The Blog for Penryn (UK) -based Kernow Youth Society for the Performing Arts. Our society is open to young people aged 9 upwards from the Falmouth and Penryn area. Our aim is to allow members to explore their interest in the performing arts through drama and film activities. KYSPA has a strong citizenship theme with activities aiming to promote self confidence, teamwork and communication skills.

Tuesday 18 December 2007

Tuesday 18th December

FULL PANTO RUN THROUGH tonight!

PLEASE bring scripts and I need a FULL CAST turnout please!

We will run through the entire play, start to finish as if for a performance. I'll need your patiencce and cooperation AND your concentration!

See you there, 6.30pm. Rich.

Sunday 16 December 2007

Snow White Rehearsals

With the KYSPA camera now back in action, here's a few rehearsal pics!




Jenny Wen, Prince Peasemold & Scott Watt perform "The Establishment Song"



Snow accepts an apple from Queenie; silly girl!






PP would like a kiss but, on the whole, Snow would rather not!


Who is the fairest of them all? Mirror's answer has Queenie fuming, but Mirror has had enough of Queenie. It's going to end in tears!

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Tuesday 11th December

6.30 - 7.30 7 Children, Cind, Snow, PP Watt & Wen

7.30pm - 8.30pm Dyllan, Snow, Mirror, PP

Tuesday 4 December 2007

Tuesday 4th December

6.30 - 7.30 7 children & Snow White & Cinderella please! (and Sam) Scenes 8, 11, 12, 13

7.30 - 8.30 FULL CAST for scenes 12 & 13.

PLEASE cooperate tonight. Scenes 12 & 13 are going to be the hardest to get right. You're going to have to be patient and stay focussed. Cheers.

Also, could you check with parents if you are available any Sunday Afternoons please? Time is running away with us & we need to step up the rehearsal rate now.

Wednesday 28 November 2007

New Blog Feature!

Just to keep you lot entertained and informed, I have added a "useful links" feature to our Blog. You will find it at the foot of the page just above the pic of us all on the Lindridge visit.

Film Street is mainly for 6 - 9 year olds - ideal if you have younger brothers or sisters interested in film making. It's just possible that some of you who are a bit older might enjoy it too.

Chew TV is a sort of youtube for Cornish young people. I hope to submit a few of our films quite soon.

Talented Young People is an amazing website that aims to help you achieve whatever career you are interested in. It's never to soon to start getting experience. This website offers career tips on just about everything and a HUGE contact database for organisations. Really Useful Website, that!

Tuesday 27 November 2007

Tuesday 27th November

This evening we will need ONLY the principles, the Princesses, Cruella and Long John. That is, Snow, Mirror, Dyllan, PP, Watt, Wen, Queenie, Ariel, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Craven & Ghoul.

We will be working on "There's Always Me" and "The Establishment Song" including experimenting with the use of backing singers to support the soloists.

The Children need not attend this evening - we will hold a rehearsal for just the 7 children for the first hour next week.

Why does KYSPA charge a membership fee?

As a charitable organisation, KYSPA is committed to being affordable for its members. Our weekly fee is quite low and we charge a reduced rate for additional members from the same family.

However, there are certain annual costs that make it necessary for us to charge an annual membership fee.

The first of these is insurance.
  • We have to insure ourselves against accidents occurring to our members whilst they are in our care.
  • We insure against our members causing damage or injury to other people or property
  • We insure our leaders against injury and litigation
  • We have a basic level of injury insurance for both leaders and members

The next set of expenses relate to training. Any organisation has to take "reasonable care" as far as risk assessment is concerned to protect its staff and members. This includes maintaining a certain level of skills for our leaders such as:

  • First Aid (a legal requirement)
  • Minibus Driver Training (for trips and residential visits)
  • Child Protection
  • Health and safety

Finally, we have running costs to cover such as:

  • CRB Checks for our leaders
  • Consumables such as paper, printer cartiridges, pens, costumes etc.
  • YHA Membership for residentials

Beyond these expenses we also try to build a slight pool of money to subsidise the cost of trips and activities, again to keep KYSPA as affordable as possible. Although the "minibus incident" was a blow to our finances, we had built a reserve to cover the cost. (In future, by the by, minibus will be hired WITHOUT an insurance excess!)

In the coming year we will be looking to develop our main website and this, too, will require money.

Overall, KYSPA does offer a great deal for the lowest possible annual fee. As stated on the membership information sheet, if we can generate more money through successful stage productions and events, we may in future be able to reduce the membership fee to a nominal ammount. However, the Trustees do feel that a degree of financial support and commitment by our members is not unreasonable, given the ammount of free time that is generously given by all involved to keep ther Society going.

Kyspa's "year" for which the membership fee covers our members runs in sync with our insurance premium falling due, rather than the financial or calendar year. Therefore fees paid this month will cover members until November 2008.

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Tuesday 20th November

Split rehearsals tonight please! Dress warmly!

6.30pm - 8.30pm Queenie, Snow, Mirror, Dyllan, Watt, Wen, Peasemold (Sam & Estelle too please)

7.30pm - 8.30pm OMF, 7 Children, Cinderella & Princesses

Any new people will have to read in/take standby parts and help manage props etc.

Hopefully I'll have got photocopies of the script by tonight. Queenie now has two henchpeople of her own (Sam & Estelle) called Craven & Ghoul! They're VERY nasty, evil witch type characters who put nasty ideas into Queenie's head!

I have beefed up the Princesses parts a bit too. See you all tonight

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Successful Auditions

Thank you to everyone who auditioned successfully last night. I will do some script editing this week to increase the size of some of your parts in line with the very high standard of acting displayed by everyone.

From here on in, KYSPA sessions will be split into two rehearsal segments of an hour each. We will rehearse scenes in chunks (eg. 7 children scenes, Snow & Dyllan Scenes, Mirror and Queenie etc.)

I need to stress again that just because you are not actually on stage at a given point during the session does not mean that you can misbehave. If not acting you need to be quietly reading through lines or, better still, watching your fellow performers and offering feedback.

KYSPA is about aquiring skills and confidence. A key aspect of this is learning to sit back and watch other performers. See from the audience's perspective what works and what does not. It's not just about acting; you have the opportunity to develop your directing and feedback skills. These in turn help you improve your own performance.

