LOCHGELLY Centre is a key part of Time to Shine which has been launched this month by the Fife Youth Arts Hub.

The Hub is part of Creative Scotland’s investment of £3.1 million to support the development of nine Youth Arts Hubs across Scotland, from 2014 to 2016 .

The aim is to give young people, from the ages of 0 to 25, the chance to develop their talent, whether it be in dance, the stage, or indeed any aspect of the arts.

The three pronged Fife Youth Arts Hub team of Janet Robertson (manager), Rona Neilson (activity co-ordinator), and Alicja Pawluczuk (media co-ordinator), have already make their mark in Lochgelly with over 40 children taking part in Fife Youth Dance and Young Dance sessions at the Lochgelly Centre. The ‘youth’ dance sessions are for primary age and ‘young’ is geared at secondary school age, but of course an equally key element of which the Hub is there to develop is the talents of 19 to 25s.

Janet explained that the funding package is part of Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy ‘Time to Shine,’ with each Hub acting as a focal point for regional youth arts delivery, nurturing and celebrating ambition, enthusiasm and talent in young people, by improving the regional infrastructure.

“Children and young people are the key stakeholders and decision makers for each hub and will define their priorities and preferred activities,” she went on. “If you are aged 0-25, or are a parent or carer of children and young people, and involved in any arts activities, or have ideas that you want to see happen, or if you are an organisation delivering or supporting the delivery of creative arts activities in Fife, we want to hear from YOU!

“From acting to singing, dancing to drawing, pottery to radio presenting, the arts covers LOADS of different, exciting areas. If it’s creative, tell us about it! We will keep you updated along the way as we carry out our research, exploring the things that are happening in the area. You can also follow our exploration on Twitter @hub8fife.” Rona Neilson said that there were three strands to the Hub,’participation’, ‘progression’ and ‘provision,’ and these were geared to giving young people the base on which they can develop their talents. “We have been delighted to have six primary schools involved in taster sessions already with the West, South and St Patrick’s from Lochgelly; Benarty, Cowdenbeath and Cardenden primaries, all taking part,” she added.

“It would be good to see the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area become a centre of excellence for dance and we also have the other six sections of the Hub, in Kirkcaldy, Levenmouth, Dunfermline, South West Fife, Glenrothes, and North East Fife, ready develop their own hallmark.” Alicja has been involved with young people who are keen to develop their media skills and soon groups of ‘connectors’ will be working in Lochgelly and the other six Hub sectors.

Janet said that the Connectors will be responsible for raising the profile of the FYAH and youth arts among young people in the community, and also help with forging community links.

And she also said that with the aid of a series of partners, such as Edinburgh College of Art, Fife College, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the National Theatre and Fife Council, the various strands of each Hub base would be developing and that would become very evident at Lochgelly Centre.

And as a result of the work which will be done in each of the seven sectors, the first ever Fife Youth Arts Festival will be held on 1st August, which will involve Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy Art Gallery and Kirkcaldy Museum and gardens.

Concluded Janet, “This is a very exciting time for arts for young people in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area and in Fife in general, and we hope that the talents of many can be developed through the Fife Youth Arts Hub.” Janet, Rona and Alicja urged young people to get in touch with them by dropping an email on hello@hub8fife.com telling them about what they do, where they do it and their opinions of it.