastic things that came out of their Style & Heritage project. The project gave young people from African Caribbean backgrounds an opportunity to explore their heritage through Dance, Design and Music and carry this experience forward into creative futures. Awards 4 All funded a new Video Camcorder, Digital SLR, lights and Laptop so that Prescap Artist Emily Voelker could teach members of the community how to film, edit and produce DVDs. The young dancers made DVD showreels about their dances and Prescap produced a documentary that told the story of the project. We also got the project up on MySpace – Style & Heritage – so that the documentary and showreels as well as images of the fashion designs and the many performances from the project can continue the life of the project in the online world. Display boards that bring together images of all the aspects of the Style and Heritage project were produced to inspire young people in the future. The project was a collaboration between Nguzo Saba Centre and Merseyside Dance Initiative in Liverpool with partners, Lancashire Libraries and UCLAN and funded by Young Roots Heritage Lottery fund.

Bringing It Together (BME Mentoring Project)

Aims:
• To provide consultation and support tailored to the needs of each organisation, to enable them to embed the accredited Young People’s Arts Award into their organisation. (We will work with staff at all levels.)
• To support the young people to achieve the Arts Award
• To support young people to undertake volunteering opportunities
• To enable partnerships and networks between voluntary organisations and arts organisations
• To assist Prescap to develop a good practice guide around delivering the Arts Award with disadvantaged and BME young people

The project will contribute to Every Child Matters’ aims – Be Healthy; Enjoy and Achieve; Make a Positive Contribution
Project description: Cape UK and Prescap will work with 10 voluntary sector organisations which serve BME communities across Yorkshire and the North West to support them to embed creative approaches into their work with young people. We will build the capacity of organisations to deliver the Young People’s Arts Award (YPAA) enabling young people to develop themselves as active citizen’s, artists, volunteers and young leaders. Mentors will, through tailor made approaches, support organisations to embed the award into their work; enable collaboration between diverse organisations and develop exemplar models for the national Arts Award network.

Project Manager: Christine Stringfellow

Youth Arts Audit Chorley & Lancaster

Aims:
To run 12 sessions with youth groups to run youth led creative consultations, as final part of LCC’s Youth Arts Audit, in Chorley & Lancaster. A youth group, supported by the LCC Youth Service and a Prescap Artist, will lead consultations in their area. This will be a creative session developed with an artist whose skills lie in an area of arts that the youth group will have selected themselves. The first 6 sessions the artist, the young people and the youth support worker will develop an approach or consultation session that they will take to other youth groups in their area in the last 6 sessions.

The results will be some creative form of work that will reflect the feelings about art the young people will have of art. These are possible questions from the young people consulted at the joint planning event at Burnley Youth Theatre to use in the consultations.

1. What are the arts?
2. What’s the best bit you’ve ever done and why?
3. How did you get into the arts?
4. Is there anything else you would like to do?
5. Is anything stopping you if you aren’t?
6. Do you have any arts groups in your area?

This will be run in a similar time frame in Chorley & Lancaster so that the resulting information can be used in the Youth Arts Audit.

There will also be digital recording of the consultation sessions by the young people as well, for which Prescap will put together digital recording equipment packs to be made available to the groups. Also some training will be made available to the groups in using the equipment.

Artists: Mick Phillips
Project Manager: Christine Stringfellow

Lancashire YOT Artist Training
 

Aims: to develop artist training for working in the youth offending services setting, so that they are equipped and ready to work with LYOT staff and settings.

A partnership project being developed with Lancashire YOT, and will provide YOT users a wide range of educational, vocational and creative experiences and projects.
Some change in the scope of project, fundamentally the same needs but LYOT have requested that the project covers wider implications for the youth justice system. The contract is just being checked over with relation to the changes.