Sitting and watching others is not boring and it is not a waste of time. For one thing, there is always something to learn from watching other people act. everyone's style is different, each character interpretation offers something new.

Secondly, you can contribute to making this show as professional as possible. Panto may be fun, but good comedy is the most demanding type of drama, requiring good timing and intuitive interaction between characters. If you can perform good comedy, you can perform just about anything. This can only be achieved if we work together and pick up on good things (to keep in our performances) and identify things to put right.

I need everyone to pull together now. We have a strong cast. Don't let yourselves down by missing a great opportunity! I want my group back on track, with a clear focus on establishing ourselves as credible performers.

PS. PLEASE do not meddle with the Imac's settings! Our incredibly expensive PC is not a toy, but an editing tool. Respect it or you'll be staying home on Tuesday nights.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Tuesday 6th November

KYSPA as usual this evening... except it's not as usual! We advertised for Snow White auditions so I'm expecting a few new faces tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to put the core cast together and start learning (or re-learning) lines.

I expect better behaviour from some of you this week please. Think about other people's feelings and respect them. Also, KYSPA is NOT the place for charging around & mucking about. Sorry, but you need a different youth group for that. We're moving towards establishing a good reputation for producing serious drama and films.... and children's entertainment.... and pantomime.

The point is, we need to get these shows done. If some of you remember your panto lines from last year I see no reason why we can't move towards performance immediately after Christmas.

See you all there. Rich.

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Tuesday 29th October

NO KYSPA tonight (in case you forgot) due to the school holidays. Adverts have been placed in the local press for Snow White auditions to be held over the first two weeks of the next half term.

We need to get stuck right in with serious rehearsals straight away. Christmas is-a-coming!

Tuesday 23 October 2007

Tuesday 23rd October

Session as usual this week. Unfortunately the YoMo residential had to be cancelled. We'll visit the next conference they hold instead!

Please bring Motormalgamation scripts this evening. Rich.

Monday 15 October 2007

Tuesday 16th October

Meeting as usual this week. Further work on CRASAC DVD, also plan for presentation for YoMo event IF this is able to go ahead. A decision on this will have to be made tomorrow.

Also, more fun and games, hopefully, as well as improvisation activities!

See you there!

Friday 5 October 2007

Resumption of Meetings Tues 9th Oct

Hi all, thanks for your patience! KYSPA will be back in business this tuesday. we have the DvD from CRASAC and we will need to work on some ideas and scripts, either adapting the existing material or adding scenarios you think should be included. we will then be visited again next week to share our ideas with CRASAC.

As well as being quite poorly, this has been a difficult time for me. I hope, however, to get back into the swing of things now as there is a great deal for us to do! See you 'orrible lot on Tues!

Thursday 27 September 2007

New Facilities

I spoke to Vincent yesterday and he's told me about plans to create a stage in the youth space. This will be used by bands who perform in there and... you guessed, right? US!

We'll have a proper stage area on which to perform, to astound audiences with your dance moves, your wit and your drama skills!

PS. Anyone want a grey male dwarf rabbit? I've one that needs a home!

Tuesday 25 September 2007

Tuesday 25th September

NO KYSPA AGAIN!!

Sorry, still lurgy smitten and Stef's away for two weeks. KYSPA will resume on Tuesday 9th October.

KEEP SAFE

In light of the reports of incidents in Plymouth involving young people, Please keep yourself safe when you're out and about! Make sure you have your mobile etc, that your parents know where you are, and when you'll be back and NEVER get in a car with someone you don't know OR someone you do know but who you have not arranged to meet.

You lot drive me nuts, but do look after yourself!

Tuesday 18 September 2007

NO KYSPA TONIGHT! (Sorry)

Sorry folks, but I've been struck down by lurgy! We'll have to give it a miss tonight. normal service will be resumed next week!

Sunday 16 September 2007

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This has not been posted for a while, so I thought it should go on again to keep everyone informed! We're hoping to have some new members soon.

WEEKLY PRICE: This is currently £1 for the first child in a family and 50p for each subsequent child from that family.

Sessions run WEEKLY during TERM TIME at the Youth Space at Penryn Rugby Club between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on TUESDAY EVENINGS.

KYSPA is open to all aged between 9yrs and 18 yrs old. If we have space, we will accept members aged 8 yrs old.

Successful meeting!

The meeting between CRASAC and KYSPA's members and parents was very positive. For those of you who weren't there, this is a main summary of the points discussed and the decisions taken.

1. The content of the educational video will focus on the issue of grooming and keeping safe. Many shots will not reveal the identity of the actors at all, but all footage will be sensitively handled and there is no content which will be uncomfortable for our young people to act.

2. The script will be developed in partnership with the actors. Parents will have the opportunity to look at the script before shooting and raise any concerns.

3. Parents are welcome to attend shoots if they wish.

4. Parents will preview the finished film before general release. The views and wishes of parents and actors are paramount and permission can be withdrawn even at a late stage if either are uncomfortable with the films content. However, we hope that through discussion and involvement throughout the project this will be avoided.

5. Parents and actors need to be aware, though, that this film will be a high profile, national resource. images will be distributed around the UK to schools and youth organisations.

6. Given the subject matter, it was agreed that KYSPA's name will not appear in the credits - to avoid any chance of actors being widely recognised in terms of where they live.

7. The DVD is being produced in a format which means it cannot be copied. This ensures that copies will go to authorised organisations only.

8. There was support for this project, subject to these safeguards, from parents and our members.

CRASAC are happy to discuss this project and any concerns at any time. They can be contacted on: help@crasac.co.uk or on : Kim Lyall Cornwall Rape And Sexual Abuse Centre 01872 262100

Monday 10 September 2007

Tues 11th Sept

MEETING FOR PARENTS
Tuesday 11th September 6.30pm

As you will be aware, KYSPA obtained a significant grant from the Cornwall Community Foundation this year. Another organisation which benefited from this charity was the Cornwall Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. They received money to make an educational DVD for use in schools and education projects around the county on issues relating to young people, sexual abuse and rape.

This DVD will be produced by a professional media company who have won a tendering process to be awarded the contract. The DVD WILL NOT feature any kind of graphic scenes of abuse taking place. However, it will be fairly hard-hitting and aims to make young people aware of situations in which they may find themselves at increased risk – and thereby avoid those situations.

