Unique Creative Arts Network for visually impaired young people

Record of achievement

Since UCAN began the organisation has

• Delivered 340 individual workshops
• Created 32 live public performances in professional theatres
• Performed to over 4000 people
• Expanded the membership of visually impaired young people to 171
• Recruited a volunteer ‘Buddy Bank’ of 62
• Won the title of the UK Children’s Champions 2006
• Trained 88 arts professionals
• Developed working partnerships with 36 organisations
• September 2006. UCAN Productions beats 460 other projects throughout the UK to win the publicly voted UK National Lottery ‘Children’s Champions Award 2006’
  

Planned for 2008/2009

• Performance at the Welsh Assembly on June 24th for Arts and Business
• Two Performances for the Care Council of Wales at the National Eisteddfod on 3rd and 9th of August
• DEW Performance in Theatre Clwyd in July 08
• Summer School in St Donats Art Centre in August 08
• DEW Performance at the Sherman Theatre September 08
• The UK’s first Visual Impaired Performance Festival in the Wales Millennium Centre July 2009.

2008

August

• August 3rd & 9th: It had long been an ambition of UCAN to perform at The National Eisteddfod so when the Care Council of Wales offered UCAN Productions the opportunity to be part of the activities everyone at UCAN was delighted. The Cardiff team created a performance call Making A Difference which was performed twice. Everyone had a great time - even in the rain!!
  
• August 10th – 14th: UCAN ran a Summer School at St Donats Arts Centre, Vale of Glamorgan. Members of UCAN had a wonderful time especially as the group was joined by international students from Atlantic College, as well as sharing cultures and learning new skills, the UCAN members made friends from America, Slovakia, Hungry, Norway, Kenya and Nigeria.
  
  We even managed to get on to the telly!! A film crew from the programme Wedi 7 came and interviewed and filmed the UCAN team.
  

July

• July 11th: The UCAN team met new members and created a show in Theatre Clwyd in Mold. After a week long rehearsal at the Buckley Resource Centre ,Flint , twenty one young visually impaired young people and their friends created and performed a show at Theatre Clwyd in Mold. The show was so popular that a second performance had to be organised at the last minute so everyone could get a ticket! The performances were part of the DEW project.
• July 14th: The UCAN team spent the day at Corpus Christi School Cardiff having fun with the visually impaired students and their friends.

June

• June 11th: As part of the Big Lottery funded RNIB Cymru partnership project DEW , the UCAN team visited North Wales for 10 days and devised a performance with local visually impaired young people. The project finished with a live performance at Theatre Gwynedd in Bangor. A great time was had by all and the UCAN team were invited back to do another project in early 2009. If you, or anyone you know, would like to attend this project please get in touch via the website.
• June 24th: UCAN members performed at the National Assembly Senedd as part of the Arts and Business season Arts @ the Senedd. The performance, led by our Junior Chairman Lloyd Colman, was very well received. Jo Jo and the rest of the team got a standing ovation for their performance of ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’. The UCAN Members met some of the Assembly Ministers and then had a slap up buffet!! Thanks to Arts and Business and Barclays Bank.

May

• 8th May: Dew performance in the Pontypridd Muni Arts Centre. Twenty visually impaired young people ranging in age from 8 to 22 years old.

April

• April 11th: UCAN Productions first to perform in the Torch Theatre’s brand new Studio Theatre. Sixteen visually impaired young people from 6 schools across the Pembroke area.
  
• Care Council of Wales commissions UCAN Production to devise a performances for the National Eisteddfod

March

• 1st March: UCAN Productions held AGM supported by the Park Plaza Hotel and King Sturge
• 4th March: Beat Box and Body Percussion workshops at the Gwent Visual Impairment Service
• UCAN Network workshops in Cardiff and Neath Port Talbot
• 16th March: As part of the Wales Millennium Centre Urban Festival ‘Breakin in the Bay’, UCAN members created a CD - ‘Radio UCAN’. The project was funded by Red Dragon Radio’s charity ‘Help A South Wales Child’ and Legal and General
  

February

• UCAN Network workshops Cardiff and Neath Port Talbot
• Two day workshops at SNAC Port Talbot. Special Needs Activity Centre
• Activity Day Gwent Visual Impairment Service
• Red Dragon Radio invite UCAN members to the studios to meet the DJ’s and learn about how to make a radio programme
• Drama workshops at Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School Visual Impairment unit.

January

• 19th January DEW performance at the Coliseum Theatre Cwmbran

2007

December

• UCAN Network workshops in Cardiff Funded by Arts Council of Wales
• 27th December UCAN Christmas Party at the Hilton Hotel – supported and sponsored by Legal and General, Barclays Bank and Hilton Hotel.

November

• November 20th DEW Performance at Swansea Grand Theatre
  
• UCAN Network workshops in Gwent Funded by Arts Council of Wales

October

• On 5th of October at the Sherman Theatre UCAN presented a show called UCAN Care for The Care Council of Wales. The production was a great success and was attended by family, friends and professionals. The young people hope that some of their ideas will now be used throughout the UK.
• Lloyd Colman, Chair of UCAN Productions young people’s steering committee, is chosen to travel to UGANDA to play for the Heads of the Commonwealth Government at the Kampala Conference Concert
• UCAN team spend October half term at the Urdd Centre, Llangranog to provide arts based workshops for the RNIB Cymru Residential Activities week.

September

• The Care Council of Wales commissioned a series of workshops and a performance as part of their research into Sensory Impairment National Occupational Standards.
• Racheal, Eleanor and Jo Jo performed at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff for the Hilton Foundation Ball. All got a standing ovation from the audience and people who attended the Ball are still talking about it!
  
• UCAN created a performance for the Trustees of The RNIB at the Holland House Hotel.

August

• 28th – 31st August, DEW Project
• The best week of my life

July

• SEN Drama Festival
• More glitz and glamour for UCAN!
• UCAN Youth Theatre ran four weeks of workshops and rehearsals in preparation of the arrival of the Milton Margai School for the Blind Choir from Sierra Leone, West Africa.

June

• DEW Project
• UCAN Productions workshops

May

• DEW Project
  
• Half term workshops and a ‘showback’ performance at the Little Theatre Aberdare funded by The Arts Council of Wales
• June Drama festival at Whitchurch High School 4th -7th June

April

• UCAN Network project funded by Arts Council of Wales delivered workshops at the Sherman Theatre.
  

March

• UCAN Productions project funded by WCVA came to an end with a fantastic performance at the Coliseum Theatre, Aberdare.
• UCAN Productions was awarded funding by Cardiff Children’s and Young People’s partnership to create an educational DVD called ‘There’s More To Me Than Meets the Eye’. The DVD was distributed to every high school in Cardiff and offered an insight into the lives of visually impaired young people.The DVD is now used by RNIB Cymru in training sessions.
• UCAN Trainers delivered workshops at the RNIB Cymru Family Day
• After 12 weeks of workshops UCAN members performed at the Coliseum Theatre Aberdare. The project was funded by the WCVA Social Risk Fund

February

• Mared and Alys meet the Welsh Assembly Education Minister.
• How much difference a Printer makes to UCAN Productions.
• Half term workshops held at The Little Theatre Aberdare. Funded by Arts Council Wales.
• Founder members Jane and Bernie Latham win a Level 2 Award from Unltd (http://www.unltd.org.uk/) for their work in establishing UCAN Productions.

January

• UCAN Productions and the youth organisation Acting Out Cardiff joined together to produce a show called ‘INSIGHT OUT’. Staged at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, the project was the first in the series of 13 drama projects called DEW (Developing Emotional Wellbeing through the Arts). DEW projects are funded by the National Lottery and are a partnership project with RNIB Cymru.
  

2006

November

• UCAN Trainers team up with RNIB Cymru

October

• UCAN Productions has it's own awards ceremony at the Hilton Hotel Cardiff. Everyone had a fantastic time!!!

