MAKE SURE THERE IS A NEED

We had our first project planning session on Monday…just the nine of us, no one to make sure we were doing the right thing! In a way it was quite nice to get out of OYAP and what has become a very safe little hub to create hair brained ideas, and in to a not so nice room at Brooks. It seemed to be the beginning of a journey we were going to have to make alone!

We talked through ideas some of us had come up with about projects we would like to ideally run, and sort of discovered through discussion that actually some of these projects there was absolutely no NEED for! A project has no purpose if there is not an initial and very important need, and therefore will not be useful and probably in that case successful, nor will anyone be interested in participating in it, and so it would never secure the all important funding!

From this I have learnt that securing a need, but not letting your ideas and concepts become too twisted by funding criteria is SO important. You must speak to the possible participants before you get too excited about a possible project. They have got to think it’s pretty dam good, and also VERY cool, or they are just not going to turn up!…and that’s not fun for anyone.

TRAINING DAY

STRETCHED !

The Waiting Game – a new lesson.

Lessons handed down from high

Items to bullet, point and note

Listen carefully, watch and poise

A lesson learned, is a lesson earned.

I am at a point in my escapades where I am having to balance waiting, patients and following up.  From What I can tell, this balancing act will form much of my career.

Practice makes perfect I guess.

I have started work on an Intergenerational project and I am just starting the planning stage which requires communicating between a couple of different partners and stakeholders which are due to multiply very soon.

I am also waiting for interviews for a government ‘Homeshare’ scheme that will give me a roof over my head which isn’t a favour from a friend.

I am waiting for, well, a lot of things.

The scary thing is that while I am waiting for time to pass I am often forgetting about the important things that I should be doing in this time.

A difficult game. A tricky lesson to learn.

Life can be like treacle

Hello,

Just a quick one.

Our HLF project is finished. We are just waiting for the film and vlogs to be finished. Now it’s onto the training, mentoring, projects, challenging, pushing, testing, sweating, crying, wringing hands, blushing, standing up and fighting it out process.

Because of my background, I am painfully aware that people make judgements all of the time. Perhaps, I could be brave enough here to say that I can be a little paranoid and sensitive to other people’s opinions. This makes it feel quite hard to stand up on my own as a leader but it has never stopped me leading. It will never stop me leading in what I believe in.

Our first training session focussed on the all important subject of networking. Networking – fairly easy when I know all of the details. When I am 100% sure. A large part of the mentoring process for me is to pin-point some of those details. I know what I want to do with my life and the things that are important to me but I couldn’t sit down and say that I wanted my work to end poverty or to plant a tree every 10ft. For me, not knowing those details makes the idea of networking seem quite ambiguous.

This was case and point for me when I went to the public consultation for the new plans on Oxford Fire Station (If you have any advice please read and comment on beccart.wordpress.com).

Something that I do want to ask any/all of you. I went to the public consultation not only to investigate networking but also to ‘form an opinion’ as part of my Gold Arts Award. It would be really helpful to know what you think of the plans.

http://bit.ly/bSKiYv

could i be more inspired? i fancy not!

Our first day of training after the HFL filming project – we were a three man band today with me, James and Becca, but by golly we got a lot done! Being in the first stages of thinking about our own projects ( : ) ) we had a look at a recent project and had a bit of a brain storming session about how we might go about organising our own and what our objectives might be for making sure young people that participated got the most out of it. The project itself was a very interesting idea – a short film for the arts council about what art means to young people who are NEET (not in education, employment or training); the conclusion being not very interested to begin with, but only because they hadn’t been given the opprtunity to discover all the things art could actually emcompass (theatre, music, poetry, graffiti, dance etc) and how they could therefore take ownership of it. It really made me think about what I want to do with my project, and how passionate I feel about breaking down the barriers of exclusivity in the arts for young people.

We also had a chat with Catherine Lacey, an amazing person that has done many things and is now Cheif Exec of the Oxfordshire Children’s and Voluntary Youth Services; it was really great to meet someone with that much experience who was impassioned about what we wanted to do! You can’t get a confidence boost much better, really.

Today was the first time I have watched our vlogs from the HFL project; apart from confirming the fact that on camera I look like the moon from the Mighty Boosh, I think they really show how well we are all going to work together, and bring a massive dose of GSOH to whatever we do as well as determination to do something preety damn good. We were also introduced courtesy of Liz to the wonderful world of twitter – and before all anti- twitterites judge, James and I tweeted that we as two young artsits were looking for an exhibition space around Oxford and within half an hour had heard about this amazing sounding exhibition wall at Didcot’s new arts centre The Cornerstone! So literally watch this space…..

it begins… (18th Jan)

I have to say, I was pretty nervous when I rocked up on Monday for our first training session. Even though I knew not everyone could make it, it was still daunting meeting just two of the other ‘young leaders’ for the first time; it didn’t seem real somehow. There were biscuits to focus on when I arrived and joined James (umm, jammy dodgers…), and I started yabbering away without thinking, which is my normal mode when I am not really sure what to do. But when Kylie joined us and we started talking, really talking about things, suddenly it all started to get very real and very exciting….

