The Mechanicals and The Fairies, with support from the BBC Performing Arts Fund

We are delighted to announce that UCAN Productions has been awarded funding through the 2013 BBC Performing Arts Fund community theatre scheme.  There are 58 community theatre winners across the UK and we are one of the four community theatre organisations in Wales to be awarded funding.

UCAN Productions is a performance and creative arts co-operative for blind and partially sighted children, young people and their friends.  At UCAN we have been awarded funding to develop a classic script led performance of The Mechanicals and The Fairies; an accessible part adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  This unique script led piece of theatre will be an exciting new challenge for our members and the final performance will take place in the Summer of 2014 as the centerpiece of our annual UCAN Perform Festival.

Miriam O’Keeffe, Director of the BBC Performing Arts Fund, said: “I think the arts are really important, socially. As a society it is something that can bring people together.  We support community groups and emerging talent. The money is made available through phone voting on BBC One entertainment shows, and we have an open applications process. This year we are supporting 19 theatre Fellows and 58 community theatre projects with over £430,000 spread right across the UK. 78% of those supported are based outside of London.  It’s been an amazing year, looking at the breadth of theatre happening around the country.”

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to the BBC Performing Arts Fund for supporting us!

To find out more about the BBC Performing Arts Fund and the other PAF winners, please go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/performingartsfund/posts/Theatre-scheme-winners-announced

UCAN receives funding from the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts in Wales

We are delighted to announce that UCAN Productions has secured funding through the first round of the Digital Research and Development Fund for the Arts in Wales.

The Digital Research and Development Fund for the Arts in Wales is a partnership between the Arts Council of Wales, Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Nesta to support arts projects across Wales that work with digital technologies to expand audience reach and engagement and/or explore new business models for the arts sector within Wales.

UCAN Productions is a membership organisation and our members have identified the need for an innovative solution that will assist people with sight loss to independently visit arts venues with confidence.  We have been awarded funding to work in collaboration with our technology partner Calvium and co-create an accessible indoor navigation app called UCAN Go.  This user-led project will explore the process of verbally mapping a building to support reduced or non-visual navigation around arts venues and to test and pilot this proposition, we will be working in partnership with the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff and the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven.

At UCAN we champion the capabilities of blind and partially sighted young people and the idea that visually impaired young people are the best individuals to lead on activities that are for visually impaired young people.  Our activities are directed by UCAN’s Young People’s Steering Committee and UCAN Go will be lead by two members from this committee: Mared Jarman and Megan John.  Both Megan and Mared are registered blind and this is what they have to say on the project:

Mared: ‘This innovative idea could be revolutionary in developing confidence in the Visually Impaired and anyone who needs a little encouragement when visiting arts venues.  I know first hand how technology can enhance quality of life and I’m honoured to be part of the process that will without a doubt be a game changer.  I’m not only excited about the outcome of this project but also how UCAN and Calvium will develop and grow as one.  The possibilities are endless.’

Megan: ‘The importance of this project is based around giving the visually impaired and blind, the confidence and independence, to visit arts venues.  To be a part of a project where I can contribute and help develop a technology, which could allow for me, and so many others, to have this independence is extremely exciting.  There are so many issues about arts venues that make them inaccessible for the Vi and Blind.  I’m looking forward to seeing what solutions Calvium can produce to solve these issues for us in the future.’

We are really pleased to be working with Calvium as our technology partner on UCAN Go.  Their collaborative philosophy and creative approach to problem solving and prototyping ideas is perfectly suited to UCAN and our members.  Jo from Calvium says: “Calvium are excited and delighted to collaborate with UCAN on this project. The insights, skills and approach that is integral to UCAN will be the key for us being able to work together to co-create the UCAN GO app. We will be adopting a hands-on, user led approach so that we can quickly prototype and test ideas to see if we can develop a lexicon and schema for creating a ‘verbal map’ of a building.”

To find out about the other three projects that will receive funding from the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts in Wales please go to: http://www.artscouncilofwales.org.uk/62094?diablo.lang=eng

Winston Churchill Fellowship Report

In September 2012 UCAN Productions Co-founder and Development Director Jane Latham traveled to America on a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship with the aim of developing new and lasting links with schools, colleges and organisations that support visually impaired young people in America.

Jane first visited Perkins School for the Blind, the oldest school for the blind in the United States. “The Perkins School is an inspirational place which pays homage to the history of pioneering work done to support blind and partially sighted people in the past and at the same time forges ahead with the use of new and amazing technologies.”

UCAN Cardiff Optometry Student Volunteer Travels to Malawi

In March we wrote about how we had received a generous donation from the family of Haf Morris.  We would like to again thank Iwan and Rhian Morris as we donated some of the funds to UCAN Volunteer Georgina Lucas, a student Optometrist, who visited Malawi in September 2013.  Georgina said:

“My name is Georgina Lucas, I am currently studying Optometry at Cardiff University. In early September 2013 I went on a trip to Malawi to test peoples eyes and give out glasses where needed. The trip was organised through a charity called ‘Sight 2020 Direct’, the charity is also known as the ‘Onani Eye Foundation’ in Malawi. The team who I went with comprised of 9 people, all of varying professions, mostly eye related. Between us we managed to see over 2200 people through vision screening and sight tests.  It was an incredible experience, allowing me to gain exposure to various eye conditions that would normally have already been treated in the UK, and to practise skills that I have learnt at university. I would like to thank the family of Haf Morris for their donation via UCAN towards my trip to Malawi.”

UCAN Lead graduates lecture at Cardiff Univeristy, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

UCAN members Megan John and Mared Jarman graduated from the UCAN Lead workshop leader training programme in July and last week, Megan and Mared delivered a lecture to Optometry students at Cardiff University, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, titled ‘Living With Visual Impairment’.

Dr Rhodri Woodhouse, a Teaching Fellow at Cardiff University, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, said:

‘One of the objectives of the Human Development module is for students to understand the people they will be testing for the rest of their optometry careers. I approached UCAN with the hopes that they could lead some practical sessions and give the students a first-hand insight into living with visual impairment. Megan and Mared jumped at the opportunity to run the sessions and their first session went better than any of us had expected. They engaged the students and kept their attention with more skill than some who have been lecturing for much longer! The students engaged well with the tasks they were given and all of them came away with a greater understanding of what it means to be visually impaired than they had entered the room with. We’re already looking forward to seeing what the girls come up with next year!’