Project Manager: Christine Stringfellow

Nguzo Saba Future Heritage Video, Preston
 

Aims:
• To assist young people who wish to increase their creative skills and produce material to take forward into higher education or careers in creative industries
• To communicate the results of the Future Style and the Future Heritage Video projects
• To celebrate young peoples creativity.
Project Description

African-Caribbean heritage video project to document and exhibit work and performance that is already happening in Dec 07/Jan 08 the original project is being delivered by the Nguzo Saba centre and Merseyside dance initiative in Liverpool. The project will purchase a Camcorder, SLR stills camera, laptop and other equipment which will help in the future documentation of events in the African Caribbean community.

Artists: Emily Voelker
Project Manager: Bernie Velvick

Groundwork Avenham Heritage Project

Aims:
• To work with young people in Avenham and Frenchwood to make a textile hanging ‘map’ of the area.
• To build confidence and team work with young people
• To explore thoughts and feelings about the area.
Delivery:

• 4 sessions with a community artist, one session may be a trip out to explore, photograph and draw elements from the area and the remainder will be used to create a textile hanging map. The artist will complete it as a wall hanging at Prescap.
Participants: up to 15 young people, (up to 8 at a time with one artist)
Details of artwork: The textile hanging map will be around 1m high and 2m wide (or the other way round) and will depict what the young people find interesting about the area as they explore. This could include thinking about how the area used to be, how it is now and how we’d like it to be. It can contain pictorial representations taken from photographs, text and/or fantasy elements of what the young people would like the area to be like.
Techniques could include photography, drawing, textile transfers, silk painting, appliqué.
 

Project Manager: Bernie Velvick
Artists: Bernie Velvick + Volunteer

ABCD Projects

Preston Muslim Girls School

Aims:
• Enhancing life skills
• Helping to reduce barriers to participation.
• Improving opportunities for the community to participate in society
• Raising awareness of Preston’s diverse community.
• Developing and encouraging the development of opportunities for the community
• Employing professional artists to facilitate the project imparting new skills to the community.
• Providing women and girls with exciting, creative activities which tackle low self-esteem and raise aspirations.

Project Description
Prescap will deliver creative activities to Women and girls who attend Preston Muslim Forum, Sahara and Preston Muslim Girls School. These activities will enable Women and girls to explore Islamic and abstract art and allow them to express subjects, places and feelings through lines, colours, shapes and words. Work produced during these activities will enable women and girls aged between 11-25 to work towards and achieve a bronze Arts Award accredited qualification. Art work will be exhibited in a range of Venues around Preston and will permanently reside in Preston Muslim Girls School in an installation space.

Project Manager: Becky Atherton
Artists: Salina Somalya, Sam Alywin
Arts Award Advisor: Lyndsey Wilson

Music and Movement and Spoken Word, Scope Preston

Aims:
• Raise awareness of disabled people and their support groups.
• Increase Community presence
• Raise self esteem and self worth.
• Combat stigma and prejudice.

Project Description
“My friends my family” will look at aspects of achieving equality both for disabled people and their support group and will raise awareness of the group to the general public. The group will take part in music, movement and spoken word workshops exploring the issue and also developing skills in video and photography.
The activities will culminate in an exhibition showcasing video footage, taped music, word and projected images. Work produced will be incorporated into the scope website and promoted in the local paper.

Project Manager: Becky Atherton
Artist: Lyndsey Wilson, Des Butler, John Morrow, Dougie Stuart.

Northbrook Wildlife Story Telling Garden

Aims:
• Children and community members will gain relevant knowledge about their environment, from the wildlife trust.
• The project will provide an outside learning facility for all members of the school and community members accessing the school.
• The project will encourage ownership and value of the natural world around them.
• It will instil a sense of ownership, decreasing the risk of vandalism.

Project Description
Prescap will enable a group of children from Northbrook school to create an area where stories can be pictorially told about their experiences of the natural world around them. These stories will be imprinted into stepping stones which will be embedded into the ground creating a maze of stories.
A bird feeding table will be fixed into the centre of the maze and carved with more stories, bird boxes will be fixed to the surrounding walls and a seating area will be next to the maze. Specific wildlife attracting pants will be planted in the garden borders.

