Young people from across Scotland have been awarded funding to help young Scots embrace their creativity through the Nurturing Talent Fund.

Young Scot and Creative Scotland have awarded just under £3,700 to help nurture the creative talents of young people, aged 11-20, through the Nurturing Talent Fund. The fund supports a wide variety of activities, with awards ranging from £60- £600, to help young Scots across the country to take their creativity to the next level.

Supported projects in this round include recording demos, photography for portfolios, dance workshops in Airdrie, filmmaking workshops in Shetland, fees to attend the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s Jazz Summer School, amongst other things.

The recipients of the latest round of funding are:

• Alex Stewart, 19, from Glasgow will use the funding to commission a look-book and campaign photoshoot to showcase his talents for design and his fashion brand’s first collection
• Amber Grieve, 17, from Shetland will attend the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s Jazz Summer School in Skye
• Andrew Pettigrew, 16, from Hamilton will use the funding to attend the Deaf Youth Theatre and Kor Records Band Together Project, accompanied by a deaf / blind communicator
• Annisa Cameron-Hameed, 19, from Edinburgh will use the funding to develop her analogue photography skills
• Beth Gordon, 16, from Inverness will work alongside mentors on developing her creative writing skills to help improve her writing technique and collate her previous writings into a book
• Youth filmmaking group Maddrim Media, from Shetland will develop a series of creative workshops alongside the guidance of Liz Musser to help develop each member’s filmmaking skills
• Airdrie Insane Dance Group, an 11-piece troupe from Airdrie, will use the funding to put on a Christmas dance event
• Ruaraidh Williams, 16, from Aberdeenshire will use the funding to travel to Belgium with Aberdeen Youth Orchestra for his first overseas orchestral tour
• Tia MacLeod, 14, from Stranraer, will attend a dance leadership programme with D+G Dance mentorship academy to sit dance exams with the British Association of Teachers of Dancing

This is the third round of funding and young people can still apply for funding between £60- £600. To apply for funding from the Nurturing Talent Fund, young people should visit young.scot/time-to-shine.

Funding applications are administered decided by the National Youth Arts Advisory Group for Scotland (NYAAG) a group of 35 young Scots aged 14-23 from across Scotland who are passionate about shaping the future of culture and creativity. The group will award a total of £40,000 to help young Scots embrace their creativity through the Nurturing Talent Fund.

Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Fiona Hyslop, said: "As we approach 2018 and Scotland's Year of Young People I am delighted that Scotland's Nurturing Talent Fund will be supporting more young people achieve their dreams and to realise their artistic potential.

"The Nurturing Talent Fund which is part of Scotland's first ever Youth Arts strategy, Time to Shine, has already supported hundreds of young people to take forward animation, theatre, music and design projects. Continuing the Talent Fund is part of building a country where no-one's background is a barrier to achieving artistic excellence."

Colin Bradie, TTS Programme Manager at Creative Scotland, said: “It is fantastic to see such a diverse and talented group of young artists supported through the Nurturing Talent fund. Since 2014, we have been proud to have worked with Young Scot through the Time to Shine Strategy, helping develop and support young people’s creative ambitions, regardless of their background, location or personal challenges.”

Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive of Young Scot, said: “Scotland’s young people are producing incredible creative work across the country and the Nurturing Talent Fund helps make great creative ideas happen. Encouraging young people to get involved in the arts is extremely important. It’s a great way for young people to learn valuable skills and explore their creativity – the Nurturing Talent Fund has already supported some very talented young people in achieving their dreams.”

Part of Time to Shine, Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy, the Nurturing Talent Fund seeks to change the way the arts are viewed and help Scotland become an international leader in young people’s creativity.