Robin shares his reflections on participating in youth-led arts funding as an Access All Arts Fun panel member.

 In August of 2024, I joined the Access All Arts Fund (AAAF) Panel, along with nine other young people. I heard about the Fund through a youth group I was attending, and decided to get in contact, as I've always had a huge interest in art and design. Since then, I attended several meetings over the course of roughly six months.  The meetings involved a variety of activities relating to the evaluation of applications, as well as building relationships with the other panel members. These activities included ice breakers to get to know each other, discussions on what creativity means and how it can be defined, how to make thoughtful decisions when reviewing the applications, and what barriers a young person might face trying to access creative resources. There were even art activities members could take part in!  The opportunity to get creative opened up conversations about what was important or necessary to make art, what we were interested in, and it also helped break down some of the more concept-heavy discussions.  This helped the sessions stay engaging and productive.  

 When I joined the panel, I was in my last year of high school and UCAS deadlines were looming. I was struggling to decide what to study: I was conflicted between Art & Design and Modern Languages, knowing I had more passion for art, but was nervous about making the right decision, especially regarding money. I think working on the AAAF panel helped with my decision to pursue art at University. It was so interesting meeting other young creative people, as well as reading all the applications and learning what others were passionate about. The more passionate someone sounded in their application, the more enjoyable it was to read.  

I was already aware of how important resources are for young people, but by working on this project I’ve become much more attune to barriers that I wouldn’t have considered before. As I have just finished high school, where I studied Art & Design up to Advanced Higher level, I can say with complete certainty that funds like this can make a massive difference in young people’s lives. I cannot count the number of times that a cheaper material has had to be used because the school didn’t have access to a large enough budget to purchase a more suitable material. Not only that, but whole specialisms have had to be neglected. This is through no fault of the school and teachers are doing their best to support pupils, but it means that pupils who are interested in pursuing any specialism may have to do this outwith school. It goes without saying that this can quickly become expensive, and excludes any pupils who can’t afford the cost of extra lessons or programmes. However, with financial support from funds like the Access All Arts Fund, more young people can access the resources to fuel their creative interests.  

Overall, being part of the panel was really a fantastic experience.  The team at Children in Scotland were extremely friendly and supportive. Information was communicated in a clear manner, and there was a lot of respect for all members involved in the project. The adults did a fantastic job of managing the project, guiding where support was needed, while treating everyone with complete respect and warmth. I hope that the panel can be repeated in the future, as it has had such a positive impact on both the applicants and the panel members. 

Find out more about The Access All Arts Fund here.