Project Manager: Becky Atherton
Artist: Des Butler, Becky Atherton.

Lancashire County Council, (Connexions) Metropolis

Aims:
An artist will enable 14 young people to explore graffiti art, based on the theme Metropolis.

Description
The group will make designs and drawings based on the theme which will be transcribed onto 4, 8ft x 4ft boards. The group will work with the artist to paint, varnish and finish the boards.

Project Manager: Becky Atherton
Artist: Becky Atherton.

Revoe Primary School

Aims:
• To use technology to positively impact boy’s attainment in speaking and listening.
• To Link to core literacy units.
• To link with curriculum themes.
• To work alongside staff, enabling them to replicate independently at the completion of the projects.

Description
• An artist will work with 3 group of up to 12 ( at any one time) year 1 children to explore fairytales, using comic strip the group will explore the Plot using “beginning-middle-end”.
• The group will design their own comic strip drawings and text based on the chosen fairytale.
• Following their designs the children will work in teams to make moveable models which can be adjusted to make freeze frames images.
• The children will photograph each freeze frame and then make flip books.

Project Manager: Becky Atherton
Artist: Becky Atherton

Artist Dougie Stuart worked with a group of adults who attend the Foxton Centre Community Cafe, he enabled the group to take part in a photography project looking issues of homelessness, real life and individual. The project enabled the  group to have “a voice” producing finished enlarged images with captions.

Citizens of Lancashire have worked with staff from Moor Lane Resource Centre and Prescap artists, Des Butler & Kate Eggleston-Wirtz to present their history in a new heritage and art exhibition to be based at Moor Lane Resource Centre, Moor Lane, Preston. The History Zone installation is the culmination of months of work by Disabled People who have a connection to the city.

Three six foot towers present the findings of the project in an interactive, hands-on installation which includes a hi-tech, touch screen computer.  The portable towers show “past”, “present” and possible “future” experiences of Disabled People and has been designed so elements of each area can be taken to other venues for display or for use as teaching aids. Prescap’s Projects Manager Christine Stringfellow, says, “The project has been a really useful vehicle to document the heritage of a group of individuals who don’t always get heard.  The research and stories are presented in an accessible way which will make a difference to how people learn about disabled people and how everyone can make a difference in the future.

An exciting addition to this project is that schools, museums and other interested organisations will be able to borrow elements of the installation which will enable a much wider audience to learn about this important part of our shared heritage.” Lesley Jones, from Moor Lane Resource Centre says, ‘This project will give people an historical insight as to how disability has been socially constructed and indeed how society has built up a wall of barriers for disabled people. The aim of the project is to raise awareness and help break down the barriers that disabled people face on a daily basis, and this includes stereotypical attitudes, inaccessible buildings, information and transport.” The History Zone has been made possible with funding from “The Heritage Lottery Fund”, which distributes grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, regional and national heritage of the United Kingdom.

The installation was launched on Wednesday, 3^rd December to coincide with the International Day of Disabled People.  If you would like to come along to the launch or would like more information on borrowing part of the installation, please contact Prescap 01772 887785.

Cartwheel Arts is seeking 2 illustrators (paid) for a new children’s storybook project, Children of the Dream.

A writer is working with 3 Surestart parents’ groups from culturally diverse areas of Rochdale Borough to develop fabulous new stories and poems for children, and we are now seeking illustrators who can create stunning artwork for the final publication.

The illustrator roles also involve attending a workshop in Rochdale this autumn with the writer to meet one of the groups of parents and encourage their input into the illustration of their own work.

A track record in children’s story illustration would be preferable but an interest in this field and an ability to produce beautiful, dynamic artwork appropriate for a children’s book is more important. You must be able to work sensitively with diverse cultural groups, be open to ideas and suggestions, be able to meet deadlines and be able to supply artwork electronically.

