Year: 2020

Call Out for Case Studies – Share your Experience DEADLINE EXTENDED

As part of the NRTF Touring Arts in Libraries Project 2020 – 2021 we will be collecting and sharing, in the form of case studies, your experiences of programming and performing arts in Libraries.

The case studies will create a national picture of activity and expertise across the UK, highlighting the various challenges and barriers, knowledge, skills, successes and potential for delivering an arts programme into Libraries.
These case studies will be available to share, will help determine what support and skills our project can provide, allow us to promote the work and activities already happening and to identify and value the expertise that already exists.
To share your knowledge and experience please click on the link below to complete the case study form:
Touring Arts in Libraries Case Study Form
Please pass this link on to others you think may have experiences they wish to share. The deadline for submitting case studies is 31st January 2021.

Pentabus Artistic Director to Step Down to Take up New Position at The Everyman, Cork

Pentabus announced this week that Artistic Director Sophie Motley will step down from her role in February 2021 to take up the position of Artistic Director at The Everyman, Cork. 

Sophie joined Pentabus in 2016, embedding it as the nation’s rural theatre company. Over her four years with the company she has directed the company’s touring productions, Young Writers’ productions and commissioned new plays from Robert Alan Evans, Emma Dennis Edwards, Tim Foley, Lorna French, Matt Hartley, Deirdre Kinahan and Tabby Lamb. She has also established new programmes of work for young people and emerging rural theatre artists, plus developed and implemented a new strand of work, made by, with and for isolated rural communities across the UK. The first of these productions, One Side Lies the Sea, made with coastal rural communities in West Cumbria, East Yorkshire and Cornwall, was due to be premiered in March 2020 before the initial Covid-19 lockdown.

Sophie said: ‘Whilst I’m excited about new opportunities at The Everyman in the midst of the pandemic, I am incredibly sad to leave a company that I have been privileged to be a steward of. Pentabus has a place in every artist and audience member’s heart, for challenging perceived norms of the rural experience, creating excellent work with artists who would usually be seen on our national stages, and for just telling plain brilliant stories. I’m proud to be a part of those stories. I’ve loved every minute of putting up tents at agricultural shows, talking to audience members before, during and after performances, the joy of village hall theatre which is, to me, more important than any form of theatre, and working with the fantastic team at Pentabus. It is with a heavy heart that I leave South Shropshire, where I was reared, but it is time to learn new things, and I look forwards to coming back and seeing the work that Pentabus will continue to make by, with and for rural people.’

Ros Robins, Chair of Pentabus Board said: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of Sophie from Pentabus. Sophie has brought great passion and vision to her leadership of the company over the past four years. She has introduced Pentabus to new writers, created more exciting opportunities for young people and has introduced the work of Pentabus to rural communities and audiences across the UK.  Her artistic leadership has been informed by a real understanding of and empathy for the lives and people living in rural areas and we shall miss her enormously.  We are however delighted that she has the opportunity to join The Everyman in Cork as their Artistic Director and wish her all the best in this exciting future role… whilst hoping that one day she may return to Shropshire!.’

Pentabus will be recruiting a new Artistic Director and the application process will open later this week.

All Press Enquiries: Catrin John | Email: catrin@pentabus.co.uk

Job Vacancy: Rural Arts Creative Producer

Vacancy: Creative Producer

The Creative Producer is a new role designed specifically for someone early in their career and from a low socio-economic background.

The Creative Producer will develop Rural Arts’ performance programme at The Courthouse, establish an Artist Support programme, develop regional co-production relationships and support the ON Tour Manager.

We’re looking for a creative person who loves to make things happen. You’ll be passionate about performance, excited to support and develop artists, and be committed to increasing access to and engagement with the arts.

Salary: £19,500 per annum, pro-rata

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Employment type: Fixed term 12-month contract

To learn more, please download our Recruitment Information Pack or listen to an audio version of the document here.

Some applicants may wish to complete and submit the Person Specification Tables as their application. These can be downloaded here.

Applications should be sent to recruitment@ruralarts.org or Recruitment, Rural Arts, The Old Courthouse 4 Westgate, Thirsk YO7 1QS.

