HAMPSHIRE'S CULTURAL STRATEGY

CASE STUDIES

"From Bach to Beckham ... all the services within the Recreation and Heritage Department are about the quality of life, the human spirit, enjoyment and most definitely, as TS Elliot said of culture, `making life worth living'".

Recreation & Heritage Welcome Leaflet, 2002

Music in Hampshire's Residential Homes

An innovative programme run by the County Council brought arts, music and entertainment activities to residential homes in Hampshire. Piloted in 11 homes in autumn 2002, the sessions were organised by the County Council's Recreation & Heritage and Social Services Departments. The activities were designed to bring fun and a better quality of life to people living in residential homes and included activities such as exercise to music, arts sessions, drama performances and interactive puppet shows. Professional artists involved in the programme included Forest Forge and Proteus Theatre Companies, the Florentine String Quartet, Cameo Puppets and Tony Dukes of fitness company Vitalyz.

The Parish Jigsaw

The Parish Jigsaw project was organised to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 2002. Around 100 people from the 43 parishes within the AONB took photographs of their locality and attended workshops organised by East Hampshire District Council to make selections from these for their own piece of the Parish Jigsaw. They also helped to compile special Parish Pages, which have been bound into a series of albums to supplement the Parish Jigsaw. The Jigsaw highlights the local distinctiveness that makes each parish different from its neighbour, not only in landscape but in landmark features, buildings and the communities themselves.

Trailblazer: Learning to Learn in the Outdoors

Trailblazer, organised jointly by the Recreation & Heritage and Education Departments of Hampshire County Council, provides a framework for outdoor and adventure activity, field work and environmental education, and personal and social development. Through the scheme young people are encouraged to enjoy, investigate and appreciate the environment in its many forms, develop a spirit of adventure and relate confidently to a variety of environments, develop healthy, active lifestyles and become socially aware and fully committed citizens. Activities take place either on school sites or at one of the Outdoor Activity Centres run by the County Council and Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils.

Music Fusion

Music Fusion is one of network of Youth Music Action Zones, promoted by the National Foundation for Youth Music. They provide music making opportunities to those with least opportunity. Music Fusion aims to increase access, breadth, coverage and quality in music making activities for young people. It is developing a programme of activities in Portsmouth, Havant, Fareham and Gosport, with the support of those local authorities and Hampshire County Council. The programme ranges from the development of DJ skills and music technology, to the exploration of classical and world music. Soundbeams, instruments based on ultrasonic technology, will be used in special schools and workshops are being developed for children in the 0 - 5 age range and those who work with them.

Dance partnerships

Dance PHAD is a partnership between The Point in Eastleigh and Hampshire Dance. The aim is to develop a regional centre of excellence for dance by providing space for artists, regional and national companies and independent artists, in exchange for them becoming a resource for the community. These associate artists will reflect the work of the two organisations e.g. a male dance company in residence creating a new commission and leading outreach work aimed at promoting dance to boys and young men. Dance PHAD plans to develop additional flexible studio space, resources for the associate artists, and a resource centre for community practitioners and local dance teachers in schools.

Hampshire Music Service

Over 13,500 pupils receive instrumental tuition from qualified specialist teachers in schools and colleges each week through the Hampshire Music Service. In addition young people have the opportunity to perform in one of the seventy orchestras and ensembles around the county run by the Music Service. As well as the County Youth Orchestra, Youth Band, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Youth and Children's Choirs - all prize winning groups with national reputations - wind bands, string orchestras, and choirs meet on a local basis across Hampshire giving young musicians their first experience of ensemble music making.

Beaulieu and the National Motor Museum

Beaulieu, home to the world famous National Motor Museum, and ancestral home of the Montagu family, first opened its doors to the public in 1952. Since then it has welcomed over 21 million visitors from local areas as well as the wider UK and overseas markets.

Employing some 250 people during the summer peak at the attraction and on wider Estate activities, Beaulieu is a major local employer. In addition, not only does the attraction assist the local economy through encouraging staying visits in the summer months it also generates income for the accommodation and ancillary services sector through people specifically visiting the area to attend low season events, for example, the International Autojumble in September.

Calshot Castle

Calshot Castle was built in 1540 in the time of Henry VIII, to guard the entrance to Southampton Water. It was manned in both World Wars and, in 1913, it became the nucleus for one of the first RAF stations in the country. In the 1960s the Castle became a coastguard station and, most recently, has been in the care of English Heritage.

In 1998 Hampshire County Council went into partnership with English Heritage to keep the Castle open to the public. Both organisations provide financial assistance and the County Council manages the Castle on a day-to-day basis. The Castle is part of Hampshire's Defence of the Realm marketing consortium which is co-ordinated by the County Council.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Sports Partnership

This partnership consists of the 14 local authorities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight which are working together to co-ordinate sporting opportunities to local people. These opportunities include improving sporting ability and knowledge, whether as participants, coaches, officials, volunteers or administrators. As examples of progress made so far, during 2002/03, 13 new sports junior sections or clubs were established, compared to 3 in 2001/02 and 290 coaches qualified in their respective sports, compared to 42 in 2001/02.