About Us
We Achieve Our Aims By
- offering access to Community Arts and media workshops and projects in video, animation, dance, drama, forum theatre, photography, visual and digital arts, multi media, music and design
- creating equal opportunities through positive action by prioritising individuals, groups and communities who are often marginalised
- facilitating self advocacy through the creation and sharing of arts and media products and performances
- devising and co-ordinating ground-breaking and cross-art form Community Arts for Development project
- producing quality arts and media products and performances which celebrate diversity and reflect individual, group and community issues
- advocating Community Arts as an effective and enjoyable way of stimulating positive individual and community development
- establishing professional Community Arts practice standards
- developing personal development plans and training for our staff team and management committee
- improving the local skills base through vocational and accredited arts and media training workshops and courses
- increasing social skills through creative expression
- working collaboratively in cross-sector partnerships
- connecting groups and communities through outreach, cross-generational projects, and local and international cultural exchange.
Equal Opportunities
We use positive action to encourage equal opportunities, based on our belief that everyone should have the right to be heard and the opportunity to express themselves creatively.
We prioritise working with people who may often be marginalised or excluded from mainstream provision for a range of reasons.
This might be someone who is physically, learning or sensory disabled; someone who is unemployed; someone who has mental health problems; someone who is older than you; someone who is younger than you; someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or exploring their sexuality; someone who doesn't feel listened to; someone who has challenging behaviour; someone in trouble; someone at risk; someone labelled 'antisocial'; someone who has committed a crime; someone who is a victim of crime; someone who looks different from you; someone who speaks a different language from you; someone who isn't heard; someone who is bullied; someone who is depressed; someone who feels different; someone living in an isolated community; someone who has low self-confidence; someone who needs help to express themselves; someone who has something to say...
People
Thank you to everyone who supported us and worked with us this year - our dedicated staff and management team and all the participants of our Community Arts projects, our volunteers, trainees, the hundreds of partner organisations we worked with, our funders and friends.
We can't name everyone because there are too many people, but thank you to you all, we wouldn't be here without you.
Management Committee
Alex Bowen Director, Valley and Vale Community Arts
Carol Brown Vice Chair, Valley and Vale (Tan Dance Director)
Rosemary Bucke Mental Health Volunteer
Tamesin Derrick Funding Administrator/
Company Secretary,
Valley and Vale
Richard Edwards Alchemy Wealth Management Ltd
Neil Ellis Bettws Boys & Girls Club
Robin Hall Arts Development Officer, Swansea County Council
Carol Hiles University of Glamorgan
Katrina Kurowski Valley and Vale Chair (Advisor, Bridgend People First)
Alison Meredith Jones Bridgend Young Carers
Katja Stiller Community Film Development Worker, Valley and Vale Community Arts
Staff Team, Volunteers and Trainees
Kieron Barrett - Community Music Worker
Tom Barrance - Media Education Worker (Media
Education Wales)
Elaine Bennett - Community Dance Development Worker
Alex Bowen - Director
Angela Brinkworth - Community Drama Worker
Jason Camilleri - Community Music Worker
June Campbell-Davies - Community Dance Worker
Claire Case - Drama Worker
Nick Clements - Art of Change Development Worker
Phil Cowan - Scriptwriting Mentor
Alyson Evans - Community Drama Worker
Ali Franks - Community Drama Development Worker
Paula Gray - Community Dance Development Worker
Matt Howells - Community Dance Worker
Rhys Hughes - Counsellor Supervisor / Consultant
Luke Jacobs - Community Film / Animation Worker
Noel Jealous - Sound Technician
Gwyn Jones - Music Worker
Joshi Kaufmann - Music Producer
Bridget Keehan - Community Drama Worker
Kate Kelly - Community Design / IT/ Website Worker
(Black Cat Design)
Samantha McCudden - Community Dance Worker
Alison McGann - Community Photography / Design Worker
Aaron Meli - Community Drumming Worker (Slapping Skins)
Tracy Pallant - Community Film Worker
Amy Peckham - Community Film Worker
Shelly Powell - Admin Assistant
Jonathon Price - Community Film Worker
Dave Shepherd - IT Worker
Tim Smith - Community Design / Visual Arts/Animation Worker
Katja Stiller - Community Film Development Worker / Art of Change Development
Worker
Sian Thomas - Script Development Worker
Melissa Vincent - Admin Assistant
Saydi Williams - Community Dance Development Worker
Funders and Partners
We would like to thank everyone who works with us, supports us, and funds us. Thank you to our core funders The Arts Council of Wales and Bridgend County Borough Council whose annual revenue funding and ongoing support provides the foundations upon which we are able to build so succesfully every year. Thank you also to our many project funders whose financial support enables all our Community Arts for Development projects to be realised. There are too many to list but thank you to everyone that supports us, including:
Partners
Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Acting Out Cardiff; Baker’s Way Respite Care Home; Berwyn Centre, Nantymoel;Betws Life Centre;Bettws Boys and Girls Club; Betws Partnership; Betws Primary School; Blaengarw Workmen's Hall;Bridgend Bullying Task Group; Bridgend Children and Young People's Partnership; Bridgend College; Bridgend Council Sports Development Department; Bridgend Day Centre; Bridgend Heritage Project; Bridgend Local Health Board; Bridgend People First; Bridgend Women's Aid; Bridgend YMCA; Bridgend Young Carers Project; Bridgend Youth Offending Team; Carlson Dance Company; Caswell Clinic; Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff;Children's Services, Bridgend County Borough Council; CISS team, Bridgend; Claire's Fruit and Flowers, Pontycymer; Community Dance Wales;Comprehensive, Junior and Primary Schools in Bridgend Borough;Cwmbran Young People's Project (CYPP);Eastmoors Community Centre, Cardiff; Fernhill Youth Centre; Fitzalan High School; Fox and Hounds, Ogmore Vale; Friends of Betws Primary School; Garw Valley Leisure Centre; Garw Valley Regeneration Forum; Gem TV, Ethiopia; Glan Rhyd Clinical Services; Green Dragon Award; Groundwork Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot; Hafal; Hawthorne Comprehensive School, Pontypridd;Heronsbridge Special School; KPC Youth Centre; Maesteg Town Hall;MIND in the Vale; Open College Network; Porthcawl Festival of The Sea; Porthcawl Pavilion; Porthcawl YMCA; Pyle Leisure Centre; Richard Price Centre, Llangeinor; Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; South Wales Fire Service; Spectrum Arts Initative; Sports and Arts Development, Bridgend County Borough Council; St Fagan's National History Museum, Cardiff; Sure Start; Tabernacle Church Hall, Pontycymmer; TAN Dance; The Anne Peaker Centre; The Dusty Forge Centre, Ely; The National Trust; The National Waterfront Museum, Swansea; The National Youth Agency; The Open College Network; The Peace Mala National Awards for Youth; The Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend; The Red Cross Young Carers, Ceredigion; The Senedd, National Assembly for Wales; The Sports Council for Wales; The University of Glamorgan; Valleys Dance Initiative; Voluntary Arts Wales; Wales Association of Community Artists (WACA); Wales Youth Agency; Whitchurch High School, Cardiff; Wildmill Community Centre, Bridgend; Willows High School, Cardiff; Youth Works.