Applicants are strong encouraged to complete our Equal Opportunities monitoring survey by clicking here (or downloading a copy here).

Deadline: noon on Monday 7th December 2020

Interviews: We currently anticipate hosting online interviews on Tuesday 15th December 2020. If this date or method does not suit you, please tell us in your application.

Championing Diversity

Rural Arts strives to champion diversity in all its forms.

The Creative Producer role has been designed specifically to support the career of someone from a low socio-economic background.

People from low socio-economic backgrounds who are also Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, LGBTQIA+ people and disabled people are particularly encouraged to apply. People from these groups are currently under-represented in the arts nationwide, and Rural Arts is committed to challenging and changing this.

Accessibility

If you require this or any further information in an alternative format, please contact Angela Holt (Operations Manager): angelaholt@ruralarts.org or 01845 526 536.

You are encouraged to share any access requirements you would have to participate in interviews in the covering email/letter of your application. Although we anticipate interviews taking place via an online platform such as Zoom, we appreciate this may not work for everyone and will make any reasonable adjustment required.

Further information and support

If you have any questions, contact Angela Holt (Operations Manager) on 01845 526 536 / angelaholt@ruralarts.org

Report on Pilot Rural Touring Show

Reepham & Cherry Willingham Village Hall, 25th September 2020.

[Live & Local – COVID-Secure Pilot Performance Report © Nov 2020]

Introduction


Live & Local supported a professional rural touring show on Friday 25th September 2020 in
partnership with Townsend Theatre Productions and Reepham & Cherry Willingham Village Hall
Committee, Lincolnshire.
This performance of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ was the first professional performance
in a UK village hall since the beginning of the pandemic and was informed by the then current
guidance and legislation relating to the performing arts, community venues and catering. Socially
distanced seating allowed for 37 audience members at a venue that usually seats 90.
Aims & Objectives
The aim was to inform Live & Local in order to help us advise, provide assurance, and instil
confidence for promoters and their volunteers, audiences, companies. The objectives were to:

  1. Test the viability that under the then COVID-Secure measures that rural touring can safely
    recommence while adhering to relevant legislation and guidance.
  2. Test conclusions from our audience restART survey carried out in May.
  3. Observe and learn from the experience of the audience, promoter and company at the
    event and pre- and post- event.
  4. Use the results of these measures to inform the arts sector, rural touring organisations
    and local authority funders.

Context
This performance was carried out on September 25th, 2020 in Lincolnshire.
The regulations were changing regularly in the four-week run into this event and regulations may
well be different at the time of reading this report and/or due to geographical location. At the
outset and throughout we reminded all partners that whilst this was called a ‘pilot’ the risks were
very real.
The local voluntary promoter group were an experienced group having had five Live & Local events
in the past two years. Their previous events were music, so this theatre show was a change for their
audience.
The event was informed by Live & Local’s audience and promoter restART surveys carried out
during the preceding summer lockdown.


The pilot was supported by funds from Arts Council England, Lincolnshire County Council, West
Lindsey District Council, and the National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF).


Approach


Risk Mitigations
Planning for the event considered relevant guidance and legislation which changed multiple times
during the planning process. The following measures were used:
• Comprehensive risk assessments by Company and promoter/Venue
• Advance customer communications
• Digital marketing
• Advance sales only online ticketing
• Advance sales only online drinks pre-ordering
• Enhanced cleaning
• Entrance and wall signage
• Additional staffing
• Test and Trace
• Socially distanced queuing
• Socially distant seating
• Seat labelling
• Hand sanitiser
• One-way system
• Face coverings
• Increased ventilation
• Table service

Risk Assessments
A risk assessment for their show was required from the company by Live & Local in advance of
even being booked for this event. The venue was required by regulation to have completed a risk
assessment to be able to open the venue for any event.
An additional risk assessment was produced in cooperation with Live & Local, the company and
promoter for this specific event incorporating the show and venue assessments and enhanced in
line with the needs of a professional ticketed performance.