KYSPA’s members have the option of taking small acting parts in this DVD along with older actors from another Falmouth theatre company (Tir Na, I think).

Obviously, this is a very sensitive subject matter and so two members of CRASAC will be coming to our evening session on Tuesday 11th September to discuss the project, meet our young actors and their parents. They will outline the scenarios that actors are needed for and can answer any questions from parents our members and KYSPA’s own Trustees who will no doubt want to learn more about this project.

This project may not be suitable for all our members. Parents may feel uncomfortable with it, and this is also quite understandable. Our members themselves have expressed a desire to tackle important issues, and this is about as important as it gets. I do foresee some key advantages to our participation.

Our members will, themselves, gain a great deal of knowledge about how to keep themselves safe from partaking in this project.

Actors will be working in a semi-professional capacity with professional film makers.

Participating in this project may make a real difference to a key aspect of youth education in Cornwall.

I would urge parents to keep an open mind and to attend the Tuesday 11th meeting where we will all learn more about what is involved. CRASAC is a professional organisation working with vulnerable people. This project will be handled in an appropriate and sensitive way. KYSPA’s leaders will attend shoots with our actors, if the project goes ahead, for supervision.

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Plans for a show move ahead

Since we were unable to perform The Motormalgamation at the Penryn Town Fair, we have decided to incorporate it into a show for young families. In addition to The Motormalgamation, we will perform a version of The Lay of Thrym and a couple of other short drama and dance pieces.

We've started on the props for Motormalgamation and it seems that we can add painting to the artistic talents of our members!


For The Lay of Thrym, Thor's magic hammer needed creating & Sam volunteered for the job!

We're beyond just prop making though! The three MM narrators and "Carl" read through the script together in a first rehearsal.


This week, the first cast members for The Lay of Thrym read through an initial draft of the script. This will be reworked (the original dates from 1991 when I was still studying "A" Levels) and lengthened for next week.




From the left, "Loki", "Thor" and "Freja" with "Thrym" and his servant.

Unfortunately for Thrym, Freja is not the least bit interested in marriage!


Success for KYSPA at BBC Auditions!

KYSPA was approached by BBC Scotland to find some 5 & 6 year olds to audition for the popular Cbeebies show "Nina and the Neurons". Obviously, KYSPA's normal membership is a bit older than that, so some quick phone calls were required to locate some younger actors!

In the event, five youngsters auditioned and two from Falmouth were successful. The programme on waves was filmed earlier this week. This is not the first occasion that KYSPA has been asked to find young actors for extra parts in films and we will be looking at how we can develop this service over the next year.

The opportunity to get involved in working on professional products is really exciting and we hope there will be more such opportunities for our members soon.

Tuesday 4 September 2007

Tuesday 4th September

Meeting as usual this evening.

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Tuesday 28th August

Hi, KYSPA is ON tonight, more painting of cars etc, so please wear clothes that wash easily! Our paints don't stain if washed fairly quickly.

The Motormalgamation by itself isn't long enough to warrent an evening performance. We will therefore add a few more short performances over the next few weeks with a view to putting on a "family" show. We need to stage a performance ahead of Snow White that will actually generate revenue. We need the money, folks!

Sunday 19 August 2007

Update from our friends at YoMo

If you log onto http://www.yomo.co.uk/ and go into the latest news section you will see a couple of items of interest! Firstly, the National Event in October is one we have been invited to. KYSPA will be running a 35 min presentation/workshop about our own experiences setting ourselves up and what we have done since our training.

We can only take about 4 members to this event which is on the 25th - 26th October. If you would like to attend and raise KYSPA's profile NATIONALLY, then please find out from your parents if you are free on those dates.

The ONLY expense will be transport and possibly a couple of meals. accommodation and admission will be free as we're "exhibitors". If you are interested, I need to know SOON.

Picking just four members is going to be tough. I don't want it to be random (names out of a hat) and I don't want to choose myself - because it looks like I'm "playing favourites".

SO, if you want to go, I will give you a questionnaire to fill in with some of the topics you will need to talk about. These will be filled in anonymously using your "numbers" from the Making Waves folders (A1, B5 etc.) The Board of Trustees will then pick the four best candidates based on these forms, making it perfectly fair.

If I had my way, I'd be taking all of you - you'd all do us proud, but since we have to choose, this seems the fairest way. ALL of these forms will go into your Making Waves folder and will count as evidence towards your certificates so even if you don't go, the form will still be helpful.

Secondly, if you select photos on the YoMo latest news page and click on the "Devon April" section, you'll see... yourselves! All the KYSPA photos from our Lindridge trip are on display in that folder. Enjoy!

Friday 17 August 2007

Tuesday 21st August

KYSPA is BACK! (yay). We're looking at a street performance for Saturday 25th - quite a simple one - so we'll start rehearsals and painting props etc on Tues. We'll have a few more afternoon/eve rehearsals ahead of Saturday.

Hopefully, I'll also have a script for The Adoption Papers soon so we can start working on that.

THEN we really must sort out our films for when Firstborn Creatives come to visit!

See you all on Tues, Rich

Tuesday 7 August 2007

NO KYSPA Tonight! 7th August

Normal service WILL be resumed shortly! Hang on in there!

Sunday 5 August 2007

KYSPAs Extended Schools Workshops

DAY TWO

The second day of the summer film making workshop saw four groups move on to make a longer piece of film. The subject matter varied again, but a certain ammount of death & murder will no doubt be involved! (I let the groups choose what they film - nothing to do with me!).

Although Hannah was ill, and sadly unable to join us (hope you're feeling better now) Flo & Ruby both continued to help their respective groups with filming and advice - as well as lending their acting skills to support the plot!

Overall, this was a successful workshop which has left me with HOURS of editing to do (fun,fun,fun!) but once it's done we will be arranging to show the entire collection at a mini premiere where DVDs will be available.

The photos collected over the course of the two days will hopefully be enough evidence to secure at least two Youth Activity Leaders Awards for my hard-working helpers! Thanks to all of you for your hard work.


.


Filming in progress making use of the great weather we had to film outdoors.




Ruby setts up the camera for an internal shot of a mystical spy base occupied by a strange long-haired cooking guru!


