Nurturing Talent Fund: Scotland's young creative stars awarded funding

Published: 29 Mar 2018

Young Scots from across the country have been awarded funding to help develop 13 creative projects. The Nurturing Talent Fund allows the recipients to further develop their passions and talents in their chosen medium, such as: short film making, recording songs in a professional studio, producing music videos and attending a harpist masterclass.

The Nurturing Talent Fund was set up by Creative Scotland and Young Scot to help support young people who aspire to work in creative industries. The funding is administered by young people for young people, by the National Youth Arts Advisory Group for Scotland (NYAAG), a group of 35 young Scots aged 14-23 from across Scotland who are working towards shaping the future of culture and creativity in Scotland.

The recipients of the latest round of funding are:

• Lamaya Ogunlesi, 15, from South Lanarkshire, is a talented Scottish/Nigerian singer and will use the Nurturing Talent Fund to professionally record new and original songs influenced by both sides of her heritage.
• Jacob Reid, 19, from Glasgow, will use the funding to stage a concert to showcase newly developed compositions that will be accompanied by a projection show.
• Molly Emily Williams, 20, from Shetland, will use the funding to travel to Inverness to attend the National Theatre Connections Festival.
• Six-piece band, The 101, all aged 19, from Edinburgh, will use the funding to record two singles to be released on music distribution sites and to send to record labels.
• Three-piece band Trampled Daisy, ages 21-22, from Edinburgh, will fund studio time so they can record original songs professionally.
• Alice Hill-Woods, 21, from Glasgow, will use the funding on a collaborative project combining poetry and visual art to engage with people in the community and make art more accessible to the people of Glasgow.
• Four-piece band Calamin, ages 17-19, from Inverness, will use the funding to support the professional recording and mixing of their EP so they can release it to the public.
• A four-piece film-making crew, ages 21-23, from Glasgow, who will put their funding towards creating a short film to encourage creatives to get more involved in the medium.
• Gareth Flett, 18, from Orkney, will use the funding to attend ‘The National Youth Brass Bands of Scotland’ Summer and Easter courses in Perth.
• DLU, are a four-member ‘trad fusion’ band, ages 18-21, from Glasgow. They will use the funding to produce a music video for one of their original songs.
• Anna Tait Westwell, 17, from Oban, will use the funding to travel to the Edinburgh International Harp Festival and attend a Paraguayan harp course and masterclass.
• Leeane McAllister, 18, from Aberdeen, will use the funding to receive vocal lessons and record a demo to develop her skills and confidence in signing.
• Magnus Turpie, 19, from Fife, will use funding to access mentoring and support in pursuit of his musical career as an accordionist.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Time to Shine youth arts strategy, the Nurturing Talent Fund seeks to change the way the arts is viewed and help Scotland become an international leader in young people’s creativity.

The Nurturing Talent Fund allows young people in the age bracket of 14 - 20 to further develop their passions and creative projects. Previously the funding has supported a wide range of exciting and creative ideas including, filmmaking projects, publishing poetry, photography collections, recording demos, and hosting dance shows.

The National Youth Arts Advisory Group annually award a total of £40,000 to help support young Scots make their dreams become a reality through the Nurturing Talent Fund. This is the fifth round of funding since May 2017.

Cal Menzies, National Youth Arts Advisory Group Member said: “This funding is a great opportunity for young people to get involved in creative projects and showcase their work. Being a part of the National Youth Advisory Group is really rewarding as it gives us the opportunity to support our peers and help promote and develop our creative industries in unique and inspiring ways.”

Colin Bradie, Time to Shine Programme Manager for Creative Scotland, said: “It is fantastic that this round of the Nurturing Talent Fund will support 35 young artists from across Scotland to progress their creative ambitions. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Young Scot and the National Youth Arts Advisory Group to make this fund possible through Time to Shine, Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy.”

Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive of Young Scot, said: “It’s fantastic to see the talent Scotland’s young people have to offer. It’s very important to us that we continue to support the development of the arts in Scotland, giving young people a chance to develop their passions and creativity and share these with their communities. The Nurturing Talent Fund has supported so many amazing projects and will continue to fund more exciting and creative works in many different mediums.”

To apply for the next round of funding from the Nurturing Talent Fund, young people should visit and apply before the 25^th of May at young.scot/information/learning/nurturing-talent-time-to-shine-fund/

Get in contact

For more information please contact the Young Scot Communications team on 0131 561 8628 or youngscot@stripecommunications.com

About Young Scot

Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship agency for Scotland, and currently has a membership of over 670,000 young people across Scotland.

Young Scot provides all young people in Scotland aged 11-26 with information, ideas and incentives to enable them to make informed decisions and choices, turn their ideas into action and take advantage of opportunities available throughout Scotland and Europe.

young.scot – The national youth information portal for Scotland | youngscot.net - Young Scot’s corporate website

About Time to Shine

Published on 8 November 2013, Scotland's first national youth arts strategy, Time to Shine – which is centred around the three key themes of creating and sustaining engagement; nurturing potential and talent; and developing infrastructure and support - sets out a vision and key recommendations to enable Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve, in and through the arts and creativity. Follow the latest from Time To Shine @TTSYoutharts.

About the Nurturing Talent Fund

The Nurturing Talent Fund will provide a total of £40,000. Further funding rounds will be announced in due course. A full list of previous recipients is available on request from Young Scot.