The Get The Chance, Cultural Impact Awards, 2025 supported by Tempo Time Credits and Porters Cardiff, Launch this month!

The Get The Chance, Cultural Impact Awards, 2025 celebrate high quality, cultural activity that reaches a broad range of the public and its positive impact on their quality of life.

The Award event will take place at Porters , Cardiff on Sat March 22^nd, 5-7 pm a representative of all nominated organisations/individuals will be invited to attend.

Award winners in each category will have the opportunity to have a short professional film created which highlights their work. (subject to confirmation)

The Awards are supported by Tempo Time Credits and Porters Cardiff. Rachel Gegeshidze, Chief Executive, Tempo Time Credits said

“At Tempo, we believe that culture, the arts, and heritage should be accessible to all, and we are incredibly proud to support the Get The Chance, Cultural Impact Awards 2025. Volunteers are the backbone of our communities, and through Time Credits, we recognise and value their time, opening doors to new experiences. These awards shine a light on the incredible cultural initiatives and volunteers that give their time to make a real difference to communities and people’s lives, and we are privileged to celebrate the individuals and organisations leading this work.”

Rachel Gegeshidze, Chief Executive, Tempo Time Credits

Dan Porter, Director of Porter’s Cardiff said

‘As a venue we want to remain committed to new, emerging and unsupported artists. We are happy to support the Get The Chance, Impact Awards and what we can help others to achieve at Porters Cardiff”

Dan Porter, Alice Rush and Frankie-Rose Taylor

(Photograph: Moreton Brothers)

The awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the impact cultural provision in Wales during 2024, many of the individual categories are sponsored by a range of project supporters.

*Please get in touch of you are interested in supporting this event

Further information on the Categories and nomination process can be found below

These awards aim to highlight and showcase the vibrant and diverse nature of culture, heritage and the arts within our Nation each year

Criteria

For the purposes of these awards, we have a broad definition of cultural provision which includes community arts volunteering, education and heritage. Nominations will reflect a range of areas in the cultural life of Wales, nominated individuals or organisations can be either voluntary or professional. All nominated parties must be from or based in Wales for the majority of their creative activity and nominated area. The nomination period is Jan 01-Dec 31 2024.

The purpose of these awards is to raise awareness of high quality, cultural activity that reaches a broad range of the public and its impact. Due consideration shall be made on the resources of the creative activity and its impact on the public.

All work must have a strong Welsh connection, and this will form part of the scoring process.

The nomination form can be found at the link below

https://forms.office.com/e/MFiTvHPSXy

Categories

1. Public Event

Description: Awarded to a public production, exhibition or cultural event that demonstrates high artistic ambition and quality which connects with the public. The activity should take place in and be produced by Welsh and Wales based creatives

Considerations

• What impact did this Public Event have on the general public?
• How the event has demonstrable high artistic quality, did it receive reviews, press coverage or industry awards?
• Audience reach – roughly how many people saw it and were any specific groups reached such as children and young people etc?
• Audience reach – where did audiences come from? Did it tour or was it large enough to attract people from outside the direct performance area?

2. Creative of the Year

Description: Awarded to a Creative who demonstrates the highest artistic quality in work which is created and/or publicly exhibited, performed or displayed in Wales.

Considerations

• What Impact did the work of this Creative have on the general public?
• How has the Creative demonstrated high artistic quality, did their work receive reviews, press coverage or industry awards?

3. Community and Education Project

Description: Awarded to a community, participatory or education project e.g. choir, dance, theatre, visual arts or heritage group which provides regular, inclusive access to culture for local people.

Considerations

• What Impact does the community, participatory or education project have on the general public?
• Did the project receive positive feedback and satisfaction from participants?
• How many people took part?
• Was the project inclusive? For example, supporting people from diverse backgrounds or those with disabilities or who, for other reasons, might otherwise not have the opportunity to take part?
• Did the project receive any positive press coverage, reviews, other awards or recognition
• Did the project work in partnership with other organisations?