Please email an expression of interest (briefly detailing your suitability for this work), RELEVANT examples of your work and a link to your website (if applicable) to: kim@cartwheelarts.org.uk by Monday 8th September.

The next Guild celebrations are in 2012 and Preston Council want to make sure that this Guild is one of the best Guilds ever.

In order to plan and prepare for the Guild, they are consulting with a wide range of people including local businesses and community groups to find out more about how people would like to celebrate the Guild and how they might wish to get involved.

The Guild is very much a community celebration and even though there will be a flagship programme of events and attractions, people will still want to celebrate the Guild in their own way.

For example, businesses may want to take part and “compete” in one of the traditional Guild processions; local clubs and societies may want to put on a special event or have themselves associated with the Guild celebrations; or even local communities and neighbourhoods may want to organise a street party to celebrate the Guild in their own way.

Whatever people want to do for the Guild, the City Council wants to help and support where it can, so that 2012 is fully enjoyed and fondly remembered as a “People’s Guild”.

To help start this process, in August and September 2008, they are holding a series of special Guild roadshows where we are inviting people to tell us what they would like to do as part of the Guild.

The Guild roadshows are taking place between 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. on the following dates:

Saturday 23rd August 2008 – Flagmarket, Preston

Friday 29th August 2008 – Deepdale Retail Park, Preston

Saturday 6th September 2008 – Flagmarket, Preston.

They would like as many people as possible to come down and have their say about the Guild. We would be very grateful therefore, if you and your organisation could please spread the word about these Guild roadshows and encourage people to take part and have their say.

However, not everyone will have the time or be able to take part in the roadshows, so they would still like to hear from you even if you cannot make it. The City Council would especially like to hear from anyone who would be interested in getting involved with the Guild and in particular any business, community, club, society or individual who would like to have an event as part the Guild.

Go to their website:

Visit us them on-line at www.preston.gov.uk/guild2012 and select “get involved” and complete the on-line form.

Or  email your name, organisation, email address and any suggestions for the Guild/Guild events to:

guild2012@preston.gov.uk

Or telephone Karen Ryding – Guild Administrator on 01772 906193 who will make a note of your contact details.

Once registered, they will keep you up to date on any Guild news and developments and will also be in touch to get further ideas and suggestions from you.

This vibrant exhibition is the culmination of a Lottery Funded art project allowing a group of Carr-Gomm clients to work with professional artists from PRESCAP (Preston Community Arts Project).Carr-Gomm is an award winning national charity providing support and housing services for people with a variety of needs.

Every year Carr-Gomm supports around 3000 people across England. Many of those using the services have mental ill-health, a learning disability or other physical disability. Some have experienced homelessness, domestic abuse or face losing their home due to personal crisis.It is often difficult for clients to express themselves either verbally or in writing. This project has enabled them to have a voice through the artwork they have produced. In turn this has helped to raise self esteem, skills and confidence.

www.carr-gomm-photography-society.blogspot.com

Main Junction is a Drop-in for young people aged 16-25, working in conjunction with Prescap, held an exhibition launch of the work produced during a ceramic project, funded by the Porcelain and Paintes Trust.

It took place on Wednesday 9th July 2008, at Fishergate Baptist Church, Fishergate, Preston.

Nguzo Saba Centre and Merseyside Dance Initiative presented a spectacular collaboration showcase event at the Harris Library on Saturday 14th June 2008. The event united music, dance and fashion design through analyses of cultural identity in a performance exploring traditions, helping other communities to understand and to conserve it for future generations through original and contemporary works of art.

Prescap’s involvement was to fundraise from Awards for All to get video and photography equipement to document the Nguzo Saba Young Style and Heritage project, to produce a DVD and showreel/ portfolio photos to help the young people carry their work forward into Higher Education or a career.