Aberdeen creative community projects share in over £94,000

Support for the Scottish Culture and Traditions Association will grow traditional music activities for young people. With a focus on learning and playing for young people at different stages in their musical education, the Association supports beginners and those already involved in playing, as well as giving more advanced players an insight into establishing a career in Scottish traditional music.   

A series of online taster videos will be produced for young people in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and further afield. Funding will also be used for online weekly classes, an online summer Youth Camp which is running from the 12th - 16th July 2021 and other online engagement opportunities. The project aims to see a more diverse range and greater number of young people participating in traditional music. 

Project Manager Laura Harrington said: “We are really passionate about sharing our rich musical heritage. Our hope is that Scottish Culture and Traditions Youth will inspire, enthuse and enable young people to experience Scottish traditional music on all levels from beginner to advanced levels with events being accessible to all.” 

Funding has also been awarded to Grampian Hospital Art Trust (GHAT) for Creative Call - a research pilot aimed at developing organisational knowledge and enhancing work undertaken with people at the bedside. 

The project aims to engage creative practitioners to work on the development of an ‘Art On-Call' programme which places creative practitioners at the centre of remote and live delivery to improve access to live participatory artistic activities in the post-COVID landscape. The processes, developed as part of the pilot, will help GHAT to take art within wards to their rural community locations. 

Director Sally Thomson says: “This funding will have a significant impact on our research into the benefits of engaging professional creative practitioners at the heart of arts and wellbeing within hospitals. COVID has been a challenging time and these funds will support us to create a new and innovative programme of work.” 

NHSG Chairman Dr Lynda Lynch and Chief Executive Officer Professor Amanda Croft added, in a joint statement: "We have been incredibly fortunate to have GHAT working not only in parallel with us for thirty years, but now as part of the fabric of our everyday lives across NHS Grampian and all our healthcare settings within it.” 

These projects are two of 45 in total across Scotland to have received a share of over £732,000 in last month’s Open Project funding round.  

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “We are committed to supporting a diverse mix of artists and creative groups through the Open Fund, in communities across Scotland. Many of the projects supported will spark a timely discussion over issues such as climate change, as well as a commitment to greater inclusion of underrepresented groups in the arts.”

“Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, who raise £30 million for good causes across the UK every week, and funding from the Scottish Government, these awards play an important part in enriching the lives of people throughout Scotland.” 

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website.