4. Facilitator of the Year

Description: Awarded to a cultural facilitator, teacher or practitioner who leads inclusive community, participatory or education projects in Wales

Considerations

• The impact the individuals work has on the group or individuals
• Any reviews, press coverage, other awards or recognition
• Any feedback from partners or funders

5. Culture and Health

(Sponsored by Christine O’Donnell)

Description: Awarded to a cultural project, event or series of workshops which support people living in Wales to improve their health and wellbeing.

Considerations

• The impact the project has had on its participants
• How many people took part?
• How the project/event positively impacted people’s health?
• Any participant feedback/testimonial?
• Are there any ways the activity has reduced reliance on other services such as the NHS?
• How the project used culture and participation?
• Any reviews, press coverage, other awards/recognition?
• Any partner feedback?

6. Cultural Champion

(Sponsored by Tempo Time Credits)

Description: Awarded to an individual from the creative community, e.g. a volunteer, administrator, technician, curator or board member whose work makes a significant positive contribution to the cultural life of the Nation

Considerations

• The major project/event/activity/display in which the individual has played a significant role and what the impact of their role has been?
• How the individual positively contributes, beyond their own participation (for example supporting others, volunteering etc)?
• Any support or feedback from project/organisation leaders or facilitators?
• Any reviews, press coverage, other awards/recognition for either the individual or the project they are involved with?
• About any feedback from colleagues, participants and other relevant parties?

7. Commitment to Arts, Heritage & Culture

Description: Awarded to a school who demonstrate significant commitment to and celebration of the arts in the broadest sense

Considerations

• The impact the project has had on its participants?
• What cultural activities does the school offer?
• How many students are involved?
• How is this offer different from traditionally provided education activity?

8. Disabled Creativity

An award recognising the achievements of an organisation or individual creating awareness of Disabled led work.

Considerations

• What impact has the organisation or individual made to Disabled led work?
• What cultural activities does the organisation or individual offer?
• How many people are involved?

In 1895, the star attractions at the Mold Carnival were Leino, the Flying Trapezist; Signor Rovollo, the Gymnastic Wonder and Professor Crannio,’The Marvellous Conjurer.

In 1904, Carnival music was supplied by the Royal Buckley Town Prize Band. There was the Best Decorated Bicycle competition, Riders on Horseback and The Procession of Gigantic Proportions, which paraded through Mold’s principal streets, its salient features being six brass bands. At the close of The Procession, the public congregated at the Black Lion Hotel where dancing took place to music supplied by the Brymbo Steel Works Prize Band. Takings for the Carnival in 1904 were about £68, and after putting aside an amount for the following years’ show, £25 was handed over to the Mold Cottage Hospital Fund. (Note – this information is from the Mold Carnival website and was provided by local Historian David Rowe.)

Mold Carnival has form.  It’s representative of a genre of activity that is widespread and perhaps an example of best practice, not too small to be meaningless but not too large to be commercially exploited.  It’s still organised by volunteers and in 2024 it attracted over 6,000 people to its events.  This is what grassroots cultural activity looks like (in terms of grass, the organisers get a lot of help from local people cutting the grass on the two fields where the Carnival is held).

The Eisteddfod Mold Carnival is not but there is an almost infinite variety of strata in this type of cultural activity.  The Eisteddfod is not Glastonbury and Glastonbury is not Edinburgh, which is not Bayreuth.  Carnivals, like festivals, have a role to play, otherwise they would disappear.

This year I thought I might participate in the ‘Time 2 Shine’ Mold Carnival talent show, not because I am talented but because I like a challenge and it looked like a good way to see the event from the inside.

I am a (very) amateur piano accordion player.  I thought I’d play a simple version of the famous Czardas, composed in 1904 by Monti (go to https://youtu.be/_Zjz6oLuaxw if you want to hear it played properly).

A Czardas is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, getting its name from the old Hungarian  term for roadside tavern. Its origin was a death dance, in which a soldier fights with an opponent, looks for his weak points, then kills him and dances in joy.  It starts slowly, speeds up, slows down and then finishes quickly.  I thought it might be suitable for the Carnival…

Lined up against me in the talent competition were a young man playing Chopin on a keyboard, a teenager impersonating Chuck Berry, a vocalist with an Adele song, a girl reciting her poem about what she would do if she were Queen for a day and some very young singers performing their favourite pop songs to backing tracks (they were all word perfect). 

You can’t judge the talent in a line-up like that.  I don’t say this because I didn’t win (!) but because more than the difference between apples and pears is involved.  The only original performer was the poet.  It’s not easy to either write or recite your own funny poem.  The most technically accomplished performer was the Chopin player, who would have put in a lot of practice on his Grade 8 exam piece.  The most entertaining performer by far was the Chuck Berry impersonator. But then the vocalist was employment-ready standard, and the very young performers’ singing was as accurate as their recall of their lyrics.  Then there was me – but you always attract an eccentric when you have an open-door policy.

I was perfectly happy to have performed the Czardas satisfactorily, if at two-thirds speed.  A couple of people had asked me what my accordion was, so I think I reminded the Carnival-goers of what is now a vanishing instrument in the UK.  Children danced as I played and I got enough applause to go home quite pleased with myself.

I think the Adele singer and Chuck Berry won the senior and junior categories because they conformed most closely to what talent show judges are looking for, but that’s beside the point.  The point is that creative performance activity can and does take place in a variety of styles, irrespective of economics.  It makes a significant contribution to social celebration – the Mold Carnival feeling like a gigantic garden party, with its mountain bike acrobatics, its fire-eater and the alien robot wandering around in front of the Territorial Army.  The only question is – Is It Art?

The short answer to that is No. There was not enough originality, technical ability or depth of feeling on show for anything to be discussed in artistic terms (especially not if you want to compare what was on offer with what gets performed in the street at major festivals).  However, art does not appear out of thin air and artists have journey to make.  It’s possible that at some point in the future the author of ‘What I would do If I was Queen for a day’ will one day release a first collection.  It’s possible that the Chopin player will become a modern composer.  It’s possible that the young Chuck Berry impersonator will develop his own persona and become the next Mick Jagger.

It’s that possibility which counts, alongside the opportunity events like Mold Carnival give young people the chance to experiment and gain experience.  There is nothing quite like appearing on stage in front of a substantial live audience, especially if you are only nine years old.  The theatre in the UK depends heavily on both musicals and pantomimes for its survival and carnivals help to feed future cast members into the system.  So it’s not exactly what you see taking place, so much as what it all represents that matters.

I’m already wondering what I might brush up to perform this year.

The csárdás is characterized by a variation in tempo: it starts out slowly (lassú) and ends in a very fast tempo (friss, literally “fresh”).

The dancers are both male and female, with the women dressed in traditional wide skirts, which form a distinctive shape when they whirl.

Irlen Awareness Week is a worldwide week to increase awareness of Irlen Syndrome and to educate the public about Irlen Syndrome, this year it is the 18 to 22 October, 2021 so please join us this year. This years event will take place online due to Covid 19.

It’s a very special week for people with Irlen Syndrome and their families

Here are my plans, I have written a blog series about all things about Irlen syndrome, and I have got the Red House in Merthyr, lit up in Purple again this year and shared information about Irlen Syndrome on my own blog too.

If you want to get involved please visit HERE

(4 / 5)

Comedy has come a long way in Cardiff, especially in a city that is as heckle-heavy as Cardiff. It’s always been heavy heckle: there’s a certain je ne sais quoi in the air around the Taff and the Docks. Cardiff can make or break you as a comedian and/or your mental health.

Local Butetown resident, Leroy Brito (well known for his work on Tourist Trap and BBC Sesh) programmed a stellar line up at the Weston Studio of rising stars from across the United Kingdom including Morgan Rees, Priya Hall, and Yuriko Kotani.

The copy from the WMC read “comedian Leroy Brito curates this stand up comedy night featuring some of the funniest comedians on the circuit”- and they’re not wrong.

The evening opened with Cardiff boy Morgan Rees, with Brito compering throughout the evening. Rees is exceptionally funny, and may well become the next big thing in the comedy scene from Wales. Weaving in strands of his personal life with quotidien observations on the minutiae of the day to day life, I look forward to seeing more of Rees’ work in the future.

