Figure 12: Reported benefits, by number of projects
Source: ICC/DHA Cultural Olympiad Project Survey; Creative Scotland funding data. (Base 36 projects) 5.10 Fourteen projects indicated the beneficiaries experienced ‘opportunities for creative learning’. Predominantly, this related to young people, as part of the performance or, more frequently as an outcome of the learning and community engagement elements of projects. Fourteen projects cited being involved in shared community activity as a benefit. Predominantly, projects cited community engagement events and workshops as the mechanism for achieving this shared community activity. The nature of performances also emphasised shared community activity. 5.11
Nine projects indicated that training and skills development were benefits. These included opportunities to work with an international composer, come together with their peers, be mentored and develop new creative outputs for the first time. Five projects indicated that increasing awareness of disability was a benefit (all of these except one were Unlimited responses) and a further 5 projects indicated that hard to reach young people benefitted. Get Scotland Dancing, for example, received resources from the proceeds of crime to work with young people at risk. Finally, Big Concert targeted and worked with isolated young people to build confidence and social skills.
5.12
Several respondents perceived benefits to be deeper engagement with particular groups and engaging new participants or audiences. However, with a snapshot in time it is difficult to assess whether operational planning was put in place to identify and establish the mechanisms through which those impacts would be achieved. There is anecdotal evidence that projects did put in place plans to secure benefits but in the future it is crucial that delivery partners, funders and Creative Scotland are able to consider what is required to ensure that individual projects and organisations understand what is necessary to achieve their objectives.
Body of creative work with lasting legacy 5.13
Creative Scotland’s mandate is to provide strategic leadership and co-ordination across the cultural sector, and related sectors, to develop, facilitate and deliver a coherent and meaningful programme of national activity in the context of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014. This translated into an approach to funding and curation that emphasised the lasting legacy of the body of creative work produced.
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