Ok, it was a bit surreal to be given as a first time bonding exercise the task of lauching an egg off an eight foot walkway without smashing it. We really ended up bonding with him, named him Eggbert and went to the trouble of making him a spectacular parachute. Maybe that showed we are all a bit nuts, which I am sure will proove usefull. But  it also showed that we worked together really well, and straight away made everything else seem that bit more acheivable. That’s one of the main things about this project of course – we are not on our own anymore, trying to swim against the tide of the competitive arts world, we are in it together. Even though we each have our own things to focus on, our own ideas and our own projects, we are still in it together. I can’t wait to meet everyone properly next week, when we are out and about visiting heritage sites and promoting them from a young person’s point of veiw.

On Thursday, I met Rebecca for the first time : ) and we did a short interview for The Hub, BBC Oxford’s cultural radio programme : (. Oh dear. There is nothing more likely to make you feel like a complete pillock than having to talk into a microphone about yourself. Hmmm. Even so, it did make everything a bit clearer in my head about what I was wanting to do, and why; however uneloquently I did it, I think I put across the fact that I really beleive in trying to lauch a project that gives young people who might not be conventionally academic or might not have been given the chance to be creative, the confidence to express their ideas and be empowered to beleive that they are intelligent and they do have a right to be seen and be heard and be themselves.

The Spike, Guildford

Today has completely flown by.

I managed to get the essentials into my tiny handbag and remembered to put make-up on. A must for presenting! I was up most of last night as I could not relax and was quite tired but this did not affect me at all! We were an hour late leaving the station due to Oxford’s temperamental and frustrating traffic. The schedule amended we picked up tools at Guildford station and set to recording the first scene. I was filmed in the back of a seven seater car with my director sat next to me, the camera-man and sound lady sat in-front of us. Ellie – back of car director –  was going to attempt to direct through the medium of hand (one of those faces drawn on her hand) but unfortunately this was not one of those things that we picked up and ran with. Had it have been a film for our own ends I think things would have been different.

We had a very personal talk and tour of the workhouse (‘The Spike’) and learnt a phenomenal amount about the setting up and restoration of the building, the history and lives of the homeless. It got us thinking about possible projects to raise the profile of the workhouse.  The lower floor of the building is already used as a community centre and is being used and enjoyed by the local community. Tours are a problem for them as it is hard for them to come by volunteers to carry them out which is a shame. They have a fantastic video that shows the reality of living in and around the workhouse system. They have made it like watching a soap episode so it is really engaging.   Anyone interested in old buildings (as the architecture is great), history, homeless or ‘HLF’ projects should definitely go and see this place. If you can, go when there is a tour as I think that you will get more out of it.

On Monday, I worried that I would feel that I was in over my head but I was wrong to worry. We were very well looked after by our film man (Phil from… someone help me out here) and as it happens I spent all day in-front of the camera rather than behind it. I am a little unsure about how I feel about this. I know that Friday is going to be hectic and I am going to be doing the technicals. It would have been good to have the practice so that we can be swift with the recording. One of my worries today was that we hadn’t been quirky enough with the filming as we want to steer clear of making it a dry film. Whether this will be done through editing, what we say or film angles I am not sure. With the presenting I tried to be as real to life as possible without being too cheeky. Those of you who know me, will know that I can be quite cheeky.

From an OYAP young leaders programme point of view, i am really enjoying the opportunity to get to know people through the medium of long public transport journeys. Not a mode of travel that I normally opt for on long journeys.

Friday is Bletchley park and Pitt Rivers. Until then. I wish you all a good Thursday.

If you have any questions, please ask.

About Becca

Hello,

I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity. The programme is just beginning to kick off and there is an almighty buzz already!

A few words about myself:
My background is made of community festivals, street theatre, carnival and children’s workshops. I have always been involved on some level and made the decision very early on that I wanted to continue this professionally.

I studied at Oxford Brookes University and gained a 2:1 in Arts Management & Administration and Business.

This journey that I am embarking on with OYAP will give me the support, skill set and confidence to make a real difference to people’s lives. Bringing people together and inspiring them to reach out and grab their ambitions.

I will be blogging on OYAP with updates. I plan to blog in more detail on beccart.wordpress.com.

I am looking forward to your comments.

Becca