Into Opera has been awarded a £200,000 grant from Anguish’s Educational Foundation to work with primary schools from September 2020 – July 2022 to support them in putting creativity at the heart of their curriculum. 

 

Into Opera participated in a competitive application and interview process to secure this grant. Chair of Anguish’s Educational Foundation Chris Herries said the trustees were looking for "Life changing projects… which would break negative cycles, and which would enable long-term positive change in the lives of young people."

 

Our Artistic Director, Genevieve Raghu, supported by Into Opera Trustee Fran Ludden (former head teacher) pitched a project which would enable Into Opera to provide creative and cultural support to primary schools in Norwich for two years. This project champions the importance of equal access to an empowering education where children, from all backgrounds, are encouraged to dream big and to discover the empowering value of their voice and imagination.  

 

On receiving news of the success of their application, Artistic Director and Founder of Into Opera, Genevieve Raghu, said "We are thrilled to receive this grant from Anguish’s Educational Foundation and for their continued support of our cultural educational projects in Norwich. To thrive in this ever-changing world, we all need creativity and that needs exercising from an early age. This is something all children should have the opportunity to access. If we are going to develop the next generation of politicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and artists who will discover, imagine and lead, then it is imperative for creativity to thrive in our schools. But we face a problem: creativity has been increasingly squeezed out of schools and we seem to have lost sight of its importance, despite it being one of the most sought-after skills for employers. In the light of the new Ofsted framework which emphasises ‘cultural capital’ and delivering a ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum this grant will enable us to start a creative revolution working with schools to put high quality cultural experiences and creativity at the heart of school life. We look forward to making an announcement soon about how schools can get involved."

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David Hynes, CEO of Norwich Charitable Trusts, said "We’re extremely pleased with the result and very excited to be working in partnership with Into Opera."

 

More details about how schools can apply to be part of this pioneering project will be available on this website from Monday 10th February 2020.  

 

To register your interest in advance of this please get in touch by email: info@into-opera.org.uk