Augusts

• 14 year old Lloyd Colman Chair of UCAN Productions Young People's Steering Committee wins ITV 1 Wales Young Musician of the Year, receives grade 8 distinctions in both piano and clarinet and secures a place at one of the UK's best music schools Cheethams in Manchester. Lloyd suffers from both sight and hearing disabilities.
• Four day Summer School Summer School in Little Theatre Aberdare culminating in a 'show back' performance hi-lighting the weeks activities. London film crew attend to film extracts for the National Lottery.
• Five day Summer School in Llanover Hall, Cardiff culminating a 'show back' performance which included devises drama, solo singing, beat box and body percussion.

July

• Claire Milton, Children's Officer RNIB Cymru and UCAN Artistic Director develop and delivers workshop for teachers 'Bring literature alive for children with complex needs'.
• Help a South Wales Charity awards funds to UCAN Production for percussion instruments.
• RNIB Cymru and UCAN Productions provide Visual Awareness Training for arts trainers in Llanover Hall Arts Centre, Canton, Cardiff.
• Secured sponsorship in kind from Core Multimedia for the construction of the UCAN web site.

More

• A one week drama workshop at Maes Dyfan Special School Barry for young people with complex needs.
• ACW Project UCAN Perform short listed from 450 projects in Wales for the National Lottery Awards 2006.
• RNIB Cymru and UCAN Productions secure funding from the National Lottery 'Reaching out' fund for the DEW project ( Developing Emotional Wellbeing through the Arts) to train Arts Practitioners in 13 theatres throughout Wales over three years.
• UCAN Productions invited to speak at the Labour Party Conference on the economic effect of social enterprise.
• Secured funding from the WCVA Social Risk Fund to establish a 'buddy bank' project in Torfaen in which able bodied young people learnt about all aspects of visual impairment and worked with the visually impaired young people in their area to produce a live performance on June 18th at the Congress Theatre, Cwmbran.
• Developed a partnership with Torfaen Borough Council's Social Inclusion Department.
• Artistic Director and Development Manager travelled to Alicante to the ONCE drama festival for visually impaired young people and met with 12 of the 26 drama groups currently operating in Spain.
• BBC volunteers produced a high quality DVD for all participants of the launch performance at The Gate.
• March – Launched UCAN Productions at The Gate Arts Centre on March 10th 2006. S4C Children's News Round Programme featured the young people's performance.
• February – UCAN Productions secured private sector sponsorship from Legal and General to cover the cost of the company launch.
• Secured funding from the Millennium Stadium Charitable trust to work with six professional Theatres throughout Wales and train local arts practitioners in 'best practice'.
• February – UCAN Chairman devised and performed a one man show 'To Be Brunt' at The Gate Arts Centre. All proceeds were put towards UCAN Productions core costs.
• January – Artistic Director and Development Director travel to Madrid with the support of Wales Arts International to discuss the possibilities of a partnership project with ONCE, the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind.

2005

• November 2005 Secured funding from Arts Council of Wales to work with 65 schools throughout South East Wales for the 'UCAN Perform Project'
• October 2005 Entered into a formal partnership agreement with RNIB Cymru.
• October 2005 RNIB Cymru residential Activities Week at Llangranog, West Wales attended by 12 visually impaired young people who devised a performance.
• August 16th 2005 UCAN Productions incorporated.
• July 2006 Drama workshops and storytelling at the Royal London Society for the Blind residential school Dorton House in Sevenoaks Kent.

2004

• Pilot RNIB Cymru drama workshops attended by visually impaired young people from 6 schools in the South East area of Wales which culminated in a live performance for family and friends at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff.

2003

• Bernard and Jane Latham travel to Sierra Leone to work with the Milton Margai School for The Blind choir, return to UK with 35 choir members and successfully complete a 16 venue tour 'Songs of Salone' which culminated in a performance at Westminster Abbey with an audience of over 2000.

News and events

Top of page

UCAN Productions c/o RNIB Cymru, Trident Court, East Moors Road Cardiff CF24 5TD

Contact us for further information