Seating Format
The venue, being a village hall with no fixed seating, benefited from flexible seating opportunities.
However, managing the seating plan in line with socially distanced seating was time-consuming.
Capacity depended on the size of groups booking which could not be easily predicted and had to
be managed in an ongoing way by adapting the initial seating plan. This stood out in contrast to
the usually informal unreserved seating arrangements at Live & Local rural touring events.

Audience Communication – before and during pilot
COVID-Secure information was kept concise in the marketing to reassure but not overwhelm,
focussing on areas highlighted by our previous audience research. At the point of booking and in a
reminder email the day before the show, the audience were informed of a range of measures in
place and what was needed from them in order to deliver a safe event.
Staff and volunteers verbally repeated key messages around social distancing, the one-way
systems, face coverings and timings at the entrance. This clear ‘one to one’ guidance was
welcomed by the audience.
Due to the relatively small number involved, this was manageable and worked well. Staggered
entry times were not required due to the audience size and that it was only advance sales.


Cleaning
Enhanced cleaning procedures were introduced at the venue, with staff/volunteers provided
additional equipment and materials before and after the event.
Enhanced Staffing and Support
As this was a pilot event, two staff, from Live & local were involved on the day in addition to the
usual three volunteers who run events at this venue. A significant amount of extra time was
committed in advance and on the day by the promoter, company, and Live & Local staff.
It was possible for this promoter to engage enough volunteer support to safely deliver a show,
however, duties needed to be very clearly assigned along with appropriate instruction.
For this pilot, there was a substantial additional time investment from the Live & Local professional
team and from the promoter. Although this was a pilot event run by Live & Local in conjunction
with an experienced local promoter and company at a time when the regulations were still new
and changing, this still indicated to us that we would have to augment our support for all other
promoters who elect to take shows in the foreseeable future.


Ventilation
Ventilation was increased by opening internal and some external doors, however in late
September this proved inhospitable. We could not have as much additional ventilation as planned
due to very high winds on the day. We had considered using an outdoor space covered by brought
in gazebos for the audience pre-show and interval, but this was not possible due to the weather.
Increasing ventilation in this manner has to be balanced by the comfort of the audience as well as
creating additional risks.


Face Coverings
The regulations at the time required everyone in the venue to wear face coverings unless eating
or drinks (or exempt). The audience wore face coverings throughout the performance and when
moving around the building, only taking them off to eat or drink. These regulations had changed
from being only guidelines very recently before the pilot date. As a result, this was not the norm
and had to be regularly emphasised to most of the participants in the pilot, both audience and
volunteers.

Artist/Company Mitigations
The company were a professional organisation with experience of touring to non-theatre spaces
and had also been required to provide a show specific COVID-Secure risk assessment prior to being
booked.
Extra performance space was required to distance the performer from the audience. Artists wore
face coverings while in the hall except for during the performance. The get-in time was increased,
and the artists were allowed sole access to the main hall in advance of the show. No practical
support (carrying gear) was given to the artists for the get in or get out. However, this was difficult
to manage on the day with other practical matters needing to be mutually agreed.
Promoters will need to allow extra time to ensure the setting up of the front of house and bar to
allow artists sole access to the space. All participants on the day found it a substantial change to
maintain social distancing given the usually highly mutually supportive interactions between
artists and local volunteers. The experience indicated to us that we would have to add to our
assurances to artists that all the local volunteers were fully appraised of the relevant risks and
mitigations, not just the main contacts with whom they may have had frequent contact in the run
up to the day.


Catering
The audience pre-ordered and pre-paid for drinks online. These were priced separately to tickets
and then prepared in advance and delivered by table service. There was no opportunity to buy any
further drinks during the evening, resolving issues around people queueing at the bar or needing
to pay in cash (as many community venues cannot currently facilitate contactless payment). This
event used online ticketing to facilitate this process (Ticket Source) and there was no cost to the
promoter.
To test the viability of a catering offer as this is so much part of many rural touring events,
complimentary food was provided by local professional catering company, Salted Orange. This was
prepared nearby in a van and delivered to the audience by table service. They were the regular
professional suppliers for the hall, so it made sense to continue the relationship. Catering can be
safely provided by experienced volunteers in a village hall should they chose to do so themselves,
if have brought themselves thoroughly up to speed with COVID-Secure catering regulations.