We also managed to get some editing done on our new Imac!

Wednesday 1 August 2007

KYSPA's Extended Schools Workshop

DAY ONE

KYSPA is delivering a film making course as part of this year's Extended Schools summer activities programme. This has provided some of our members with the opportunity to gain some experience towards their YoMo certificates by running some of the games and supporting the workshop participants with their film making activities.

As you can see, having been put through some tough team building exercises by YoMo, KYSPA's members are only too happy to see how other groups cope with the same challenges!




We played some games too, mainly to help learn everyone's name (which I'm still working on)


We've had rather a lot of people enroll on this course and although we've only two cameras, four groups worked on seperate films over the course of the day. In the picture below, a case of mistaken identity leads to a large crowd of Nelly Furtado fans gathering in the hope of an autograph - requiring a quick exit by the person mistaken for this populat artist!
As ever, stories of spying and bloodthirsty deeds seemed popular with our young film-makers this year. The films made today were short films of about 2 minutes or less. These provide an opportunity to learn the process of film making - and some of the problems that go with it - before tackling a larger project on Day 2.

Saturday 28 July 2007

The Motormalgamation

Our performance for the Penryn Town Fair on the 25th August will be Michael Bond's The Motormalgamation. We will be working on this performance at KYSPA over the next few weeks.

If you want to be involved in this project YOU MUST be available for afternoon rehearsals 20th - 24th AND on the 25th August. If you cannot commit to this timetable, please do not get involved - Iwould like this performance to go smoothly without worrying about attendance.

This performance is open to non-members, friends etc aged 7 upwards.

Tuesday 24 July 2007

Tuesday 24th July

Quick reminder! NO KYSPA tonight!

Sunday 22 July 2007

Film Premiere Pictures


As promised, here is a selection of pictures from the KYSPA Film Premiere. As you can see, everyone had a fantastic time in the Limo!








In addition to the films, there were a couple of excellent performances including "Jump" by Girls Aloud.
.

Thursday 19 July 2007

Making Waves at the Premiere

Well done everyone for Tuesday night! What a great celebration of our First Birthday! For those who missed it, the KYSPA First Birthday Bash comprised of a Limousine ride (pics to be posted shortly), a party and then a showing of some of our films. Mixed in with the films were performances by Tia and Katie, a dance piece and a solo performance of "On my own" by Jodie. Oh, and I put in an appearance too but we won't dwell on that!

The highlight & finale of the evening was the showing of the YoMo DVD from our residential at Lindridge House. This was a genuine premiere as no-one (not even me) had seen it before. I think we're all pretty pleased with the film - thanks to steve et al for all their hard work!

The YoMo DVD contained a good selection of pics, a few of which I have included below.


Action Plan in progress!



Strange goings on!
The infamous "KYSPA" shot!



Saturday 14 July 2007

First Birthday Party

Film Premiere – the final arrangements!

Due to availability issues we MUST undertake dress/tech rehearsals on Tuesday (better late than never). Therefore, please come to the Youth Space at 4.30pm on Tues.

Please bring a contribution of party food or drink.

We will rehearse the dances, practice the intro speeches and check the equipment is working.

The upstairs room will be available for changing & getting “made up” for the party/Limo ride between 6pm and 7pm

We NEED the £5 Limo contribution on Tuesday ; KYSPA’s finances are too hard-pressed to afford non-payment for this activity though we can consider instalments for families with more than one member.

DO NOT leave the event without helping to tidy up! I don’t want to be tidying into the small hours of the morning!

There will be a short piece about KYSPA on Radio Cornwall on Tuesday at 3.45pm.

Tuesday 10 July 2007

Tuesday July 10th

Everyone who can make it tonight please! KYSPA T shirts to be worn if you have them - my publicity photos didn't come out!

Monday 2 July 2007

Tuesday 3rd July

Full session again this week! Could everyone PLEASE wear their KYSPA T Shirts for some publicity photos? Also, could everyone check their weekend availability between now and July 17th as we're going to have to put in some real work to get this film premiere ready! Thanks, Rich.

Wednesday 27 June 2007

Introducing Cloudland Productions...

Cloudland Productions is an independent film making studio created by some of KYSPA's members. Whilst not connected to the Society directly, having watched their films on youtube I'm more than happy to add a link from our blog.

Well done, for Mistys End which is a really moving piece that is well shot and very well edited. We'll definitely be adding that one to the premiere - and the hampster too!

As well as producing its own "branded" films, KYSPA exists to help members in any way possible with their own projects, like Cloudland, and we'll do all we can to promote Cloudland and support these budding film makers with future projects!

To see Cloudland's films, follow the link to: http://www.youtube.com/user/cloudlandpro

Films, Dance and Limousines!

A busy session for our members this week as we completed planning for two short films to be shot over the next couple of weeks (using our new camera!). That done, we have begun to think about an evening premiere where we can show all of our films to the public.

This will combine with some live entertainment (dance and song) from our members and possibly some interactive fun for the audience too! To celebrate the films, and KYSPA's first anniversary, our plan is to hold a "Gala Premiere Evening" with members arriving by Limousine to an event which boasts glamour and style and includes food and drink for both members and guests.

Rehearsals have started on one of the dance routines as you can see below. We will keep you posted as our plans become more concrete; there's still a lot to do!



Tuesday 26 June 2007

Camera Unit 1

We have purchased our fist full camera unit today for in-house film making. The Equipment, bought using our Cornwall Community Foundation, Making Waves money, includes a mini DV camera (with night shot), case and tripod.

These will be put to good use shortly when we visit Pendennis Castle to shoot the silent films we've been working on.


Here you can see the new camera being tried out as a snooty office worker finds her favourite park bench occupied by a dirty tramp!

Tuesday 26th June

Full meeting again tonight for all members 6.30 - 8.30pm

Tuesday 19 June 2007

Tuesday 19th June

All welcome for a full & hopefully fun-packed session! Jane Blonde has been completely edited & is very funny! Included an outake reel after the credits. Nowhere to show it online just yet, but if you post a memory stick through my door, I'll save it & return the stick to you at the session so you can take it home to watch.

Some great films made this month! Well done all.

Monday 11 June 2007

12th June NO KYSPA this week

Due to a huge editing backlog (3 films on the go) there will be no KYSPA this week. Details of next week's session to follow.