Funders
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
Anti-Arson Grant, Wales Assembly Government
Artes Mundi, Wales' International Visual Art Prize
Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisations
Bridgend County Borough Council
Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust
Cardiff County Council
Childline Cymru
Communities First Trust Fund
Eversheds
Extending Entitlement Grant (Bridgend
County Borough Council)
First Light Movies Awards
Forestry Commission Wales
HMP Cardiff
NCH Bridgend
Neath Port Talbot Council
Newport City Council
Newydd Housing Association
On Common Ground Youth Arts and Heritage project
PESS (Physical Education and School Sport)
Powys Mental Health
Remploy
Rhonda Cynon Taff Borough Council
Save the Children Cymru
Sportlot Community Chest
Swansea City and Borough Council
The Arts Council of Wales
The Arts for All Lottery
The British Council
The New Opportunities Fund
The Welsh Development Agency
Wales and West Housing Association
Wales Arts International
Welsh Assembly Government
Development Areas
Person-Centred Creativity Training
"Working with young people who had been severely traumatised, I felt it wasn't enough to show them how to produce a video. I needed help to offer individuals a safe and creative process where they have the opportunity to reflect and express themselves."
One of our key development areas this year has been the creation of a Professional Development training programme for the Community Arts and related sectors in Wales, funded by The Arts Council of Wales. The ethos and values of Person-Centred Creativity are based upon a belief in creativity as a powerful tool for individual and social change. Person-Centred Creativity focuses on the importance of building relationships with individuals and prioritises the creative process. In 2006-7 we ran courses for Community Artists in South Wales and also offered a taster day for people involved in the Caring, Community and Health sectors in the Rhondda Cynon Taff Borough. "The course gave me a chance to learn and discover things about myself."
OCN Centre Accreditation
Valley and Vale worked towards becoming an approved Centre to run OCN Community Arts courses in 2007. The demand for accredited courses and projects has increased over the years as many of the people we work with have difficulties in gaining formal qualifications through mainstream provision. OCN accreditation will offer new opportunities for the future. Having developed courses in Person Centred Creativity, Community Film, Drama and Dance, we are now working towards a full programme of OCN Accredited Community Arts training courses across our many art forms from autumn 2007.
Arts and Health
We believe strongly in the therapeutic benefits of creativity and the creative process. In December 2006 we were actively involved in The Arts Council of Wales 'Arts, Health and Well-being' conference and strategy development. In 2006-7 we also worked in partnership with our Local Health Board in Bridgend through our Art of Inclusion project and facilitated many Arts and Health projects in a range of settings including hospitals, prisons, care and respite homes, within mental health services, schools and community groups.
Organisation
We work hard to ensure that good practice continues to develop at Valley and Vale. In Spring 2007 we started a new process of Business Planning to form the basis of our 3 Year Business Plan. We gained a Green Dragon Level 2 Award to mark our commitment as an environmentally-friendly organisation. We produced Valley and Vale t-shirts and tops for team members to promote our corporate identity. We also developed our website and had a massive response, with over 5 Community Arts enquiries being generated every week from visitors to the site, and over 70,000 visitors to the site to date. In the future we are planning to develop our Centre in Betws to meet our future needs as an organisation, creating a building which reflects and promotes our work and ethos, enabling more creative opportunities and creating a flagship Community Arts Centre in Betws.
Staff Professional Development
We invest in and value our staff team, volunteers and management committee and work hard to ensure their continued professional development. In 2006-7 some of the conferences, training and development courses attended by and facilitated by our team included: National Conference on Arts, Health and Well-Being (Arts Council of Wales); Charities Evaluation Training Day; Arts and Offenders Training Day; Welsh Language course; First Aid training; Anti-Bullying training and events; Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome training; Dance Therapy Training (Dance Voice Dance Movement Therapy Centre); Community Dance Wales courses; Social Care and Health Training; Bridgend Young Peoples' Partnership Framework Day; Esis Training; New Technology and Dance Course (Troika Ranch); Counselling Training; Person-Centred Creativity Training; OCN Centre Accreditation.