Seating and Ticketing
Seating was planned using Ticket Source and people were seated theatre-style in-household
groups/support bubbles only. Establishing the amount of usable space in a community venue is
not as straightforward as in a professional venue. Community venues usually benefit from flexible
seating and offer a good solution for socially distanced seating. However, seating arrangements in
these venues have often been relatively informal in the past and the required higher level of
attention to detail needed to seating for everyone involved (audience, staff, volunteers, company)
is a significant change to what many involved in rural touring are used to.
They will often need enhanced support from Live & Local to maximise seating whilst retaining a
COVID-Secure event. This will be variously challenging in the future dependent on whether the
promoter is IT resistant or not (to using online ticketing) and or whether they can create and
manage a more manual seating planning system. Managing a seating plan dependent on the sizes
of household groups and the order they book in, while trying to maximise the space available, is
time-intensive. This pilot used Ticket Source, however their socially distanced seating planning
function did not at that time avoid orphan seats however manged the situation well in all other
respects.

Marketing and Communications
Marketing was carried out digitally and by word of mouth. The show was advertised on social
media, circulated via mailing list and by invitations from the promoter and committee to contacts
in the community. Print is usually an important part of marketing a Live & Local rural touring show,
however none was used for the pilot in order to mitigate risks to promoters and volunteers
distributing leaflets and posters in the community. Given the smaller number of tickets available, it
seems quite possible that print is either unnecessary or only needed in small quantities.


Financial
Tickets were sold rather than complimentary so as to test the sales and box office processes. They
were set at a reduced price of £5 to reflect the one-off nature of this pilot event. Audience
comments suggest that there is no reason to reduce tickets for future standard events.
Socially distanced seating and increased performance space meant the capacity of the hall was
reduced from 90 to 37. Even if tickets had been priced at our usual £10-£12, this would mean a
38% decrease in our average total ticket yield. Capacity and therefore total ticket yield is strongly
influenced by the size of household groups booking, so shows attracting several larger groups
would fare better financially, however based on our previous booking data we can surmise that
the balance of group sizes at this pilot is very much within the normal pattern.
Rural touring events are usually subsidised to some extent. Assuming Live & Local’s usual financial
model, reducing the total ticket yield by 38% would require a 31% increase in the subsidy to cover
just the direct costs (i.e. this does not include additional staff time) Furthermore any income
retained by the local promoter would be substantially reduced, potentially putting another barrier
in place for some (but not all) promoters to book shows.


Audience Analysis
Live & Local used a bespoke survey for feedback sent the day after the show. We received
completed survey forms from 10 of 13 bookers. All responders reported feeling safe and
comfortable throughout the show. The vast majority of responders were aware of safety measures
before attending the show and found the online pre-ordering systems for tickets and drinks easy
to use. The results reflect an overwhelmingly positive experience and audience buy-in to COVID Secure measures in order to make it possible for shows to recommence.

Conclusions
The pilot demonstrated that rural touring performances can safely resume with increased advance
guidance given to promoters and companies by Live & Local along with additional resources at the
event, in terms of time, people and skills. The measures used were effective and the benefits to
the audience far outweighed the inconvenience of socially distanced seating, wearing face
coverings and the other COVID-Secure mitigations.
Live & Local has a responsibility to all participants in its rural touring events; artists, attenders, and
volunteers, and to its own reputation to ensure COVID-Secure events. As there may be a natural
inclination from local Promoters to interpret regulations in a way so as to minimise change for
their regular attenders, Live & Local and the company’s professional role must be to encourage
and support the delivery of legal and COVID-Secure events.
The pilot has shown that with this higher level of professional support, rural touring shows
incorporating socially distanced seating and other COVID-Secure mitigations can be safely
delivered and be very well-received by the audience. However, many promoters are likely to need
additional support in order to maximise their seating capacity and provide catering and other safe
event management protocols.