Friday 1 June 2007

Coming Soon....

Just a little pre-warning post! We have a date for "The Big Shoot" which is the second of the Making Waves events funded by the Cornwall Community Foundation. Over the weekend of the 7th & 8th July, Penryn will become Cornwall's Hollywood with up to four seperate films being shot in and around the town under the guidance of the experts from Firstborn Creatives.

Four groups of between 5 & 6 young people will shoot a film each with the general theme of issues which affect either them or other young people in their community. These films will be submitted for the Cornwall Film Festival and "Fresh 7" YP Film Festival in Bristol.

With all of KYSPA's members taking part, there will still be room for other local budding film makers to take part in this event. The best brains in KYSPA (well, ok, me) are working on a system by which interested young people can apply to take part. Details will be published in the local press shortly. Keep an eye out for posters about the place too! In the meantime, if you are interested in taking part, drop us an email.

Saturday 26 May 2007

Getting things done

Whilst KYSPA's internet command centre has been spitting sparks and blowing black smoke from the vents, our members have been moving ahead with many of the ideas on the Making Waves planning sheet. After the previously discussed "boring" planning session, we've been looking at how we might run activity workshops for other young people locally.

Our first opportunity will be at the "Party in the Park" event next month. This all day event provides ample opportunity for our members to apply their new-found skills and run activities for others. The last couple of weeks has been taken up with first planning a workshop (who runs which bit etc.) then trying it out on some willing volunteers to see if it works.

As a result, we've run a successful dance workshop AND shot two short films (James Blunt 007 and an as yet un-named horror spoof). A third group, also working on the 007 theme are now ready to shoot "Jane Blonde".

Part of the workshop activities include team games along the lines we learned at Lindridge. After rummaging around under the stairs I found my "games" book & we've been trying them out. These games are designed to improve communication, team work and drama skills. If they result in pictures of our members in daft positions, so much the better!


Back in business!

Apologies for the break in service but the KYSPA command centre has been experiencing technical difficulties which resulted in disconnection from the internet. We're back now, broadband capable, and normal service has beeen resumed!

Wednesday 9 May 2007

KYSPA's new Email accounts

As part of our aim to give members more direct responsibility for running the society, some of our members will coordinate publicity, workshops and film making activities.

To do this, it is helpful if they have access to Email. It is KYSPA's policy that our members should NEVER release personal Email or contact details to third parties as this can put young people at risk. Therefore, we have set up hotmail accounts for the above areas of responsibility which will be monitored by the Trustees and can be checked by the parents of those members regularly.

For those members entrusted with a KYSPA Email address, I must request that they use the account ONLY for KYSPA mail and in a manner which will reflect well on our organisation. Misuse of the account will result in the password being changed and future access denied.

Our new Email addresses can be found on the side bar above my profile.

The Seven "Ps"

Last night's session was not perhaps one of the most inspiring ever, but it was REALLY IMPORTANT! Following on from the excellent planning we did on residential, the group completed the remainder of our "Twelve Month Plan". Group members have been given responsibility for project areas and we will see some rapid movement towards our goals in the next few weeks.

  • Publicity will step up a gear, raising awareness of the group and what we are doing. Our website should pop into existence fairly soon too.
  • We are planning to run workshops for local young people at both the Party in the Park event and over the summer holls. The latter will raise money to pay for another fun residential.
  • Whilst practising how to run workshops, we'll make a short film or two, just to keep our hand in.

And that's just this next month! in July sometime we'll have our second major "Making Waves" funded activity - film making with Firstborn Creatives for the film festivals.

The odd boring session is necessary to make all this stuff happen! It's the seven Ps.

Prior Preparation Prevents Poopy Poor Performance!
If we plan well, we'll achieve lots. Hold that thought folks!

PS. We'd like to extend an official blog welcome to the new member who joined the group last night. Hope the insane E-number fuelled antics of our weird and wacky membership didn't scare you off!

Friday 4 May 2007

Plans for the Future

As well as getting into a muddle and having a great time, there was a serious side to our residential weekend. The trainers from YoMo helped the group to create a twelve month plan for the "Making Waves" programme.

The first stage of this process was to think about all the resources in Penryn and Falmouth and then to consider what issues affect the area - particularly for young people.

After this, the group selected some specific goals and issues which the Making Waves programme would focus on. This in turn led to the group identifying a series of actions (over a twelve month period) which they would carry out to achieve those goals. This plan has returned with us to Penryn and we will begin to organise the first steps over the next couple of weeks.

The final challenge of the weekend was linked to this activity. The group planned and shot footage for a professional quality DVD aimed at promoting both KYSPA and the "Making Waves" programme. The lighthearted DVD will be used to raise awareness of what the group are trying to achieve over the course of the project and could be used in schools and to tap sources of funding. It is hoped that the DVD will be completed in the next few weeks.

Planning for the "issues" section of the DVD.

Thursday 3 May 2007

"What happens if we try this?"

KYSPA's members attended their second residential last weekend at Toc-H's Lindridge House in Devon. Aside from making plans for the rest of the "Making Waves" project (details to follow), the group extended their team work and communication skills through a series of challenges.

This was the "electric fence" challenge. Simply put, the group had to get everyone from one side to the other without "electrocuting" themselves. Easy enough, you might think, but they also had to hold hands for the entire process. If anyone let go, or got zapped, the whole activity had to begin again. They got there eventually, but there was some head scratching along the way!


As you can just about see, the solution involved two lucky volunteers acting as "steps" which allowed the rest of the group to gain the necessary altitude to clear the deadly fence (I know it looks like a rope but use your imagination, folks!).

The fence was by no means the only cunning challenge our intrepid team had to face. A real stumper was the simple test of walking in a line from point "A" to point "B". The only rule was that the group's feet had to be touching for the entire journey. As you will see below, this is really quite tricky but Tia came up with a different approach in the end. Not dignified, I'll admit, but it worked!



