WIN Get 'Art For Art's Sake' Funding

Networking organisation WIN is celebrating securing £100,000 from the Government to engage North-East businesswomen in the arts, as part of a ‘learning for pleasure’ innovation spearheaded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

WIN’s ‘Art For Art’s Sake’ project will offer the arts as a platform for women in business across the region to explore their own creativity, learn about themselves, and enhance their skills and confidence to develop new networks and re-engage in learning.

Set in inspiring arts venues across the region, women will be offered opportunities to get involved in Art for Art’s Sake through joining book clubs, following creative writing courses, learning about the performing arts or trying out play-writing.

They will also learn the art of networking and presentation skills, as well as the art of self-discovery.

WIN board member Di Gates said: “Winning £100,000 to deliver this innovative project is a real achievement for WIN, its members and the North-East region, particularly having faced such stiff competition - the project emerged as one of the top 15% across the country.

“WIN prides itself on being a current, honest and ambitious network for female entrepreneurs and women in business. The Art for Art’s Sake project provides us a platform to work with over 400 women across the North East and to add even more tangible value to our members, both as participants in the project and through direct involvement in its development and delivery.”

Other projects in the North-East include using the Tyneside Cinema’s new spaces and facilities to deliver digital technology, moving image, communications and IT learning to a wide range of people from different social backgrounds and developing online learning tools for others to share.

WIN is proud to also be teaming up with some of its new members to deliver the Art for Art’s Sake project. Newcastle’s Live Theatre, writing and reading development agency New Writing North and Northumberland-based Butterfly training are also involved, supported by Arts Council England North East.

Participants will be empowered, motivated and more capable of making changes in their personal or business lives through becoming involved in a range of arts-based activities.

WIN Ltd - http://www.womenintothenetwork.co.uk/3 - is a brand new membership organisation dedicated to supporting, connecting and promoting women in business.

Arts for Art's Sake is one of over 213 winning projects nationally. Across the country, a diverse array of informal adult learning projects will be getting underway, ranging from creative music master classes for people out of work or education, learning adventures for isolated older people and reading opportunities for the over 60s.

The grant is from the £20 million Transformation Fund, launched by Government to offer funding for innovative, informal adult learning projects in England. This brings to life The Learning Revolution, a White Paper presented to Parliament in March 2009.

The projects, many spearheaded by partnerships between public, private and third sector organisations, will help improve mental health, physical well-being, active citizenship and community cohesion, as well as providing a stepping stone towards further learning, qualifications and employment for many people.

Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Consumer Affairs, said: “We’re happy to announce 213 successful recipients of our Transformation Fund grants, awarded in the face of stiff competition from a field of 1,400 applications. With projects ranging from creative writing and music to reading and art, it’s encouraging to see so many imaginative ideas for giving adults more opportunities to learn for the love of it.

“The benefits of learning for pleasure in an informal setting are wide-ranging, and they benefit the community as well as the individual. I hope that many people will develop the confidence and the local connections to take a big step towards a brighter future.”

The announcement about the latest Transformation Fund grants follows the award of £1 million worth of ‘early bird’ funding in July.

Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE, added: “NIACE is proud to have the role of supporting the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in managing the Transformation Fund. We argued in our response to the Informal Adult Learning consultation that there is no better stimulus for local adult learning providers than the creation of a fund to trigger innovation and new partnerships.

“There’s already evidence from the ‘early bird’ bids of how creative and imaginative community-based adult learning can be when given the funding to put ideas into practice.”
Informal adult learning encompasses a wide variety of activities and can range from a self-organised reading group in a village hall to a guided visit to nature reserve or stately home.

Other Learning Revolution activities include The Learning Revolution Festival: a month-long celebration of informal adult learning that kicks off in October 2009.

To find out more about the Art for Art’s Sake project visit www.womenintothenetwork.co.uk and for more on The Learning Revolution, visit: www.bis.gov.uk/learningrevolution