To ensure a safe event, promoters will also need more volunteer support than usual who are well
briefed and there will need to be an increased level of advanced communication and collaboration
with regards to risk assessments and discussion about Health & Safety Practices.
The partnership between professional and voluntary organisations and the combination of earned
and public funds, is a highly cost-effective market intervention that ensures a high-quality cultural
offer in rural communities and one that delivers more community benefits than only audiences.
These additional benefits are clearly even more vital now in order to support the recovery from
COVID in these rural communities. Whilst in the longer-term the financial model imposed by
socially distanced seating is unsustainable, in the meantime additional funds within the model or
agreed reduced outputs in terms or numbers of events will be necessary.
For all the participants it was more complex and time-consuming than our ‘standard’ rural touring
events and had a substantial learning curve within a constantly shifting set of regulations. This will be
the case going forward, albeit with a diminishing burden.
However, it was also a hugely encouraging and inspiring experience to see that live performance can
happen and there is a demand for it during the crisis and also for it to help the recovery.

Live-Local-Pilot-Performance-Report-1Live & Local – COVID-Secure Pilot Performance Report © Nov 2020

Stow and Tell

A new theatre-making project giving young people in rural Suffolk a platform to tell their stories.

A new theatre-making project giving young people in rural Suffolk a platform to tell their stories.

Theatre producer and NRTF member Karen Goddard has teamed-up with ‘The Together Project’ at The Mix in Stowmarket to offer 15 – 24-year-olds the opportunity to take part in the new drama project, entitled ‘Stow and Tell’.

Thanks to recent funding from Arts Council England, ‘Stow and Tell’ will invite young people to take part in a series of free weekly theatre-making workshops at The Mix during October, November and December.

Participants will get hand-on experience of every aspect of theatre production from writing, researching, developing and marketing and finally staging a pilot performance of a new play.

The project will provide participants with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience of producing a new piece of theatre. It will also offer the young people the chance to tell their stories and learn some important transferable work skills that will help their chances of future employment.

‘Together Project’ Youth Worker Chloe Davis said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for young people to have a platform to voice what really matters to them. It is also an amazing chance for young people to gain important life skills, as well as an insight into theatre production and the vast and varied employment opportunities within the arts industry.”

‘Stow and Tell’ will also provide employment for a group of professional freelance creative practitioners.

Producer Karen Goddard said: “ Freelance actors, writers and theatre directors are having a really hard time at the moment. So, I’m pleased that the grant I’ve been awarded is enabling me to offer not only a great creative learning experience for a group of young people, but also the chance for Ipswich-based playwright Martha Loader to develop a new script and for director Scott Hurran and a fantastic group of actors to bring the ideas to life. All this has only been possible thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, so I am hugely grateful for that!”

Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: “We’re really pleased to support ‘Stow and Tell’ thanks to National Lottery funding. It is really important that young people have the opportunity to develop and share their creative voices, but especially those who are vulnerable and might not otherwise have that chance. And that is exactly what this project is all about.”

The ‘Stow and Tell’ project is supported by The Mix and Suffolk County Council, in partnership with the John Peel Centre for the Creative Arts, Eastern Angles, Bury Theatre Royal, and The Garage in Norwich.

The Covid-secure workshops will be held at The Mix in Stowmarket every Thursday from 5 – 7pm from October 29 th onwards. The sessions will be limited to 15 people per group with participants wearing facemasks and observing social distancing rules. For more information on how to sign-up for the weekly workshops contact: Together@themixstowmarket.co.uk

Arts Council England Launch Digital Culture Network

About the Digital Culture Network 

We offer direct 1-2-1 support for organisations in receipt of – or eligible for – Arts Council England funding, as well as a series of training sessions, events and webinars. We’re also building a resource bank which will be available online soon (and have produced a range of resources in response to the current Covid-19 crisis on topics such as Remote Working, Livestreaming and Income Generation).

Support usually consists of an initial diagnostic meeting (30-60mins) with a discussion around your current activity, what you are hoping to achieve, strategy development, prioritisation of areas of work and potential next steps or solutions. Following this the Tech Champion might email you support material, signpost you to relevant resources and/or arrange a follow-up call or support from another Tech Champion. Once the support has been completed, we ask you to fill in a satisfaction survey to help us improve our offer. The support is bespoke to your organisation’s needs, meaning we tailor solutions and advice to be in line with your capacity and resources.