Yes, well I told you it wasn't that dignified! Not that I can talk after my little incident with the rope loop (I got a bit stuck) but fortunately there's no photographic evidence that I'm aware of so we can move swiftly on!
One of the last outdoor team building activities was the "nightline". This required trust, teamwork and communication skills. The group split into their two teams. All but the group leader were blindfolded. They then had to follow a rope trail using touch and the instructions from the group leader to guide them. This activity was quite a good example of how far the group had come from their earlier efforts. Both groups made it to the end of the "nightline" without major incident and, in the case of the group pictured below, as a single team unit.



So, we got rather used to asking "What happens if..." It's a good way of solving problems and sometimes having a good laugh along the way!

Saturday 21 April 2007

Youth Group Residential Visits.... Don't Panic!

The residential visit is fast becoming an endagered activity. Increasingly organisations, including schools, regard residential visits as a "high risk" activity involving massive bureaucracy, stress and an increased chance of getting sued. To be sure, there have been several high profile examples of residential visits which have gone tragically wrong but although residentials do take quite a bit of work, they are an incredibly enjoyable and rewarding thing to do. In short, don't panic.

Residentials are a popular aspect of KYSPA's work and we'd strongly recommend them to any youth group. They promote a particular sense of team work, create great memories and strengthen friendships. They are also a key tool in creating partnerships with groups and organisations elsewhere in the country, allowing a greater range of activities and experiences for our members.

The first step in planning a residential visit is risk assessment. This isn't rocket science and need not take a huge ammount of time but it does need to be thorough. At KYSPA we organise the risk assessment chronologically with the timetable of activities, taking each stage in turn.

Initially, thought is given to transport - usually minibus - and issues relating to the journey. For the most part this is common sense stuff (seatbelts, checking doors are secure before moving off etc.). But thought also needs to go into managing stops at busy service areas; parking the vehicle somewhere with good visibility and less traffic for instance. Thought is routinely given to action we would take in a breakdown. Do we stay with the vehicle (mostly) or move out and away from the vehicle (motorways and fast duel carriageways)?

As a general rule we expect our young people to remain with at least one other party member at all times, whether in a service area, the residence or at the activity venue. This basic security principle ensures that members cannot become totally detached from the rest of the party. We arrange a meeting point at all stops or venues in case of separation and conduct regular number checks.

For the most part, any activity we undertake on residential is no different to our usual film making or drama work. If we've got an external organisation running an event for us, we obtain a copy of their risk assessment and relevant policies. That just leaves the need to consider whether the venue you are intending to use contains any specific risks. KYSPA does not undertake any of the "high risk" activities, such as rock climbing, sailing etc as these fall outside of our performing arts remit.

Picking suitable residential accommodation is very important, particularly in the wake of the Caroline Dickinson tragedy. Good practice dictates that the party should be slept in rooms as close together as practicable with the adult leaders immediately to hand. Most accommodation which houses young people (YHA for instance) will provide you with an advance copy of their in-house risk assessment for you to read. You should demand this unless you want to visit the location yourself in advance (not too bad if its local, a pain if its a full day's drive away!). Always consider who else will be in the accommodation with you and what extra security measures need to be considered. These need to be clearly communicated to your young people. As well as the obvious matter of securing rooms (and windows) at night, give thought to night-time trips to communal toilets. The young people should make sure someone knows they are leaving the room and, if possible, accompany them.

Communication with parents is important and serves a dual purpose. As a parent myself, I would expect to have an itinerary, kit list and some briefing material on H&S issues, including child protection, associated with the trip. Providing this information to our parents involves a degree of thought and advance planning - an investment which really helps once you're on the trip. As a rule, at KYSPA we compile a visit folder for each residential, containing all our briefing material, copies of the membership forms (contact details, medical info, consent for images etc) and risk assessments. This is looked over by the Trustees ahead of the visit and parents are invited to view the documents too if they wish.

From a legal point of view, the duty of trip leaders, and the wider organisation, is to take "reasonable care" in anticipating and minimising risk. For example, although I hold a driver's license which allows me to drive a minibus, I also hold, and will maintain, a certificate in minibus driver improvement from Cornwall's Road Safety Unit. Like any organisation, we need to have statutory First Aid provision so any residential visit will have a First Aid qualified staff member on it. I have undertaken Risk Assessment, H&S and Child Protection training to ensure that KYSPA is following good practice in the assessment of risk.

Finally, any organisation should ensure that their insurance provision is sound and covers them adequately. We have Employee Liability, Public Liability and basic Personal Injury provision, so that we know that in the very unlikely event of something going wrong we are well protected - our young members are also protected under the personal injury provision.

With these procedures in place, a residential visit is not something to fear but to enjoy. With the exception of the inevitable spanner in the works (closure of a main motorway for instance) the planning is taken care of, the young people and parents are well briefed and the activities will be conducted safely. Everyone, including the leaders (hopefully), will have a great time!

(PS. This theory will be put to the test as we embark on our second residential at the end of this month. Keep an eye out for future posts detailing our experiences at Lindridge House, Devon)

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Team KYSPA!

This week's session had a distinctively "team orientated" flavour as we started to work through the preparation activity pack for the YoMo training weekend. Our members were divided into "Team A" and "Team B" (I thought of those names myself!) and given a couple of competitive challenges to complete. "Railway Sleepers" involved the teams lining up facing each other inside a narrow box. They then had to rearrange the line according to age/height/alphebetical order without stepping outside the box.

"Team A" got off to a rocky start on this one but redeemed themselves with a win or two in the latter stages. "Keep the Balloons Up" was a challenge which is exactly what it sounds like. The two teams had an area of the room (and a balloon each). They simply had to keep the balloons in the air and inside their area. Not too hard - until we added more balloons. The teams received a penalty point for each balloon to hit the ground or to go outside their area. Despite being in the lead for most of the activity, "Team A" had a run of bad luck in the closing minutes which meant they lost by just one point. Victory to "Team B"!




Aside from competing, all our members had the chance to sit down and think about what makes a good team member. Ideas included good listener, good speaker and a willingness to work with others. Team leaders need to be calm, supportive and confident with good people skills. A team functions well if good ideas are listened to (so all voices need to be heard) and it has a good leader.

Our members also evaluated their own listening and speaking skills on a sheet - and then heard their answers analysed by another group member. This activity was completed anonymously - to avoid embarrassment and also to try to make the analysis as honest as possible.

Overall, both Team A and Team B showed some positive qualities. Both teams contained members who could (and did) take on the leader role when needed. I saw examples of team members supporting and helping each other too, which is important.

