Lighting up the beacon progress report 2013 15

Lighting Up the Beacon Progress Report 2013-15 Our Mission The Beacon’s Mission is to light up central west Scotland with life-enriching creative and social experiences+ In fulfilling its mission the Beacon is a landmark resource for cultural life in Scotland, a unique hub for the arts in which to be entertained by an inspiring range of events+ It serves to maximise the impact of existing creative investment and it works to increase that investment in central west Scotland+ It seeks to enhance the enjoyment and cultural experience of all who use it, helping make Inverclyde a more attractive place to live, to establish a business and to visit+

A Centrepiece of Regeneration Significant support has been received for this £9+8 million project from Creative Scotland, Riverside Inverclyde and Inverclyde Council+ Companies, trusts and foundations and many individuals have contributed just under £1+4 million to the capital project+ This investment in Inverclyde has significantly boosted the regeneration of the area, contributing to cultural, economic and environmental development+ The Beacon Arts Centre has fast established itself as a centre of excellence for the arts and education and engages young people normally excluded from participation in such opportunities+ We build the life skills, self-esteem, aspirations and educational attainment of some of the United Kingdom’s most disadvantaged children+ Inverclyde is the second most deprived local authority area in Scotland with 39+1* of all households falling within the country’s poorest 15*+ Approximately 2,500 young people attended classes, workshops and community events in our first 6 months as part of our engagement strategy with the community+ To continue this engagement an innovative new multi-partner arts and criminal justice community programme was devised and launched in March 2015+ The project is managed by the Beacon Arts Centre in partnership with Police Scotland and Inverclyde Council+ It is funded by Creative Scotland and delivers arts projects that develop ambition and creativity, change attitudes and improve mental and physical health for young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system+ Engagement in the programme explores the cycle of offending behaviour and at the heart of the project is artistic exchanges between hidden communities to reveal shared experience, lessons learned, and hopes and dreams for the future+

Developing the Beacon Inverclyde’s New Arts Centre Key Dates        

6 Sept 2010: Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond broke ground with the build project 24 Nov 2010: HRH, The Earl of Wessex unveiled the name of the new arts centre 16 Nov 2010: Andrew Lloyd Webber attended the Beacon’s topping out ceremony 20 Dec 2012: Greenock Arts Guild received to keys to its new home, the Beacon Arts Centre 5 Jan 2013: 2,500 members of the community attended the inauguration of the new building 1 Feb 2013: The first public performance took place in the Beacon’s studio theatre 16 Feb 2013: The first performance on the main stage took place attended by 339 people 16 Aug 2013: HRH, The Earl of Wessex officially opened the Beacon Arts Centre

The Project The Beacon Arts Centre is the new state of the art home for Greenock Arts Guild Limited+ Situated on the banks of the Clyde, the new theatre has beautiful vistas across the river to the hills of Dunbartonshire and beyond+ It is one of the finest theatres of its kind in the UK and received The RIAS Award for Architecture in Summer 2013+ The Beacon presents the very best in the performing arts – from opera, ballet and contemporary dance to comedy, classical music, drama and youth theatre+ The Beacon has 2 performing spaces, together with a bistro/bar and 3 large rehearsal rooms which can be extended to provide a function suite for up to 150 guests+ The new building uses cutting-edge theatre technology as well as providing wi-fi, online bookings and infrastructure for live television broadcasts+ The main stage of the Beacon is one of the largest in Scotland and comes fully equipped including a full height fly tower with counterweight system, 2 trap doors, retractable orchestra pit and generous wing space+ The theatre can accommodate over 500 patrons over 3 levels+ Our studio seats 130 people on retractable bleacher seating, and is adaptable as a black box space+ The Studio is home the Beacon Youth Theatre for rehearsal, technical experience and performance, a programme that currently has a full complement of 120 young people+ A feature of the Beacon is its beautiful Bistro with spectacular views over the Clyde+ It serves quality food and drink including morning coffee, afternoon teas, handcrafted scones, light lunches, all day dining and pre-theatre supper menus all at attractive prices; to enhance the social experience for the patrons of this fantastic theatre+

2013-14 Year End Programme Summary Statistics         

191 live performances of theatre, dance, music, comedy and family shows 45,168 people attended performances 1,613 people participated in classes and workshops 1,912 people attended community events hosted by The Beacon 121 community participation opportunities offered 83,561 customers dined in Bistro at the Beacon 8 exhibitions hosted in our gallery, including local artist James Watt 67 social events hosted including weddings, christenings and parties 95 business events hosted including conferences and award ceremonies

