25.07.2024
4 min read
The past six months have just flown by, which is not surprising considering just how busy we’ve all been. Not only have we continued to deliver 21 regular sessions and started some exciting new projects with new partners such as Live! Cheshire, Proud and Loud Arts and Neuromuscular Centre, but we delighted thousands with our Now Northwich international dance and street arts festival, we created a mutually supportive environment for artists to explore with our Inquiring Bodies 2024 event, we hosted a Knowledge Exchange Day for those working in a youth context across dance, sports and the arts … and much more. (PLUS, we even found some time to attend a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in celebration of the creative industries!)
It’s certainly been busy, and quite a lot of recent BIG news leads us to believe this momentum will only continue.
In the last six month alone, Cheshire Dance has been successful in receiving significant support for three of its initiatives: The Nexus Programme for young people in and around Chester, The Spotlight Project for high school ages in Winsford, and the Wanna Dance? Programme to provide more opportunities for people with Profound Intellectual & Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) to dance in Chester and Ellesmere Port.
Keep reading to gain an insight into these initiatives.
Thanks to support from the Westminster Foundation, Cheshire Dance will be launching the Nexus Programme – a 5 year initiative which will focus on developing our work with young people in and around Chester, Ellesmere Port and surrounding villages.
The Nexus Programme will develop dancing opportunities with and for children and young people of all abilities/disabilities who face barriers to accessing mainstream arts and cultural activities due to experiences relating to poor mental health, neurodiversity, learning disability, social circumstances and financial circumstances.
The programme will respond to the need for activities which support the building of confidence, aspirations, positive self-expression and wellbeing, and will provide young people with the opportunity to grow and thrive through dance.
The programme is set to launch this autumn so keep watching this space. In the meantime, for more information contact emma@cheshiredance.org.
Over the past 2 years, Cheshire Dance’s Spotlight Project has provided high school aged young people in Winsford with creative physical experiences to help improve resilience and enhance mental well-being. During this time, the initiative has gone from strength to strength and has since become a pathway for both the local police and social prescribers to refer into.
Placing the Spotlight on what the YOUNG PEOPLE like to do, the initiative encourages young people to experience new things whilst building their confidence and providing the opportunity to engage with others from the local area.
It is through this initiative that Cheshire Dance has developed The Spotlight Approach – a model of engagement that encourages co-creation through respectful and creative play and physical activity with the wellbeing needs of participants at its heart.
Thanks to support from the Million Hours Fund (The National Lottery Community Fund) via Winsford Youth and Community Forum (WYCF), and other local funding, Cheshire Dance is delighted to report that it can further its work over the next two years alongside the support of our partners: Mind Body Balance Academy, WYCF, Youth Fed and the Winsford Care Partnership. We will continue to engage with young people using The Spotlight Approach to enrich the lives of more 11-18 year olds in Winsford and surrounding areas.
For more information on The Spotlight Project, please contact josie@cheshiredance.org or click here.
Creating dancing opportunities for people with Profound Intellectual & Multiple Disabilities is a priority at Cheshire Dance and through our Wanna Dance? Programme, we explore how members of Vivo Care Choices’ community with the most complex needs might want to engage in the art form in one-to-one sessions. In addition, we also give staff the opportunity to develop their own skills and confidence in supporting dance with people with PIMD, guiding them in how they might explore communication and connection beyond words through dance, touch and music with the service users.
Thanks to support from the Anne Duchess of Westminster Fund, People’s Postcode Lottery, Marjory Boddy Trust and Vivo Care Choices, in our 2023-2024 programme we worked with 19 dancers with PIMD and 30 staff at the Canal Street and Lightfoot Lodge Centres in Chester and Coronation Centre in Ellesmere Port. Now, thanks to funding from National Lottery Awards for All, the Bailey Thomas Charitable Fund, the Schroder Charitable Trust and the Sport England Movement Fund, we can further our work through 2024 and into 2025, and continue to develop our offering in Ellesmere Port and Chester.
For more information on the Wanna Dance? Programme, please contact jane.mclean@cheshiredance.org or click here.
