News from producers around Derbyshire

Déda, Derby’s Centre for Dance and Contemporary Circus, is one of 140 organisations to receive a share of £17.5 million as part of Arts Council England’s Catalyst: Evolve programme. Catalyst: Evolve aims to support organisations with a limited capacity for fundraising to enable them to attract more private giving.

The Evolve fund will help Déda to develop successful and sustainable fundraising activities by providing the tools and resources to raise funds.  A large part of the grant will be used to match fund donations from visitors and patrons for the first time.

Public watchdog Healthwatch Derbyshire has hit the road in an eye-catching Volkswagon camper van to ask local people about their views and experiences of health and social care services in the county.

Derbyshire-based performers are being invited to apply to be part of the tenth annual Derby Festé which will return to the city centre on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September with a packed programme of spectacular family entertainment.
On Saturday the Cathedral Quarter, St Peters Quarter and Intu Derby shopping centre will be a bustling hub of street entertainment featuring more than 20 different acts including dance, aerial performance, theatre, comedy and contemporary circus.

It is often said that good things come in threes, and this is definitely true at StraightCurves, a small business based in the heart of Chesterfield delivering arts and crafts education to all ages: 2016 has seen their 3rd Birthday, a Chesterfield Retail Awards win (third time lucky!) and now they have three sewing tutors, including a Great British Sewing Bee Semi-Finalist!

Thousands of young people across Derbyshire are nervously waiting for their A level exam results which will be published on Thursday August 18.

They include more than 300 students at Derby College’s Joseph Wright sixth form centre who are hoping to emulate the success of last year’s cohort - achieving a 98% pass rate overall with 66% of them gaining A* to C grades.

A 12 month partnership project to raise greater awareness of the plight of young carers in Derbyshire will culminate in a celebration event on Friday July 29 in Matlock.

An initial report last year by Healthwatch Derbyshire, the county’s health and social care watchdog, highlighted the experiences of many of the county’s 1,600 young carers. This led to a number of information sharing events and pledges by health and social care providers and commissions to improve access to and involvement in services across the county.

A group of trainees from Rolls-Royce plc have teamed up with Derby-based regional orchestra Sinfonia Viva to organise a family fun day in the city’s Cathedral Quarter on Saturday August 27.

A group of sixth formers at Derby’s Merrill Academy, led by Sports student Maitham Rashid, have raised £1,020 in just a week which will be divided between two charities that support people in need across the world.

Derby College has launched a summer programme of fun seasonal courses aimed at adults and children.

The daytime class programme includes pottery for children and then adults, theatre skills for aged ten to 15 and then 16 and above. Evening courses are then available in cycle maintenance and repairs, holiday Spanish and sewing.

Prices start from £12 for the short course and a new programme will launch in September with a wider range of Learning for Leisure courses at campuses in Derby and Ilkeston.

Derby College is appealing for volunteers to help restore the historic gardens at the Broomfield Hall campus after it secured a £4,000 grant to further improve the campus grounds and boost its appeal as a visitor attraction.