Arts Group Summer Meeting

Loughborough 10/11 July

Are you one of the hundreds of unions that have students of the Arts within your membership? Whether you've just ten, or several thousand, we want you to send a delegation to the third meeting of the Arts Group on 10/11 July 2009 at Loughborough Students’ Union.

We are privileged to welcome The National Campaign for the Arts who will be delivering the welcoming speech, including discussion about an Arts manifesto to get the various parties in shape for a truly Creative Britain at the next General Election.

After an exciting first six months of activity, this meeting is a chance to take stock, elect the committee for the next year, and set in motion the things we collectively want to see change. At our last meeting, delegates representing more than 45,000 students from across the UK attended, and at this one we could easily top 100,000 from HE and FE!

Booking details

The price to attend the meeting is £38 (+Vat) per delegate, which includes single B&B accommodation and the evening BBQ on Friday night. Registration will be from 11am-12 midday on Friday 10 July, and we will aim to finish by lunchtime on Saturday 11

Register your attendance here

On the agenda

Topics currently planned for discussion include:

• Bursaries in Higher Education – 6 out of 10 of the bottom spenders in the recent Bursaries tables are Arts-specialist institutions. What can we do to make sure the additional income from our fees is being spent to enable access?
• Emerging Workers in the Creative Industries – Unpaid work experience, internships, and working for free for months or years are common place in parts of the Creative Industries and Cultural Sector – what is our stance, and where is the line drawn on unfair employment practice?
• FE Funding – The Learning Skills Council’s dispersion, and the future of Foundation courses and other areas of the Arts in FE, has been a topic at previous meetings. What’s going on and what can we do to preserve the core elements of Creative Education?
• The Future of the Arts Group – We’re here. We’ve got attention and a voice. What do we want from our collective and what are the key issues for the committee to act on for the next year?

If you have any queries about the meeting, or any other aspect of the Arts Group, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly