Major grant boosts arts charity in north-east England

Hands Of, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, has been awarded a two-year grant from Youth Music’s Catalyser Fund. Totalling £100,000, the funding will help to sustain and scale up the charity’s work providing music, arts and education opportunities for children across the region. This is realised by working together with schools, heritage organisations, archival institutions and artists to create immersive projects that connect children with their local area. A wide range of programmes focus on topics such as the area’s mining history, shipping on the River Tyne, the Northumberland Space Programme, and lightships off the Northumberland coast. Working alongside professional musicians, artists and theatre-makers, the children create artistic responses to their experiences through music, art and drama.