StratREAL Foundation - Giving young people a chance

Mission: "To give every child the chance to experience the best of the arts"

In its first three years Children & the Arts has helped to give thousands of children and young people the opportunity to listen to a full orchestra in a concert hall, illustrate a story, direct a film, play a musical instrument or see great theatre. For most of these children, this was their first chance.

These opportunities are not extras or luxuries. They change the way young people think, feel and act. The arts can give a child a way of under-standing other cultures and ways of life, perhaps a way to regain lost self-esteem or a way back into formal education, maybe simply a way to escape into a new, magical world for an hour or two.

The programme

After a very successful Millennium Commission funded pilot, Children & the Arts has just been launched as an independent registered charity. The new programme of day to day work is designed to give children the chance to get to know and love their local theatre, orchestra and gallery, and every child who participates will benefit from a whole year of arts experiences, including at least two visits to a performance or exhibition.

Children & the Arts works with arts partners to plan and deliver the programme through those schools selected from thousands of applications:

Schools will work with local arts organisations, co-ordinated by Children & the Arts, to ensure that the programme of activity devised for them meets the needs of the children who are involved.
Equally crucial is the commitment to inspire and support teachers, through training and classroom materials, so that they are able to make the most of Children & the Arts' engagement with their school.
Children & the Arts commits to every school they work with for two years because it is hoped that in that time they will have been able to effect a culture change at that school so that the arts become a fundamental part of school life.

Further Information

The programme