Priya Hall knows her audience, and she knows her audience well. She memorably brings to life anecdotes of her family, the miner’s strikes, her (legendary) Nan. Priya is hilarious, and warmingly witty, and, like Morgan, is another up and coming comedian from South Wales. Brito’s gone out of his way to curate some of the best new talent from Wales on the Weston Stage, and it’s appreciated.

Yuriko Kotani is an England-based comedian, and called ‘one to watch by Time Out’. Kotani’s comedy is an absolute joy to behold, laying bare the intimacies of her experiences, and quotidien observations on the minutiae of day to day life. Kotani will be around for quite some time, and her career will continue to reach new heights with her groundbreaking comedy.

Brito’s work as a producer and a programmer is impressive, and amongst some of the best work seen at the WMC, both in terms of programming, and in terms of the talent on stage.  Comedy in Wales has been predominantly on Zoom: but it’s coming back with a vengeance.

This year for International Women’s Day (IWD), The Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre in Newport take their International Women’s Day celebrations online with a programme of events taking place on social media throughout the day on Monday 8^th March.

As the theatre is unable to open due to government guidelines, The Riverfront have taken the decision to still celebrate International Women’s Day in these challenging times and showcase a range of wonderful activities that can be joined and enjoyed from home. The theme for IWD 2021 is Choose to Challenge, as a challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change.

Community Arts Development Officer and International Women’s Day co-ordinator Sally-Anne Evans comments ‘It’s fantastic to be working on International Women’s Day again this year as it is always a great opportunity to come together and celebrate. This year we want to highlight the amazing creativity in our communities, and we are sharing our event virtually with some amazing activities both on the day and throughout the following week. 

We are focussing on our female artists, musicians and makers to share their work, as well as offering links to activities and workshops run by other groups and partners. A lot has happened in a year, but it feels good to be able to provide a platform for people to share and celebrate together. More than ever it feels like we need it.’

Throughout the day there will be a range of activities taking place from fitness to writing, crafts to music, dance to reflection. There will be the opportunity to dance along to the IWD 2020 Zumba routine choreographed by Newport Live instructor Mandy Knight and her Thursday morning FitSteps class, and there will be a live low intensity Functional Flow fitness class hosted by Newport Live instructor Erin.

Performance piece ‘Tripping Through Newport’s Underbelly’ which was devised and performed by Marega Palser will also be showcased. This BOSCH Observation piece is a journey through underpasses, subways and some of Newport’s in between zones that people move through rather than stay in. Spaces that are home for some, dumping grounds for others.

Digital events hosted by IWD partners will be showcased including a Therapeutic writing workshop, an IWD pub quiz and an informative talk and interactive singalong on the hymn ‘The March of the Women.’ The Riverfront also encourages you to take some time and think about what you Choose to Challenge this year, whether that’s calling out gender bias or inequity, celebrate women’s achievements or making a change in your own life to help create an inclusive world. Share how you #ChooseToChallenge on social media.

The Riverfront’s International Women’s Day celebrations will end at 7pm with a pre-recorded bilingual musical set featuring opera director and creative producer Rhian Hutchings performing alongside multi-instrumentalist and singer Stacey Blythe.

On Saturday 13^th March The Riverfront is partnering with the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival to support the WOW Film Festival Women’s Film Club event Kotatsu Shorts: Women Make Animation. This free event will screen a hand-picked selection of animated shorts made by up-and-coming female animators working in Japan that are suitable for all ages. The ticket for this event will also include access to a live creative workshop on Zoom with Japanese animator and illustrator Chie Arai showing you how to draw a girl in a kimono.

Find out more about these events here: https://watch.eventive.org/wow2021/play/602e4314136d40003e56bd73.

In the weeks following International Women’s Day the Riverfront will also be showcasing inspirational female artists, organisations and groups within our creative communities across social media, including an exclusive performance from Aleighcia Scott. If you would like to be featured contact sally-anne.evans@newportlive.co.uk sharing your work and let us know why IWD is important to you and what you would #ChooseToChallenge.

To keep up to date with The Riverfront’s program of events for International Women’s Day follow them on social media, Facebook.com/ TheRiverfront or visit newportlive.co.uk/IWD.