L E T T E R S O F S U P P O R T

Also thanks to those who have written letters of support. If you feel strongly that there is a need to support artists in Edinburgh please feel free to write a letter of support; If you send/email letters expressing the need for the work we are doing, it will help us in our funding negotiations. If you send a letter to ‘whom it may concern’ addressed to Rob Hoon at ootb, we will forward them on. This only really works if everyone does it so please get writing and return to me as soon as possible.

Respond to

Re: Grant from New Opportunities Fund

"It is very encouraging to see an arts organisation like Out of the Blue secure a grant from the New Opportunities Fund. The Edinburgh Arts & Social Inclusion Forum has long been calling for a sustainable funding stream for the city, made up of matched arts and non-arts money, to be used in stabilising and supporting cultural organisations with the capacity to deliver on the cities shared social justice objectives. This major award can now demonstrate how arts and social justice funds can be combined to find creative and sustainable solutions to overcoming social exclusion within Edinburgh ."

Kate Wimpress- Edinburgh Arts for Social Inclusion Project Coordinator (2004)

" The award to Out of the Blue from the New Opportunities Fund is great news for this local Community which has had little or no access to the Arts. The development of an Arts centre as a community resource will to be an invaluable asset to the life of this community..We have already identified a chronic lack of community provisions or spaces in such a densely populated area as ours and welcome the provision of a much needed new space for arts related work"

Anne Munro-Pilmeny Development Project Coordinator (2004)

"From its inception, Out of the Blue have kept us informed of their exciting plans and projects for the Old Drill Hall.  We are delighted about the award and now look forward to seeing the plans come to fruition.  This will be of great benefit for the local area and people."

Roland L Reid- Secretary, Lorne Community Council (2004)

GENERAL

"This centre will make such a difference to the area as it aims to fulfil vital cultural needs for the city. It's a fantastic project to be involved with"

Moray Royles (City Architecture Office Ltd) (2004)

"Out of the Blue provides a unique and inclusive cultural programme for artists and residents in the city'"

Jim Tough SAC Director (2002)

"Officers from the trust sit on the Management Committee of the Edinburgh Arts & Social Inclusion Forum, facilitated by the Capital City Partnership, and have been tireless in their support for the development of a strategic and planned infrastructure to deliver the cultural contribution to urban regeneration and community development for the city.

With the development of the Drill Hall, Out of the Blue have the opportunity to provide a unique resource that will provide much needed arts and design workshop space for practicing artists and an accessible arts venue and resource for the surrounding community and community organisations. The Drill Hall also, and perhaps more importantly, offers the ideal venue for a creative industries hub, linked to micro-enterprise programmes being considered by both the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise, and a unique city resource within which artists working in the social inclusion sector can mix and work, formally and informally."

Kate Wimpress, Arts & Social Inclusion Project Co-ordinator, with the Capital City Partnership

"It will be the mix of skills, experience and activity that can make the Drill Hall an exciting and essential part of the cities creative economy. "

Capital City Partnership (to Communities Scotland )

"The proposed studio complex at Dalmeny Street will provide me with a spacious, secure and well-lit working area in a situation where I will be in constant contact with other artists. From my point of view this opportunity to collaborate and discuss work with those engaged in the field is invaluable.

It is becoming almost impossible to find suitable accommodation in the city centre and if this project does not go ahead I will almost certainly move to Glasgow which offers a more supportive environment for artists. I also feel strongly that as Edinburgh concentrates its resources on attracting tourists the centre is becoming an increasingly unfriendly place for residents. A development of this kind would do much to restore a certain vitality to the centre of the city."

Chad McCail- Out of the Blue based artist