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Nurturing Talent: Creative stars across Scotland awarded funding

Published: 18 Jul 2017

36 talented young people from across Scotland have received Nurturing Talent Funding for new projects to help develop their creative talents.

The Reason - Nurturing Talent Fund

With support from Creative Scotland and Young Scot, the Nurturing Talent Fund is administered by young people for young people. Over the two-year project, the National Youth Arts Advisory Group will issue £40,000 to individuals and groups across Scotland. The recipients in the latest round of funding are:

  • Wick Young Fiddlers Group, a talented group of musicians who will use the funding to organise a series of concerts in Caithness showcasing traditional Scottish music
  • The Young 1’z Performance Company, a talented dance troop of 13 young people living with disabilities. The funding will allow the group to travel to Findhorn to take part in a weeklong training programme exploring innovation in dance technology
  • The Reason, a three-piece band from Airdrie. The funding will allow the band to have more time in the studio to record new material.
  • Emily Briggs, a dancer from Shetland who will use the funding to enrol in training at Glasgow Clyde College
  • Eilidh Livingstone, an artist with a passion for photography from Oban. The funding will allow Eilidh to publish her second poetry collection
  • Fay Reilly, a dancer from Dundee who will use the funding to attend Project Y, an intensive dance training course to further her skills and learn new choreography
  • Xander Lyons, an inspiring musician from the Scottish Borders. Xander will use the funding to pay for studio time in Edinburgh’s Banana Row studios
  • Page McKinlay, a dancer from East Lothian. Page plans to use the funding to attend an intensive dance course to improve her ballet, pointe, contemporary, jazz and hip hop skills
  • Charley O’Hara, a hip hop dancer from the Highlands who will use the funding to attend the Fair Play Dance Camp in Poland

    • In this first round of funding, members of the National Youth Arts Advisory Group have awarded over £3,500 to provide financial support to nurture a broad range of projects and individuals from across the country including dancers, musicians and authors. Applications for the Nurturing Talent Fund are available for young people, aged 14-20, from a diverse range of backgrounds across Scotland. Young people with a creative passion can apply for funding from £60 to £600.

    The Nurturing Talent Fund aims to support young people’s creative work regardless of geography, affordability or disability. It is part of the Scottish Government’s Time to Shine youth arts strategy, which seeks to change the way the arts are viewed and help Scotland become an international leader in young people’s creativity.

    Colin Bradie, TTS Manager at Creative Scotland said: “Creative Scotland is delighted to be working in partnership with Young Scot and the National Youth Arts Advisory Group to deliver the Nurturing Talent Fund for Scotland’s young and aspiring artists. The awards from this first round of the 2017 fund will support 36 young people from communities across Scotland with the progression of ideas, projects and careers, ensuring young artists can achieve regardless of financial status”.

    Louise Macdonald, Young Scot’s Chief Executive said: “We’re really excited to see young people’s creative dreams of become a reality. Scotland is a source of inspirational and talented young people and the Nurturing Talent Fund is a fantastic platform for young people to kick start their creative careers and show Scotland what they can achieve with a little support.”

    Applications for next round funding close on 28 August and young people can apply via www.young.scot/get-involved.

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