The final activity was "Spider Web" which involved the entire group. Group members joined hands, criss crossing, to make a "web". They then had to untangle themselves without letting go of each other. From a team work point of view this activity seemed to bring out the best in our members - but it didn't stop them getting into a right old mess! (see below)




We got them untangled eventually!

Sunday 15 April 2007

Thanks to the Cornwall Community Foundation

The aforementioned "Making Waves" programme, which promises to have a huge impact on both our Society and our members, is being almost entirely funded by a grant from the Cornwall Community Foundation. I mention this because the cheque arrived this week so we're poised to launch full tilt into the preparation activities for our YoMo skills training weekend.

It seems appropriate under the circumstances to place a post on the blog explaining just who CCF are and what they do. CCF is an independent community charity - a trust - which administers a fund to support small charities and community groups in the county. The CCF administers funds on behalf of several organisations and government sponsored initiatives. Additionally, many business organisations make donations to the trust knowing that the money is guaranteed to be spent in Cornwall's communities (for instance A&P Falmouth recently raised money for CCF).

KYSPA is just one of many community & voluntary groups to benefit from the CCF. In 2005 alone CCF gave out £500,000 to 180 organisations. Several grants have found their way into the Penryn & Falmouth areas, reflecting the hard work being put into these communities by a range of volunteers.

To secure their long-term future and to continue their valuable work, the CCF is in the process of building a £2million endowment fund to ensure that the essential support for initiatives and projects working in Cornwall's communities can continue.

For details about the CCF, whether giving or applying for a grant, you can view their website at www.cornwallfoundation.com

From everyone at KYSPA, we'd like to send a resounding thank you to the CCF's trustees and anyone who has supported the CCF in their work.

Saturday 7 April 2007

Why work with teenagers?

There was a time, when I was at college studying to become a Primary School teacher, when I held very strong views on working with teenagers; NO WAY! Anyone who knew me back then will testify that the very idea scared the bejeebers out of me.

I liked working with younger children. They're very open to new ideas and, not knowing that something's impossible for children their age, will attempt and achieve much more than you might imagine. For example, when we were given a problem solving activity as part of our A Level economics studies, I thought that the 7 and 8 year olds I was working with at the time might enjoy it. So I adapted it slightly and sure enough an A Level activity produced some pretty impressive results in a Primary School classroom.

I assumed that working with teenagers would be an entirely different ballgame. Teenagers, I thought, were impossible to motivate and difficult to manage. The stereotype of the "grunting" teenager who's way too cool to interact with adults led me to think that they lacked the "spark" of younger children and would not be much fun to work with at all.

This could not be further from the truth and the decision to try working with teenagers, despite my misgivings, was probably one of my better ones. Teenagers absolutely DO have "spark". They're old enough not only to have new ideas but the energy to try them out. They like a challenge as much as the next person.

Being a teenager is pretty tough. You're not a kid anymore, but at the same time society in general doesn't really treat you like an adult (often you're treated more like an inconvenient problem). Ironically, it is probably society's inability to "cope" very well with teenagers that makes voluntary work, like what we do at KYSPA so rewarding. Because it's so rare that teenagers are given the opportunity to take on projects, such as a drama performance or making a film, they jump at the chance when it's offered. The results are impressive and fun to be part of.

So if there's anyone out there who, like me in my younger days, thinks that working with teenagers is unrewarding and not for them I'd like to humbly suggest a re-think! Look at our other posts, like the Fresh 6 posts and see what can be achieved. Then, if you think you've got something to offer, find a local group and go see for yourself. You'll be surprised.

As for any teenagers reading this, just remember that it's much rarer than it should be that adults take time out to run activities etc for you. Make the most of opportunities they offer you & along the way you can perhaps begin to break down the persistently negative (and unjustified) stereotypes that persist about your age group.

Sunday 1 April 2007

Making Waves 2007

"Making Waves" is the title given to the programme of activities which formed the basis of our bid from the Cornwall Community Foundation. The idea was to create a series of activities around the general theme of youth issues - anything which our members feel strongly about or that directly affects them.

The idea was formed when, at a meeting of the Penryn Youth Initiative steering group, we discussed ways of consulting teenagers and young people about what they wanted the PYI to provide. We also talked about consulting them on the management of the youth space and facilities.

In my experience young people like to be asked what they think. They're not short of ideas and enthusiasm. However, in the past, when I've sat a group down and said "right folks, what do you think about...?" what generally results is a nervous silence where everyone becomes fascinated with the pattern of the carpet! It's not so much that they don't want to contribute, it's just that it's so RARE for adults to consult young people that, quite honestly, I'm not entirely sure they always know how to respond when it happens!

But thinking about it, that's not so surprising. I mean where exactly, in the KS2 & 3 National Curriculum do schools teach how to present your ideas to adults? I've worked in schools on and of since 1992 & I can count the examples I've seen on one hand (with fingers to spare!).

So, folks, this is what Making Waves is all about: First, you're going to learn the skills you need to get your ideas across in a way adults can't avoid taking seriously. You're going to practice team work, communication and project management (that's actually GETTING THINGS DONE, preferably within a time limit!). If you think about it, that's where we've been a little bit weak as a group.

In particular, I think we need to make sure that all our members have an equal chance to contribute, whatever their age or level of confidence. It's easy for quiter members' voices to go unheard. Learning to listen, and to encourage will be as important as learning to speak up. We're getting some help on this from an organisation called YoMo.

As part of this, you'll get to talk about things which affect you, like how young people in Penryn/Falmouth are treated by the community, what facilities there are, that kind of thing. You'll learn how to DISAGREE with someone, and pursuade them you're right or be pursuaded that, actually you were wrong. You will deliver a short project as a group within a time limit.

NEXT we'll apply that on a larger scale, putting together a presentation on issues you feel are important for local councilors (parish, town & county) as well as the community at large.

In the Summer, we'll be working with our friends from Bristol, Firstborn Creatives, to make short films for the film festivals based again on a youth issue theme.

We'll stage a play based on a historical issue which affected young people in the past - proving that if you think today's teenagers have it tough you're mistaken!

By the end of the programme you'll have "made waves" in your community. You'll have put your point of view accross and, just maybe, begun a process of actually making changes for the better. Your achievements will be recognised through accredited awards.