Artistic Programme The first full financial year in the Beacon saw a significant uplift in the number of shows presented by comparison with the former Arts Guild Theatre, in line with our business development plan+ The range of shows the Beacon presented included opera, drama, classical, folk and contemporary music, classical and contemporary dance, a range of children’s work as well as our more traditional light entertainment offerings+ We produced our own pantomime for the first time in 2013 attracting audiences of more than 10,500 people from a wider demographical and geographical spread than before+ An additional development identified is the benefits our local groups have seen since relocating to the Beacon+ Most of our lessees are local amateur dramatic groups, local choirs and local dance schools+ Many of these customers have made the journey from the Arts Guild Theatre to the Beacon with us+ We identified firstly that local groups are now achieving greater levels of income from their ticket sales and also greater financial returns from presenting their work in the Beacon+ They have also enjoyed higher audience figures than they did previously which has encouraged them to be more ambitious and potentially sustainable going forward+ Local performance groups staged more work in one year than they achieved in any of the last 20 years with several new organisations joining our list of customers+

“As being a foster carer I brought the children to probably their first experience of any sort of drama or theatre. They loved every minute of everything they took part in and seen. The children have fantastic memories that will stay with them forever. Thank you.”

Comment from audience member at a community performance, June ’13

2014-15 Year End Programme Summary Statistics         

208 live performances of theatre, dance, music, comedy and family shows 46,721 people attended performances 4,066 people participated in classes and workshops 1,472 people attended community events hosted by the Beacon 331 community participation opportunities offered 49,886 customers dined in Bistro at the Beacon 9 exhibitions hosted in our gallery, including renowned artist George Wyllie 56 social events hosted including weddings, christenings and ceilidhs 129 business events hosted including conferences and award ceremonies

Artistic Programme The Beacon has just turned 2 years old in January 2015 and looking back over the year it’s fantastic to see that 208 performances attended by more than 46,500 people+ 377 people regularly attend weekly classes in the Beacon and our busy Learn team have partnered with many schools and community groups across Inverclyde+ Since the Beacon opened we have worked with a significant number of partners to realise our mission including: Inverclyde Community Learning and Development Youth Services, Barnardos, Police Scotland, Reach for Autism, Wider Opportunities for Older People in Inverclyde, Enterprise Childcare, Inverclyde Council Education Services, Inverclyde Schools Music Services, West College Scotland, Active Schools Inverclyde, CVS Inverclyde, Scottish Association of Mental Health, Inverclyde Association of Mental Health, Inverclyde Volunteer Centre, The Trust Employability Service, Luminate, Imaginate, Starcatchers, YDance, Birds of Paradise Theatre and Frozen Charlotte Theatre+ Our major partnership in performance was with Riverside Inverclyde for the Inverclyde Folk and Roots Festival+ In its first year this festival sold 1,043 tickets over 8 performances+ In its second year ticket sales increased by 25* to 1,308 tickets, again over 8 performances+ We also worked with professional peers to give better value from our resources through co-producing with: Sell A Door Theatre Company, Rapture Theatre and Fuel for Luminate Festival (celebrating older people)+ We also made best use of our resources by offering residencies to Vox Motus, All or Nothing Aerial Dance, Claire Cunningham, Barrowland Ballet and Rob Heaslip Dance Company+

Participation Learn, Take Part, Create Statistics     

41 of the 100+ young people enrolled in Beacon Youth Theatre live in areas ranked amongst the 50* most deprived areas in Scotland+ 9 members of Beacon Youth Theatre have additional learning and/or support needs Beacon Youth Dance Company formed as s result of a youth project in April 2013 and is now a creatively adventurous dance performance company for young people with over 20 participants aged from 14 to 21 years+ Beacon Dance have saw a high ratio of boys participating who had never before taken part in a dance activity+ Beacon Art classes for age 5-12 years have had on-going success for over 10 years, a new class has been developed for 18 month to 2+5 years+ 80 children participate each week+

Regular Activities Beacon Youth Theatre meet in our Studio Theatre every Saturday during the school term+ The focus of Beacon Youth Theatre is not only on developing performance skills, but also creating original scripts, understanding the technical aspects of theatre making and gaining confidence through doing something that is greatly rewarding and highly enjoyable+ The Beacon has a dedicated group of tutors and student volunteers who run varied, energetic and fun drama classes for anyone of school age+ Beacon Dance hosts a wide variety of dance classes for all ages, with current participants ranging between 16 months and 80 years+ On offer are classes in Contemporary, Street, Ballet and Jazz, and for the younger dancers, First Steps and Micro Movers+ An experienced team of professional leaders who specialise in dance, run an exciting, innovative and fun programme throughout the year+ Participants meet on a weekly basis and get a chance to develop their technical, choreographic and performance skills+ There are also opportunities for them to perform to an audience throughout the year+ Beacon Art provides a stress-free, creative, professional environment where children can enjoy the fun of messy painting, gluing, using clay, glitter etc+ without the personal hassle and mess for their parents and guardians+ All sessions are planned in line with the Scottish Executives Curriculum for Excellence expressive arts outcome; where children of all ages can experience the creativity and power of art, and to nurture their creative and aesthetic talents+ In addition to regular Saturday classes there are also holiday classes and courses+

Coming to dancing this year had been brilliant I’ve always wanted to dance but I could never pick up the steps. With this kind of dance it’s different and funny and cool, we tell our stories. It’s been an amazing year we have performed loads and we got our bronze youth achievement awards.

