Thank You for Supporting Our Youth Programme in 2025

In 2025, our Youth Programme continued with a clear purpose: to widen access to creativity and make space for young people who need it most. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, funders and community partners, 330 young people were able to engage with art, often at moments in their lives when that access mattered deeply.

For many, this was their first experience of an art studio. For others, it was a place to pause, feel safe, and reconnect with confidence, imagination and self-worth.

Reaching Young People Who Face Barriers

Our projects supported children, teenagers and emerging artists experiencing a wide range of challenges – including poverty, trauma, exclusion from school, poor mental or physical health, and limited access to cultural opportunities.

Through free and subsidised places, bursaries and scholarships, we were able to ensure that cost was never a barrier to participation. Young people were welcomed into supportive studio environments, taught by experienced artists, and given access to the same high-quality materials used in our adult programmes.

Highlights from 2025

Supporting Inclusion and Wellbeing

Nine Maidens Culture Camp worked with teenagers who have been excluded from school and are living in poverty. For many, this project marked their first encounter with the visual arts, helping to build self-worth, motivation and a sense of cultural entitlement.

Create Room, delivered at Pool Academy, offered an art and mindfulness project for young people needing time out during the school day. Originally piloted in response to tragedy within the school community, it continued in 2025 to support selected students who were struggling.

Our Art and Music Workshops for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, delivered in partnership with CLEAR, provided a creative outlet for young people referred for additional emotional support.

The ‘My Place’ project, delivered with the Community and Hospital Education Service, supported young people with complex medical needs who are unable to attend mainstream school, helping them engage with creativity and their Art GCSE in meaningful ways. This project continues into 2026.

Open Access and Community Programmes

Kids Art Club and Porthmeor Art Collective offered regular, high-quality creative spaces for local children and teenagers, with scholarship places ensuring access for families on low income.

Our new Locals Summer programme responded directly to community demand, offering subsidised holiday workshops and free places for children who would otherwise miss out.

Summer Workshops for Visitors helped open our doors during the school holidays, combining access with income generation to support our wider programme.

We also delivered subsidised workshops for Cornish schools, absorbing costs to ensure schools could continue to bring students into the studio.

Supporting Emerging Artists

In 2025, we awarded Emerging Artist Bursaries to artists aged 19-35 living in Cornwall, enabling them to access our adult courses at a significantly reduced rate. This strand of work was made possible through the Roy Ray Legacy Fund, alongside match funding from the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust and Little Parc Owles Trust, extending Roy Ray’s passion for supporting emerging artists.

Creativity with Purpose

Across all our programmes, young people gained more than technical skills. Many achieved Bronze Arts Awards, others discovered a renewed sense of confidence, and all were given space to express themselves, connect with peers and feel valued.

Projects like the Salvation Army Christmas Window collaboration brought creativity into community settings, supporting young people living in poverty while contributing to shared moments of pride and celebration.

Thank You to Our Funders

This work would not be possible without the belief and generosity of our supporters:

• Taylor Money
• Roy Ray Legacy Fund
• Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust
• Little Parc Owles Trust
• St Ives Rotary
• Generous students from St Ives School of Painting who choose to pay it forward
• Our delivery partners, schools and community organisations

And to everyone who supports our work – thank you for standing alongside young people and helping us create spaces where creativity, confidence and connection can flourish.

How You Can Continue to Support Us

There are so many ways that you can help us to continue this vital work, a donation as little as £5 can help us to run our subsidised art clubs – maybe you know a like-minded organisation which could support us on our mission?

Find out all of the information via the link below.