The first phase of our Youth Programme was supported by the Foundation for Sport and the Arts with a £10,000 grant - approximately 25% of the total programme spend.

We are in the process of developing the second phase of this programme and are actively seeking funding support as well as new Folk/Roots projects that wish to be included under this umbrella.

The SEFAN Youth Programme is an ongoing scheme to support projects in the South East region that encourage youth to participate in Folk and Roots activity. These projects are very diverse, but have the single common theme that they get young people actively involved in some way.

Within the programme are a variety of workshops in music and dance targeted at different age groups, and delivered by different SEFAN member organisations. These range from schools work encouraging an early interest in the genre through to advanced classes for further and higher education students aimed at bringing them into the folk/roots performance community.

Performance is a major form of participation in Folk, both at professional level and within community groups. Some projects encourage formation of groups and others support performance opportunities.

Social events provide opportunities for lifelong participation, and heavily subsidising youth entrance prices is an incentive to become part of the active community.

Finally, the Youth Programme seeks to help empower youth to do it for themselves, and we encourage any potential Folk/Roots youth groups within the SE region to contact us to see how we might help.

The work will be delivered through SEFAN members and directly by SEFAN itself.

Projects supported under the first phase...

Traditional Arts Projects (TAPS)	- schools workshops and youth performances
Stepback	- Workshops - public and colleges of further and higher education - Performance opportunities alongside the company
Black Horse Festival	- Youth bands, performance day
Tenterden Folk Day Trust	- Schools workshops - Ashley Hutchins' Rainbow Chasers (incl. youth as headliners) - Rainbow Chasers “Young Musicians’ Workshop”
Folk for Berkshire through Berkshire Bedlam Morris	- Schools workshops
Meltdown Ceilidhs	- Youth discount scheme - Youth band for new Brighton dance
Golconda	- Schools ceilidh band workshops and performance
Music for Change	- Discounted schools multi-cultural workshops for poorer schools
SEFAN	- Student placements to gain experience in folk arts development

---

YOUTH PROGRAMME PHASE II (seeking funding)
Projects under development...

Kerry Fletcher	- workshops in European dance at Kent youth clubs.
Traditional Arts Projects (TAPS)	- Schools Programme. Cross-cultural music and dance workshops developing school bands.
Trads	- Hoodening group. Disadvantaged youth in Thanet will become involved in this Kent tradition, creating costumes and performing the Hoodening play and songs.
SEFAN	- Youth Work Placements. To date these have been with SEFAN itself and engage youth in paid work in arts and cultural development. It gives them useful work skills as well as helping establish the next generation of Folk/Roots activists. The intention is to widen this programme to provide placements with other development organisations in the Network.
SEFAN	- Higher Education Workshops and training youth to teach. This programme has been taken over from Stepback.
Drum Runners	- Touchline Samba/Rhythms and Chants at team sporting events as a multi-cultural cheer-leading alternative.
Traditional Dance for Schools	- East Sussex schools Morris workshop days.
Kerry Fletcher	- Youth appalachian clogging group at a community Centre in Rainham.
Trads	- Ceilidhbeats. School ceilidh band using djimbe, and synthesizers for non-musician youth.
Tenterden Folk Day Trust	- Schools song workshops.
Music for Change	- Subsidised multi-cultural workshops for smaller schools that are normally unable to afford the Music for Change package.
Meltdown Ceilidhs	- Heavy discounts for youth entry into public dances - Performance opportunities for new young bands.

---