• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Thursday March 21 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Want to give every kid access to the arts? Follow my lead, West’s metro mayor tells Keir Starmer

Metro mayor Dan Norris has welcomed a pledge from Labour leader Keir Starmer to give access to the arts to every child by telling the prime minister-in-waiting to copy his Culture West initiative.

Sir Keir, whom pollsters expect to be the UK’s prime minister by the end of the year, told the Labour Creatives Conference last week it was “frankly immoral” that children do not have access to the arts, and he reiterated his call for every child to have the chance to play a musical instrument.

“It is short-sighted and frankly immoral, to allow arts and culture to become the domain of a few privileged pupils,” said the Labour leader.

“Britain is a world leader in music and film, but we are holding back masses of potential because the Conservatives’ creativity crisis is shutting kids out.

“Growing up in a working-class household, the opportunity to learn an instrument gave me benefits far beyond the music. It gave me the confidence to kick on, and the drive to achieve.

“My mission is to ensure all children are supported to be creative and reap the practical, emotional and social benefits that come with it. That’s irrespective of your school, your family income or where you live.”

The West of England’s Labour mayor Dan Norris responded by saying the blueprint for such a scheme already exists – citing his £3.1 million Culture West initiative.

Culture West gives arts to every child

The Culture West scheme enables schools to organise trips to the region’s theatres, galleries and museums, while musicians, painters and poets are heading to the classroom for a series of artist residencies with local school pupils.

The mayor agreed with his party leader that ministers have been neglecting the arts in education, limiting opportunities for people from working class backgrounds.

He said Culture West provides a “snapshot of what Keir’s been talking about” and is exactly the kind of plans a future government should replicate and scale-up to make the arts more accessible to young people from all backgrounds.

“Keir Starmer is absolutely right that a child’s chance to enjoy the arts shouldn’t be determined by their class.

“We’ve got to open up more opportunities for young people to enjoy the rich cultural experiences that set them up for life,” said the mayor.

“Culture West is exactly the type of scheme that can help do that, and by scaling it up and replicating it across the country, can go a long way to make the arts more accessible for all.”

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has brought together 150 regional creative and cultural organisations to deliver Culture West.

The scheme is also setting up two new performing arts and music festivals, creating new opportunities for young people to enter and thrive in the creative sector and provide work for over 400 local creative freelancers.

In Bristol alone it is estimated that the city’s 6,000 cultural and creative organisations and businesses employ 16,000 people and generate £496 million a year.

But nationally class divide in the arts is apparent. While just six per cent of UK children are privately educated, 40 per cent of the 130 British actors, directors and musicians who have been nominated for main solo awards at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Film Awards, and Mercury music awards over the last 10 years went to public schools.

Image by cjsmaier from Pixabay

Read about the Chocolate Smash in October 2023, part of Edible Histories funded by the West of England Combined Mayoral Authorities.

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