Arts Council Grant awarded
It was great to be able to announce at this week’s Forum that AHA has been awarded just under £30,000 by the Arts Council for our “MK Audiences” project. This is part of the Arts Council’s “Audience Finder” initiative launched over a year ago, which Adrienne Pye of the Audience Agency told us about at an AHA meeting in November 2012, with a view to creating an “MK cluster” within this national initiative.
New AHA website
Thanks to all of you who commented on the pilot version of the new AHA website recently circulated. The response was generally very positive, thanks to the enormous amount of work that has been put in. Suggestions have been taken on board wherever possible, and the new website will hopefully go live next week. The address is unchanged: http://www.aha-mk.org.
Discussions with thecentre:MK
Thanks to all those who sent in ideas of eventsexhibitions/activities AHA members might wish to mount in thecentre:MK. We took the whole list for discussion with the centre last week. They seemed impressed with many of the ideas and very positive about offering opportunities in the centre, and are due to get back to us next week.
Registering AHA as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Following the preparation of a draft for the Charities Commission, and discussion of this at our January AHA meeting, we have now made the formal submission to the CC. The process thereafter may take as little as a month, but it might be significantly longer.
Guardian profile for MK
In case it hasn’t reached you by other routes, Monica Ferguson did an interview with The Guardian earlier this week: see http://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/2014/mar/04/monica-ferguson-stables-milton-keynes-festival.
Midsummer Boulevard workshop
Many thanks to our Vice-Chair, who participated, on AHA’s behalf, in a 3-day workshop at the beginning of February, the aim of which was to produce a blueprint for developing the eastern end of Midsummer Boulevard. No doubt there’ll be a report on the outcomes in due course: we’ll keep you posted.
Lobbying MK Council on their 2014/15 budget
Thanks to those AHA members who commented in response to my request for responses to MKC’s budget proposals, and especially to those who took the trouble to write to the Council.
Member News/Opportunities
Voluntary work wanted: Raihana Sohrabi is looking for voluntary work as a junior accountant to gain experience. Currently studying AAT level 3. E-mail raihana.ahmad03@gmail.com.
First artist call-out for 2014 Festival Fringe: Information is attached. Please feel free to share this with friends, contacts, networks, etc. Contact Anita Allen anita@mkfestivalfringe.com or on 07952 237421 for an application form. http://mkfestivalfringe.com/callouts/