Our nine Tech Champions have specialist backgrounds in:

· Box office, ticketing and CRM

· Data analytics

· Digital content and streaming

· Digital strategy and marketing

· eCommerce and merchandising

· Email marketing

· Search engine optimisation and marketing

· Social media

· Websites

Need more convincing? Read some testimonials we’ve received over the past 12 months:

The [Tech] Champs have come into our meetings to share their advice, delivered webinars and audits for us, sent over reams of helpful information, and sensitively provided expert feedback on our digital profile. They are busy, and so are we – now more than ever – but even occasionally extending our team in this way has been invaluable, and we often refer back to their advice. This service is a great asset to small companies like ours: not only are the Tech Champions very knowledgeable, we know for sure that they’re batting for us.

We really didn’t know where to turn for advice and felt completely isolated and being dictated to by an agency who were ‘blinding us with science’ and not taking the time to explain technical issues to us for a project that was costing us a considerable amount of money.  Our gut feeling was that there was another way and we too were confused by the seeming contradiction re the video/YouTube issue. We now feel we have a better understanding and can challenge with facts and information that we trust.

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about upcoming events and sector support offers!

Marc Burns

Tech Champion, Digital Culture Network

Arts Council England

Tel 0191 2558517

Mobile 07919367867

E-mail marc.burns@artscouncil.org.uk

Digital skills for the arts and cultural sector

Sign up on the website:Digital Culture Network

NRTF launches free conference to support artists and rural arts

The National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF) is launching a brand new free online conference in October focussed on how to futureproof the rural arts sector. Called “Horizons”, the 4-day conference will be online and digital, taking place every Tuesday in October with follow up sessions every Friday morning.

The conference – which is now an annual fixture in the arts calendar – is an opportunity to bring the rural touring community together for a series of discussions, masterclasses and performances, offering inspiring talks, industry led panel discussions, and opportunities to network.

“There is a definite need for all involved in the rural touring sector to come together this year to share, learn and watch!” said Holly Lombardo, Director NRTF. “Now more than ever we need to collaborate and support each other. The conference is a brilliant chance to do that.”

This year’s all-digital conference is set under four themes. Equality and Diversity, Library Touring, Futureproofing and Mental Health and Leadership. Speakers and performers include Amanda Palmer of Inc Arts, Dave Young – The Shouting Mute, Ellie Liddell-Crewe from Unlimited, Terry Adams – Diversity Office Arts Council England, Pam Horton from The Eden Project leadership programmes, Liz Pugh of Walk the Plank Theatre, Luke Wright Poet, Paule Constable Artist and sustainability campaigner.

“We aim to make the conference as accessible as possible. Not only is it free, it’s digital and there will be BSL interpreting where possible and captioning on all recorded content” Jess Huffman NRTF Project Manager.

The gathering continues 6 months of support for the rural arts sector from NRTF, firefighting the unknown and supporting those artists whose livelihoods have been devastated by the pandemic. Since the first performance cancellation in March, NRTF has worked in collaboration with the 30 rural touring schemes across the UK to react and directly support the creative sector. NRTF repurposed its budget, created weekly zoom conversations for the sector, and launched “Rural Touring Unlocked” which has led to 6 collaborative projects being developed in the sector. NRTF also announced free membership for artists for 12 months.

“Many of our rural audiences have not been able to access digital shows.  It is with huge thanks an NRTF Rural Touring Unlocked grant, we were able to commission three rural touring artists to create broadcast ready pieces in partnership with BBC Radio Cumbria”. Kate Lynch, Director Highlights Rural Touring

NRTF has also been advocating loudly on behalf of the sector, joining round tables from DCMS, Arts Council England, Creative Industries Federation as well as many other conversations.

“It is important the rural arts voices are heard. The conversations and needs of the creative sector are different to those in cities and towns and the nuances of this needs to be communicated” Holly Lombardo, Director NRTF

The conference is open to anyone who is interested in the rural arts as a performer, as an organiser or as a leader in the arts sector. Thanks go to Arts Council England for supporting the NRTF in delivering this event.

