YORK & NORTH YORKSHIRE NEWS

Strength and resilience

Many business people that I speak to remain upbeat and confident, despite the ongoing challenges that we continue to face. One might say that we simply have to remain confident –what other option is there?

But we’ve seen through recent experiences –Brexit, Covid, energy prices and conflicts – that many in business are able to adapt, innovate and re-set because this is what our businesses are great at.

Of course, some sectors are being hit harder than others. Hospitality, in particular, is suffering at present; it needs help and support so the Chamber recently set up Hospitality Forum, pulling together regional best practises, supporting the industry and lobbying for support at the highest levels. How long or deep this situation will continue is open to comment but we are here as your Chamber to help.

We are working well with stakeholders in York & North Yorkshire to ensure the best support is available, and that the strongest possible business environment and economy is in place. York itself and the sub-region of North Yorkshire have such strong brands and images, and these will help to bring in more investment, create jobs and boost entrepreneurship.

Combine all this with high-quality guidance from within the Chamber, plus the strength and resilience that I know many of our business leaders have, and I’m sure that we will all keep driving our region to even greater heights.

Laurence Beardmore President York & North Yorkshire Chamber

Insights into performing arts

Co-Create is a one-day festival produced by York St John University that celebrates the making of music, dance and theatre with, and for and by members of the youth community. Collaborating with schools in York and North Yorkshire, the festival brought together creative professionals, university students and around 100 pupils in the region to offer inspirational insights into the possibilities for higher education and a career in the performing arts. For several weeks prior to the festival, staff and students from York St John toured schools, working with pupils to devise a piece of music, drama or dance to be performed at the festival. This year all schools performed a short piece based on the theme ‘transitions’, with interpretations ranging from what constitutes a ‘hero’ in World War Two, to Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man re-imagined as Seven Ages of Woman, to exploring the various transitions children go through at school. The schools from across the region who took part in Co-Create were Millthorpe School (York), Norton College, New College Pontefract, Northallerton School and Graham School (Scarborough).

On the day of the festival each school participated in workshops in musical theatre, acting, dance and music, delivered by both staff and students from the University’s School of the Arts. The pupils also watched York St John student performances and were given a tour of the campus to further their experience of university life. The festival drew to a close with evening performances by each school in the York St John Creative Centre.

Dr Sarah O’Brien, Associate Head of School of the Arts at York St John University is lead organiser of the annual festival said: “The Co-Create festival offers York St John students the opportunity to showcase their own work, to facilitate the creative composition of music and drama work with school-age children, and to run workshops for 1117 year olds. No matter what area of the creative arts industry our students may find themselves in the future, the skills gained in these areas will be highly valuable and much sought after by organisations offering educational or outreach opportunities.”