Beacon Youth Dance Company participant

Outreach Activity Arts For Everyone Statistics      

600 people attended the Youth on the Quay festival in April 2013 First Beam of Light project was delivered and showcased by 16 performances, 2 exhibitions, and 48 community workshops+ In total, 1,483 people participated in this project+ 131 local people took part in The Big Dance Pledge in May 2014 46 community performers and 12 volunteer technical crew took part in the White Gold project, accompanied by 3 aerial workshops attended by 66 participants+ 1,114 people attended the projects culminating performances in June 2014+ 159 people viewed the Commonwealth Flotilla from the Beacon in June 2014+ Creatability dance project provided 42 young people who have additional support needs, with the opportunity to participate in creative movement and aerial dance workshops+

Projects First Beam of Light - June 2013 This project allowed us to partner with local communities in areas of multiple deprivation to develop inspiring, inclusive and high quality artistic engagements led by professional artists, instilling a public view of the arts centre as an open, inclusive environment+ This project concluded in a community festival on 31 August 2013+ This project connected with marginalised, target communities and supported them in developing ideas for arts activities making a significant difference to their confidence and social interaction+ White Gold - June 2014 White Gold was an ambitious, site-specific performance set in Greenock’s iconic Sugar Sheds+ White Gold was woven together from vivid and touching stories gathered across Inverclyde+ The artists, performers and 200 volunteers brought narratives to life through drama, movement, original music and breath-taking aerial performance+ Surprising, poignant and deeply moving, White Gold gave the community of Greenock top billing as the nation’s stars+ Produced by Iron Oxide in partnership with the Beacon as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme+ Creatability Dance Project - January 2015 Creatability provided the opportunity for 42 young people who have autism or additional support needs to participate in creative movement workshops, and an innovative intensive week of aerial dance within the Beacon Arts Centre+ The participants, parents and support staff from partner organisations, Barnardo’s, Craigmarloch School and Reach for Autism, all agree that the project has so far been a resounding success and has had a fundamental impact and benefit on the quality of the young people’s lives+

“Inclusion at its best, amazing talent”

Parent of Creatability project participant, January ‘15

Learning & Educational Engagement Statistics   

12 schools and 1 pre-school centre engaged with the James Watt educational project, over 300 pupils participated in 13 workshops during a 5 day period+ Schools from 5 different local authority areas contributed+ The Creative Network project consisted of 3 events, 12 mentoring sessions, 8 evaluation and monitoring meetings, 10 production sessions+ This totalled 20 days of activity with a total of 481 participants+ Our Theatre Winter School had 11 students with a gender breakdown of 9 women and 2 men, average age 50+ with the youngest mid thirties and the eldest in her eighties+ The students had varying degrees of experience, they all had a desire and aptitude to develop further+

Projects James Watt Artist Education Initiative – June 2013 This project aimed to increase the engagement of pupils in the arts, especially visual art+ The project started with pupils investigating the artwork of James Watt and then creating their own artwork inspired by Watt’s paintings+ Participants were then encouraged to investigate the industrial change along the Clyde which inspired James Watt+ The concluding exhibition inspired many families to visit the Beacon+ Community Learning Network- May 2014 The Beacon, in partnership with Inverclyde’s Education services, West College Scotland and Inverclyde’s Chamber of Commerce co-ordinated a range of high quality creative activities for young people, teachers and keyworkers from across the Education sector+ As a result of 2014’s Creative Learning Network programme we developed a new initiative, The Big Event, for primary schools+ The main focus of this activity was to champion creativity and to cultivate creativity as a cross cutting theme across the Curriculum for Excellence+ Last year’s A Creative Exchange was a free activity, three schools participated, with a total of 71 pupils+ In 2015, 8 schools and a total of 232 pupils participated+ Due to this projects success we are planning on delivering Creative Learning Network activity to schools on an annual basis+ Theatre Winter School - February 2015 An intensive workshop based activity with the intention of raising the aspiration level and developing the skill set of the community theatre practitioner delivered by Rapture Theatre Company Focussing on process rather then end product, Theatre Winter School allowed students to develop new ways of working with text and performance+

