Y Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chwaraeon

Adolygiad Polisi: Cyfraniad y Celfyddydau a Chwaraeon at Adfywio Cymunedol

Arts for Us

Subject: arts and regeneration for culture committee review Dear Sir/Madam, RE: Case study for Culture Committee Review. We are a community arts team for the City and County of Swansea called Arts for Us. Our funding is intrinsically linked to Regeneration (partly funded by the European Social Fund). One example of our work is a project that took place in Gorseinon during November and December of 2003. The partners involved in this project were Gorseinon Regeneration Trust and Gorseinon College. A need was identified for a Christmas lights celebration which had in recent years become dull and poorly attended. This community has recently suffered mass redundancies and lacked a spirit of celebration that it used to have. We co-ordinated and delivered lantern-making workshops with a wide range of groups from the community. This included a basic skills group, the independent living group, classroom assistants, schools and students from varying disciplines at Gorseinon College. 190 lanterns in all were created and paraded through the streets of Gorseinon. Each lantern was accompanied by family groups, which made for a very large procession. Spectators lined the streets in their hundreds. The turnout and the atmosphere was incredible. Feedback from the event indicated that this had been a successful project. Individuals and groups have been inspired and trained to make this an annual event. It has generated further arts and regeneration projects in the area. On an individual level, there were marked positive effects within the workshop settings. Two months on, we are still receiving positive feedback Swansea-wide. Yours sincerely, Arts for Us.