A rising arts charity supporting graduates in the creative industries is in need of sponsors.
Action for Arts has geared-up for a fundraising drive over the summer, starting with a ‘Songerama’ family fun day in Llandudno this Saturday with award-winning vocalist, actor and composer Cleveland Watkiss.
The campaign – backed by Wrexham’s Glyndŵr University in association with V Creation and Diverse Arts – targets filmmakers, musicians and artists and is focused on breaking new ground in the media.
Founder Ali Carter, a renowned producer, director and the driving force behind Colwyn Bay-based Laundry Studios spends virtually all of her time mentoring and helping fledgling artists to break through in the sector.
She does this for free and is in need of financial support to develop the organisation and boost its chances of meeting an increase in demand.
“It is difficult because I give up so much of my time to try and help young people but it is unsustainable – it can’t carry on like this,” said Ali, a producer on the Mike Peters biopic, Vinyl, which starred Keith Allen and Phil Daniels.
“It is a very difficult industry to break into and even harder to be successful in over a long period. It’s hard work, time consuming and requires total dedication, but ultimately rewarding when you see a finished piece of work or a young talent go on to fulfil their potential.
“Action for Arts and V Creation are all about giving youngsters a chance, but we need people to get behind us and so the next generation of filmmakers, artists and musicians isn’t lost.”
Ali – whose son Dani Washington is making a name for himself as one fifth of rising pop punk combo Neck Deep – says young creatives should throw themselves into the mix and join the organisations, particularly V Creation, which aims to bring together students, graduates and entrepreneurs to network, share ideas and boost business opportunities in broadcast and digital media, PR, journalism, photography, film, event management and graphic design.
“V Creation is a fast-growing team of people who want to be part of the creative economy and turn their passion and talent into employment,” she said.
“All they need to do is sign up and become a member of V Creation and join others who want to be part of this amazing community.”
As for Saturday’s event; Action for Arts has secured the services of Cleveland Watkiss, a founder member of the influential Jazz Warriors who has performed with some of the top names in world music, including Bob Dylan, Robbie Williams, Stevie Wonder and Beatles producer George Martin.
He will host vocal and drama workshops at Ty Hapus in Llandudno, utilising the voice, body percussion and story-telling to develop communication and performance skills, a sense of wellbeing, happiness and increased self-esteem.
“We are proud to be collaborating with Cleveland on this brand new programme combining our mutual skills and talents in drama, performance and musical development,” said Ali.
“Songerama is an inclusive workshop for everyone, even for those with very little or no experience of the performing arts. We want to show people the amazing health and well-being benefits of participating in our workshops and how individuals can gain the ability to express themselves more confidently.
“We hope people will show their support and come and see us on the day.”
To book your place visit http://bit.ly/1Dn8JzH.
Follow Action for Arts on Twitter @actionforartsuk or take a look at the website: www.actionforarts.org.uk. To support the charity contact Ali Carter via email:[email protected].
For more on V Creation visit the Facebook page http://on.fb.me/1bdiruO or follow them on Twitter@V_Creationuk