“Everything about the whole project had a great buzz from staff to participants. There was a great deal of hard work and effort with making links with community” Quote from participant in our First Beam of Light project, June ‘13

Social Aims & Impact Our Social Priorities In developing the concept for The Beacon our research identified two areas of outstanding social need that we wanted to directly address; young people at risk of social exclusion and/or offending and also people with a history of poor mental health+ Bistro at the Beacon engages, as part of its staff team, people who have a history of poor mental health which has excluded them from the workplace+ The income generated from the Bistro is in turn reinvested in the Beacon’s activity; supporting a youth theatre and creative learning outreach activities which work deep within the communities of Inverclyde where young people are at high risk of offending+ As this activity becomes established there will be a rolling out of opportunities for excluded adults and young people to engage in all the areas of our organisation’s activities+

Achievements Since 2013, 6 people with mental health problems have improved their skills, confidence and employability through being in employment or volunteering within the Beacon Bistro+ Each year Beacon Youth Theatre participants work towards achieving acting certificates from the Trinity Guildhall London+ The certificates allow young people to write and perform their own plays or for older ones to get stuck into something really challenging+ For those entering Higher Solo or Duo Acting Grades (Grade 6+) the certificates count towards UCAS points, which can be useful in helping to get into university+ In March 2014, 135 Beacon Youth participants took part in Trinity Exams receiving excellent results with 100* pass rate plus many distinctions and merits+ Successes for Beacon Youth Dance include 17 members achieving Bronze Youth Achievement Awards from educational charity, UK Youth; a commission for the Commonwealth Culture Programme and an invitation to participate in Go Dance, a national youth dance showcase at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow+ The Beacon’s first full trading year saw an extraordinary level of support for the participatory and outreach activities+ We experienced more people, of all ages, singing, playing, acting and dancing in the building than ever experienced in our old premises+ The engagement of young people sits very high in our social outcome targets and has therefore been the main focus of our participation activities+ Beacon Youth has expanded into three branches: Beacon Youth Theatre, Beacon Dance and Beacon Art+ Beacon Youth now has 300 members overall and we are developing Beacon Technical in 2015/16+

“The staff are friendly and supportive, when they see me getting anxious they tell me to relax and take my time.” Feedback from volunteer engaged in the social enterprise project

Financial Summary Income & Expenditure 2013-14

With an ambitious opening period that demonstrated the flexibility and versatility of the venue, the Beacon Arts Centre went on to secure Regular Funding from Creative Scotland for the period April 2015 to March 2018+ This will provide a stable base from which the venue can develop its business over the next 3 years+

Total Income: ÂŁ1,725,304 Total Expenditure: ÂŁ2,059,799

Beacon Arts Centre Supporters Our Thanks We are grateful for the continued support from our project partners, major contributors, donors, audiences, patrons and supporters whose vision and generosity have helped the arts to flourish in Inverclyde+

Our Major Contributors The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, The Bacher Trust, The Badenoch Trust, The Barcapel Foundation, The Binks Trust, The WA Cargill Fund, The Cattanach Charitable Trust, The Cruden Foundation Limited, The Foyle Foundation, The Gannochy Trust, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Hector Gordon Russell Trust, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, The MacRobert Trust, The Moffat Trust, The Robertson Trust, Colin and Melba Bryce, Ronald H Higgs, Texas Instruments, Colin and Chris Weir

In Conclusion The Beacon has very quickly become the community arts hub that we hoped it would be+ Every month brings a new activity or a project that allows people of Inverclyde to engage with, and fully utilise, this wonderful new community asset+ Arts participation and audience attendance figures are ever increasing and this can be evidenced by the reports produced by our box office software+ Our theatre and activity diary is often fully booked, we have advance bookings as far as Summer 2016 and there is no sign of the pace or interest in the Beacon slowing down+ The Beacon has improved the quality of many lives in Inverclyde, as it allows the community to flourish creatively; from Beacon Youth Theatre, Dance and Arts participants, to local community groups who showcase their work in the Beacon+ All of our stakeholders value the investment made in improving their local arts centre+

“Absolutely glorious. So pleased to see investment of this quality in our community.”

“Compelling setup, a worthy investment for the future of arts in Scotland and Inverclyde.”

“Wonderful for our children and future generations! Well done all concerned.”

Comments from patrons attending the Beacon Arts Centre Open Day on 5 January ‘13.

Our Project Partners

Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock,, PA15 1HJ 01475 723723 info@beaconartscentre+co+uk www+beaconartscentre+co+uk The Greenock Arts Guild Limited trading as Beacon Arts Centre Registered in Scotland Company No+ SC024805 Registered Scottish Charity No+ SC003030