Tickets can be booked here – www.ruraltouring.org/digital-conference-2020

Highlights Rural Touring comes direct to your homes this September

During lockdown, Highlights Rural Touring Scheme commissioned musician Rob Heron , storyteller Nick Hennessey and the team behind the sell-out theatre show Ladies That Bus to each create a short piece for radio. Created by rural touring artists, specifically for rural audiences, these pieces of work will be broadcast first on BBC Radio Cumbria’s The Arty Show, next Monday 14 September before being made available online.

Musician Rob Heron hails from Penrith, and has played many Highlights venues with his Newcastle based Tea Pad Orchestra. He brings a taste of ‘Newcastle’s finest swing-honkytonk- rockabilly band (fRoots)’ to the broadcast.

South Lakeland based Nick Hennessey forges a bridge between the song and the spoken word, as an internationally acclaimed storyteller, playwright, folk singer, song writer and musician.

In early 2020, Ladies That Bus sold out venues across Cumbria with their comedy drama based on the 555 bus route from Lancaster to Keswick.

BBC Radio Cumbria presenter Helen Millican will also interview the artists, village hall promoters and audience members during the show.

Highlights has partnered with rural touring schemes Arts Out West , Cumbria and Carn to Cove , Cornwall to ensure that offline arts content can be provided to rural communities at this time. With funding from the National Rural Touring Forum .

Listings

 Monday 14 September 7pm – 10pm 
BBC Radio Cumbria The Arty Show 
95.6FM 96.1FM Digital 
www.highlightsnorth.co.uk

Rule of 6 – What Does it Mean?

How does the rule of 6 effect live performance?

The main difference is this is now law rather than advisory.

The answer is in point 2a of this Government update on regulations:-

“From 14 September, whether indoors or outdoors people from different households must not meet in groups of more than 6. This limit does not apply to meetings of a single household group or support bubble which is more than 6 people. Community facilities following COVID-19 secure guidelines can host more than 6 people in total, but no one should visit or socialise in a group of greater than 6. Further information on social contact rules, social distancing and the exemptions that exist can be found on the guidance on meeting with others safely. These rules will not apply to workplaces or education settings, alongside other exemptions.”

From a recent The Stage article –

While groups of more than six will not be allowed to gather, certain exemptions have been made by government to allow the economy to continue recovering.

These include theatres and live venues that are following Covid-secure guidelines.

According to a guidance document published by the government, “venues following Covid-19 secure guidelines can host more than six people in total, but no one should visit or socialise in a group of greater than six”.

“It is also important that people from different households (who are not meeting as a support bubble) remain socially distanced,” it added.

Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can’t do

2.11) Venues following COVID-19 Secure guidelines can host more than 6 people in total, but no one should visit in a group of greater than 6. When you visit one of these places, such as a pub, shop, leisure venue, restaurant or place of worship you should:

  • follow the limits on the number of other people you should meet with as a group (it will be illegal to be in a group of more than six from outside of your household)
  • avoid social interaction with anyone outside the group you are with, even if you see other people you know
  • provide your contact details to the organiser so that you can be contacted if needed by the NHS Test and Trace programme

3.14) Can I go to the theatre or a concert?

You can now attend indoor and outdoor performances, for example dramatic, musical or comedy shows.

If you are watching the performance, you should:

  • sit with people from your household or support bubble
  • socially distance from people you do not live with (or who are not in your support bubble)

Public Campaign for the Arts – Arts Map

Public Campaign For The Arts Launches Arts Map, Charting The Status And Value Of Arts Organisations Across The UK.

The soon to open tab has lots of Rural Touring Schemes there!

The Public Campaign for the Arts has launched a major new online platform, creating an unprecedented support link between UK citizens and their cultural organisations.

The Arts Map, available now at www.campaignforthearts.org/map/, enables anyone to find and support arts companies near them. It was funded entirely by small donations from over a thousand members of the public.

All UK arts organisations are invited to add themselves to the Map, and to share updates as they try to recover from the impacts of Covid-19. Users can search the Map by their postcode; check the status of local companies; send messages of support by video, audio or written text; and offer financial support by making a donation.

The Map offers a real-time, national and local picture of arts organisations’ recovery status. Over time, as stories and messages are added, it will prove the value of the arts to people and places across the UK.