The Screen South team celebrate with Director Mike Leigh

uScreen, a digital media project part of the Trust’s South East programme Accentuate has won a prestigious AMI award. The Ability Media International (AMI) awards were created 3 years ago to recognise outstanding creative work which leads to a more tolerant and inclusive world.

The achievements of the winners not only have a major social and cultural impact but they will also inspire students at the Ability Media Centre developed by Leonard Cheshire Disability in London, designed to assist people from under-represented groups to gain access to the media industries.

The award was presented on 20 November at a glittering ceremony at the world famous London Studios. The packed event was attended by some of the UK Arts industry’s most influential and well respected players – including Downton Abbey actor Dame Maggie Smith, childrens’ TV pioneer Anna Home and filmmaker Mike Leigh.

Heralded by the international panel of judges as ‘innovative’ and ‘particularly tailored to disabled young people’s needs’, the uScreen project won ‘The Interactive Media Award 2011’. The multi-media learning and collaborating project, based around the uScreen website, enables its young users to make and edit films, learn new skills and build expert contact with mentors and specialists across the UK and internationally.

Renowned film producer Nik Powell (“Company of Wolves”, Mona Lisa”, “The Crying Game”), presented the award to Screen South’s Chief Executive Jo Nolan and Executive Director Special Projects, Sarah Dance.  They said “ Screen South is absolutely delighted to win this award.  We are passionate about ensuring that all young people have access to making, showing and sharing their own films. Only 1% of people working in the film industry have a disability and through uScreen we hope to begin to open up an exciting world of film making possibilities and potential progression routes for young disabled people” .

The groundbreaking uScreen project launched early on this autumn at the BFI.  The launch event provided an opportunity for some of the young people who have been involved with uScreen to showcase their films on a big screen to an influential audience.

One of the young people, Stephanie Howell, wrote and directed the talking heads film, Don’t Judge Me, which came from her experiences after her accident which resulted in her becoming a wheelchair user.

Stephanie Howell said: “I was lost until I managed to do this -  uScreen made me feel I am found and that I have a voice.”

There are already very promising signs that demonstrate this really is a resource that can break down barriers and provide opportunities for young people to be ambitious.

Dan Edge, disabled actor, writer and uScreen mentor said, “uScreen as a project enables young people contact with industry people they wouldn’t normally meet and the chance to tap into the knowledge when they need it.”

uScreen has already had over 7000 visitors to the site,  currently has 512 active members and this figure is growing fast.  It is also developing an international membership with 23 members from South Africa and 12 members from Louisiana and New York, as well as 51 members in Europe.  To find out more about uScreen visit www.uscreen.co.uk.

As you may remember, in January 2011 the Trust announced that four projects had been awarded £750k to create outdoor spectaculars in their area during 2012. Nearly a year on, these projects have made huge strides in developing and planning their show stopping events this coming summer.

Games Time in the East Midlands kicked off in July 2011 with an early event in Skegness, which we featured in our Autumn newsletter. The project features an oversized board-game brought to life by dancers, carnival costumes, music and fireworks and features people from the local community competing as part of a giant performance involving kings, queens, executioners and mythical creatures.

The team have since announced the dates and locations for the 2012 performances. They are:

9 June, Loughborough
7 July, Northampton
22 September, Derby

Land of Giants in Northern Ireland is inspired by the country’s heritage and will combine acrobatics, aerial dance and carnival, circus, music, multi-media and pyrotechnics, presenting a unique and epic spectacle to an audience of over 20,000 in Belfast on 30 June 2012. The project has already started their outreach programme and training local community members in drumming and aerial performance work. Wider community engagement work will begin in early 2012.

Tree of Light will celebrate the South East of England’s natural environment. Participants from schools and community groups along the River Thames will take part in performances in Oxford, Henley, Reading and Windsor around a central Tree of Light – a monumental, sculptured work of art – in visually stunning spectacle events featuring music, choreography and cutting edge digital arts. Performance dates have now been finalised:

30 June, Windsor
9 July, Oxford
10 July, Reading
21 July, Stonor Park

Speed of Light in Scotland is a fusion of sport and culture which will see Edinburgh’s iconic Arthur’s Seat brought to life through sporting endeavour and performative visual art. Runners will activate specially designed light suits at night, illuminating the hillside while audiences generate their own light through the movement of bespoke walking staffs as they ascend to the summit. The project needs 5,000 runners for the event over a three week period from 9 August to 1 September and has already had more than 1,500 registrations. To sign up visit the Speed of Light website. Tickets for audience members are available from March 2012 through the Edinburgh International Festival website www.eif.co.uk.

Shane Lynch has been a supporter of ImagineAction since the project began

After three years of inspiring training and events for young people, the ImagineAction project in Northern Ireland gave its final performance this November. The 74 participants who have been involved throughout the project performed in Punch! The Musical, a story about a young boxer who overcomes several challenges in his life to achieve his full potential.

ImagineAction has been funded by Legacy Trust UK since it began in 2009 and is run by Beam Creative Network with the aim of using the Olympic traditions and values to encourage young people from sporting backgrounds to become involved in music, dance and drama. The project, which is based in County Tyrone, has been hugely successful both in terms of demand from participants and attendances at events.


Beam Creative Network has run workshops and master classes to help young people develop their musical and dramatic talents, working with both their own staff as well as the likes of Louis Walsh and Shane Lynch.

Following the project’s finale, Shane Lynch said: "It has been an honour to be involved in ImagineAction. I'd like to congratulate Legacy Trust UK for supporting a project that truly shows young people that it is possible to take part in both the arts and sport. It's great stuff – a real community project that has made a significant difference to a lot of young lives. Well done to Beam Creative Network and all the teenagers whose talents and new found performance skills will stay with them forever."

As a measure of the project’s success, well over a thousand people came to see Punch! at the Bardic Theatre in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone from 10-13 November, a run which included three sell out performances.

Having already delivered such a successful project and worked with over 100 young people in the local area, Beam Creative Network have now been awarded further funding from the Legacy Trust UK Challenge Fund.

This will see the idea expanded to other regions across Northern Ireland with the launch of the ImagineAction Schools Challenge in 2012. Beam will travel to five primary schools in Donaghmore to write the scripts and songs in workshop sessions before editing these ideas into a finished production which will be taken to ten more schools throughout Northern Ireland. Further workshops will see these schools rehearsing the new works in a week before performing them for family, friends and also the children who wrote the songs and scripts.

This expansion of the project will give children in rural primary schools rare opportunities to be involved in the arts and also offer them the chance to develop a number of important skills. Following ImagineAction’s success in Co. Tyrone, this will build on its already valuable legacy by engaging with even more young people.