New Territory Young Arts Leader Programme
What is it?
New Territory is a new partnership project between Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre and Ignite Theatre delivered across Glasgow, Inverclyde, Fife and West Lothian.
The project incorporates a wide range of activities, including new and existing weekly drama sessions, summer projects and Young Arts Leaders training. It aims to provide progression opportunities for nine young people aged 16-24 in key areas (Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian) of multiple deprivation, all located in regions which are ‘new territory’ for the partners involved.
How was I involved?
I attended one of their recruitment sessions at the start of this year, where I later found out I had successfully secured a place on the programme. Although not knowing much about it, I was excited for the experience as I have a visual arts background rather than drama. I was looking forward to learning something new. I then attended an information workshop, where I met two other participants from CultureNL. I learned more information about the programme and set some leader goals for the year ahead.
The Residential Weekend
To kick off this programme, all successful applicants were invited for a weekend to an artist's residential in Argyll & Bute. It was a chance to get to know the other participants, share our ideas with each other and get inspired. Initially I was a bit apprehensive, and unsure what to expect as I was travelling to somewhere I didn't know with people I didn't know, but was made welcome and got settled quickly. Over the weekend, we covered lots of different aspects of leading a workshop such as: health and safety, content, risk and meaning. I learned so much in my time here that I will utilise throughout the programme.
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What's next?​
So far I have been using my skills from the residential to help facilitate workshops and games. I have achieved so much more than I could've imagined already. I've went from no facilitation experience to planning and facilitating hour long visual art workshops. I can't wait to see where the New Territories Programme takes me next!