Scotland: The Scottish Project

Spokes at Conflux. Photo credit Maria Falconer.

The Scottish Project is made up of a truly diverse range of cultural, sporting and educational activities and bringing together thousands of volunteers, artists and the public across Scotland to leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The £4.7 million programme is made up of four major strands of activity:

People Making Waves
A nationwide volunteering programme inviting everyone to connect with the Olympic and Paralympic Games through a range of cultural activities.  People Making Waves launched at the 2009 Open Weekend, and is made up of three strands.

Wave of Friendship is a volunteer exchange programme that encourages and supports the exchange of volunteers between Scotland and London. Volunteers can apply for bursaries of up to £500 to cover travel, accommodation and other costs involved in the exchange.
Volunteers can choose any opportunity that takes place between now and September 2012 that demonstrates one or more of these values; Friendship, Respect, Courage, Determination, Equality and Inspiration.

Make A Splash!  is a Scotland-wide series of information and training events, run by Voluntary Arts Scotland, encouraging people to think about how they can increase participation in volunteering, either by attracting new and diverse members and audiences to an existing group – or by plugging a gap in their area by setting up a new group.
The project was launched in Autumn 2009 and is backed by a small grants programme, and support so far includes funding a worker to deliver arts and crafts activities at residential Easter and Summer camps for young people and outreach classes in digital photography, arts and crafts aimed at adults with disabilities. 

My Volunteering aims to capture volunteers’ experiences. The website will capture the diverse range of cultural activities which take place in Scotland in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.

People Making Waves is the first Scottish-based project to have achieved an Inspire Mark, making it officially part of the London 2012 cultural programme. For more information on the project please visit the People Making Waves website.

The Big Noise Children's Orchestra celebrate the launch of People Making Waves

CONFLUX
A large scale development programme for street arts/circus/physical theatre. 

Demand for Conflux’s programme is enormous and it continues to deliver masterclasses and outreach work across the country, from the Highlands to Glasgow. Residencies are at the heart of Conflux and internationally acclaimed companies Derevo and Akhe worked with Scottish-based practitioners to create Natura Morte in the Autumn.

Spokes, a production resulting from residencies with aerial artists premiered in Spring 2010. Surge, its first festival took place in Glasgow from 19th – 25th July 2010, featuring international and Scottish work both indoors and on the street, professional development opportunities and a chance for young people to try new skills. The latest Surge Festival  took place over Open Weekend (23-24 July) 2011. You can watch highlights below. For more information, visit the Conflux website.

Curious?
A celebration of Glasgow’s multicultural communities which will culminate in an exhibition and conference, with an outreach programme for schoolchildren.

Its community engagement seminars are currently focussing on object selection for the exhibition. A partnership has been established with Metropolitan College, Glasgow, to deliver a training programme to their students. This programme, which celebrates cultural diversity, will then be rolled out to other organisations and community groups.


Human Race
Human Race is an exciting 3 year project that will explore Scotland’s global impact on the history, culture and science of sport through a series of exhibitions and newly commissioned art works and an accompanying outreach programme that will tour traditional and non-traditional venues in 2012. Throughout the project, Human Race will invite the people of Scotland to connect with London 2012 and with the core values of the Olympic Movement: excellence, friendship and respect, through exhibitions, events, talks, workshops, films and discussions. The project has been awarded the Inspire Mark, making it an official part of the London 2012 cultural programme.
 

Former Equestrian Olympian Ian Stark OBE at the launch of Human Race

For more information about the project please visit the Human Race website.