Aberdeen City Music School are a secondary school with a strong music focus. Using Bronze, Silver and Gold they encourage young people to pursue their own musical interests while learning more about career pathways directly relevant to them.

The Arts Award Access Fund provides small grants to Arts Award centres working with young people for whom access and inclusion is an issue. It first launched in 2007, and since then has enabled thousands of young people to achieve an Arts Award.

Taking part in the awards can often have a huge impact on young people’s lives, their aspirations and self-esteem. These are stories from just a few of the centres who have received Access Fund grants.

This Arts Award Centre has integrated Arts Award into their regular offer for young people, who are supported to gain their Arts Award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level.

People United is an innovative charity based in Canterbury that explores how the arts and creativity can grow kindness, empathy and a sense of common humanity.

Their Role Models project was delivered in association with Lunsford Primary School and supported with investment from Artswork, the South East Arts Council Bridge organisation. Through the social action project the children were able to make a difference to, and gain a greater respect for, the older people they met in their local community.

Alabaré E Zone is a young people’s drop in centre in Andover, Hampshire. The young people supported at the centre are aged between 13 and 25 experiencing issues such as homelessness, drink and drug abuse and domestic violence. Many students have learning difficulties and autism. In their first year delivering Arts Award, the centre has taken three groups totalling over 50 young people through to Bronze moderation.

Alabare runs The Junction, a drop in centre in Hampshire supporting young people aged between 13 and 25 who may be NEET, living in hostels, street homeless, have learning difficulties or have mental health issues.

For this Bronze Arts Award project, The Junction worked in partnership with Fixers, an initiative set up to support young people to create real change among their peers and in their communities.  By working with Fixers, students were able to deliver a social action project about an issue they felt strongly about, using music as their chosen art form.

Alex Evans, an Arts Award adviser and freelance arts practitioner runs Arts Award with a number of centres. He ran both Bronze and Silver Arts Awards simultaneously with a small group over the course of 9 months.

Alison Deering, a former teacher, works as a freelance adviser with SEN schools and galleries. She has run Bronze Arts Award in a variety of SEN contexts.

Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life is situated in a Tudor merchant house in Thetford, Norfolk, and is part of the Norfolk Museums Service. The museum has been offering Arts Award since 2011 and is an Arts Award 2014-15 Good Practice Centre. They identified uniformed groups as an untapped audience for Arts Award and the museum.
A unique sleepover experience was developed for local members of Girlguiding incorporating a programme of varied museum activities and completion of Arts Award Discover.

Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life is a local museum housed in a late
15th Century timber framed building, exhibiting collections related to the
history of Thetford and the Brecks. In 2013 Ancient House Museum worked with children from two local schools on a diversity project which aimed to promote multi-cultural understanding. The children visited the museum for a Discover in a Day programme, exploring the story of the Duleep Singh Family.

Anthos Arts are an Applied Physical Theatre Collaborative based in Devon. They provided a youth theatre programme called Wings in the Way. The project’s aim was to allow young people to learn skills in physical theatre and also to discuss the meaning of community and the effect of digital social networks on community, as well as gain a Bronze Arts Award.