Protect arts against cuts

Ailbe is urging supporters of all art forms, not just dance, to log on to the 'I Value the Arts' petition site at http://www.ivaluethearts.org.uk/ or log on to the 'National Campaign for the Arts' at http://ncfa.ie/ and make their vote count - not least because additional funding is needed in the countdown towards the City of Culture.

"There are two campaigns running at the moment, and what we are trying to do at Echo Echo is raise awareness of the campaigns and get people to register their support for both, because the work that we do in the Arts is being jeopardised by potential cuts to the Arts budget.

Essential

"We have around 250 people a week coming through our studio during term time, which takes in children's clubs, adult classes and professional development, as well as Yoga classes and the other movement classes, and the funding we receive is essential to cover the core costs of running those classes. The money cannot be recouped fully by asking clients to pay - if that was the case the services we provide would be unattainable," said Ailbe.

He said the funding EchoEcho received from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and was based on public benefits people got by being involved in the activity, adding that many of the facilitators and providers that ran classes were not fully compensated for the work and hours they put in as it was.

"It is important to note that a lot of our artists work on freelance contracts and don't get paid for a lot of the work they do. While they get a mileage allowance, for example, they do not get travel time," he said.

He said the possible cuts to the arts budget ran totally against the ethos of the City of Culture: "For arts activity and cultural activity to happen then it must have investment. The arts is not a commercial activity and with the City of Culture coming up the idea is for organisatinos to grow programmes and develop the arts coming up to that. What we are seeing is that organisations are potentially going to be cut coming up to the City of Culture. That will effect the level of activities the arts can deliverright at a time when the international spotlight will be shining on this City."

Appealing for people to go online and sign the epetitions, Ailbe added: "We want to highlight the dangers we are facing becaues I believe is an integral component of the education, health and wellbeing of communities. In fact, the arts is the spider in the web and it does not makes sense to reduce funding in any way."