Oldham based youth arts Charity, Peshkar were delighted to welcome Ed Vaizey MP, Minister of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as a guest of honour at a special reception held at the Houses of Parliament on the 2nd December, an event marking the culmination of their year long Heritage Lottery funded ‘Our Teenage Years’ project in Oldham and Burnley.
Peshkar were also honoured to have Althea Efunshile, Deputy Chief Executive of the Arts Council England as their special guest on the day as well.
Both Mr Vaizey and Ms Efunshile gave special praise to the work of Peshkar in Oldham and Lancashire with young people and schools in those two areas.
Ed Vaizey commented “The work of organisations like Peshkar really make a difference to the people, the young people, of places like Oldham. We are really proud to have all of the schools and students as guests here today at Parliament to celebrate the successes of young people and the work of the organisation”
Althea Efunshile added, “Peshkar Productions are a great example of the impact of arts and culture with young people and schools. The work produced from the Our Teenage Years project is an example of how the organisations, schools and young people can approach the Cultural Education Challenge Arts Council England have launch recently and connect that to our communities and explore, through the arts, who and what we are and where.”
Peshkar also invited schools that had worked on the ‘Our Teenage Years’ project, including Waterhead Academy, Oasis Academy Oldham, Nelson and Colne College, Shutlleworth College and North Chadderton School.
This was for some students their first visit to the capital and their first visit to the Palace of Westminster. For students to be able to celebrate their achievements on the ‘Our Teenage Years’ project at the home of politics was especially significant and memorable for them.
During the ‘Our Teenage Years’ project students across Oldham and Lancashire have achieved over 180 Arts Award qualifications, which Arts Council England have informed Peshkar makes them the best performing organisation in their portfolio in the North of England for Arts Award delivery and rated by Arts Council England as the 3rd best in their portfolio of funded organisations across England.
Steph Eckhardt of Waterhead Academy who brought her students to London said “Waterhead academy and our students felt really privileged to visit Parliament last week. The work with Peshkar has given our students an opportunity to experience so much - exciting art projects, connections with our community, important life skills and confidence and also the chance to celebrate their hard work in the hub of the political system of the U.K.”
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