Finally, all these skills will mean that you will be able to plan and produce your own films and plays in the future. It'll be easy - you'll be experts! The investment made by the CCF into KYSPA should result in much more than 9 months of funded activities. "Making Waves" will be the foundation on which you can build a successful, confident society. Oh, it might come in handy at school too.

It'll be an interesting process for our society to go through. Hopefully by the end us leaders will be out of a job - you'll be running the society yourselves!

Saturday 31 March 2007

The Trial of Miss Gunn & Mr Factory

On the evening of the 26th March, KYSPA staged a piece of improvised courtroom drama at Penryn Town Hall. The criminal case centered around former war hero Miss Cordelia Gunn VC, a war hero from a fictional "five year war". During the war, Miss Gunn performed outstanding acts of leadership and bravery. After the war, however, she was honourably discharged from the commandos still being owed quite a bit of money. The loss of all her close family and friends, no money and post traumatic stress led her to a life of homelessness and alcohol dependence.

On the first anniversary of the war's end, despite having made advances with her alcoholism and mental health, Miss Gunn again turned to drink. She stole a car and crashed it at speed on the wrong side of the M5 hitting a minibus full of orphan children on their day out (no-one was seriously hurt).

By chance, the driver of that bus was Mr Factory. The industrial mogul whose factories had supplied the armed forces with all their needs during the war - making him a multi billionaire in the process. What the public had never been told, until now, was that Mr Factory's products were of scandalously poor quality and faulty guns and equipment resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of our forces.

Miss Gunn secured the services of a leading MOD lawyer for the case. Rather than pleaing guilty to the charge of "Driving in a manner likely to endanger life" Miss Gunn enters an "Not Guilty" plea. Her defence is that her post traumatic stress was to blame for her actions and that the cause of her illness is none other than Mr Factory himself whose charitable works with orphan children since the war's end cannot absolve him of blame for his actions during the war.

The performance was organised into two "teams" essentially defence (Miss Gunn, Lawyer & witnesses) and prosecution (Mr Factory, Lawyer & Witnesses). Each team prepared questions and statements but didn't meet until the night of the trial. Neither side knew for sure what line of questioning the other side would take. They had just three weeks (approx four hours in total) to prepare for the performance.

To add spice to the occasion, we invited a guest jury with no prior knowledge of the case to listen to arguments and present a verdict at the close of the evening.

The KYSPA actors put on an excellent performance with plenty of atmosphere. When the Jury retired the audience were kept in suspense as they seemed to have trouble reaching a verdict. Eventually, howwever, they filed in and, one at a time, announced unanimously that they felt Miss Gunn was GUILTY. Many jurors took the unusual step of appealing directly to the Judge for a lenient sentence on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The sense of victory for the prosecution team was short-lived. The Judge passed a setence of 150 hours community service and directed the police to investigate Mr Factory for corporate negligence/manslaughter! So, despite failing to prevent a guilty verdict, the defence team succeeded in putting right an injustice whilst the prosecution successfully prevented the defence from moving all of the blame away from Miss Gunn.

Pictures Blelow: Miss Gunn & her lawyer, The Defence team on the night, Mr Factory & his lawyer & the prosecution team on the night.










Friday 30 March 2007

Fresh 6 Day 2

Day two saw everyone refreshed after a good night's sleep. Well, the activity leaders anyway! Rumour has it that members engaged in intellectual discussion far into the night. Given that we were planning to be indoors for most of the day, and had a long journey at the end of it, we streached our legs with a "little walk" up Cam Peak. I have to say, some of our members were a bit wussy when confronted with this little hill but with encouragement, everyone made it to the top - and the views were worth it!

At the Watershed, members watched films made for the festival by other young people, attended a seminar where they had a group photo with some of the actors from the T4 series "Totally Frank" and played with some of the computers and toys in the Fresh Lab.



Here we can see Jo getting an advanced course on editing from Rob, one of the mentors at Firstborn Creatives.




Jo proved to have quite a knack for editing and computers in general, even lending a helping hand when other people experienced "technical issues".




Much of the Ollie Twist editing is his, though everyone had some input.


Below right is the group photo with the "Totally Frank" stars (rear left & centre with the series creator rear left).

Below left are some of the gang watching films. You can just make out some other members playing with the camera equipment in the background.


















KYSPA's members spent the last half hour or so in the "virtual disco" a blue screen room which filmed the dancers and projected the images onto a screen at the other end of the room with a club/disco backdrop added. This proved to be quite popular.


By good fortune fate kept the M5 open that evening so we arrived safely back in Cornwall in good time after a very successful trip.

Thursday 29 March 2007

Fresh 6 Day 1

On November 10th 2006, ten members (and two staff) set off very early from Falmouth for Bristol. I won't go into much detail about the journey - let's just say they closed the M5 which held us up a bit! We eventually arrived in Bristol mid-morning and after some navigational issues found Easton Community Centre where we were due to spend the day film making. After discussions with the mentors from Firstborn Creatives, members decided to condense a famous film or films into 60 seconds. My group settled on Star Wars episodes 4-6 while the other group worked on Oliver Twist.

Oliver Twist proved hardest to fit into 60 seconds and even in it's final format overruns slightly, though it has some great comic moments and oscar-winning performances from FC mentors and event organiser Jeremy. Star Wars aimed to take short, key scenes and lines from the three films to provide a lightening fast tour of the trilogy. The M5 business meant we had less time than we'd have liked but both films "Ollie Twist" and "Star Warz" can be seen on You Tube.

Just to prove some planning actually went into our films, this is the Star Warz group carefully planning every small detail of the shoot... kind of.
From left, David (Luke & Lando) Flo (Leia & Emperor) Me (director/writer/producer etc.) & Polly (Obi Wan & Han Solo) Picture by Hannah (Yoda & Darth).
We like to think that the quality of planning is evident in the film, but we're probably just kidding ourselves.

This is the "Millenium Falcon" shot. To prove that it's not just Hollywood that does SFX, we achieved the "motion" of the Falcon by getting Hannah to move her hands around whilst filming.

Simple, yet effective! We condensed the entire first third of "The Empire Strikes Back" into a single line of dialogue.

Han: "I broke my ship! Let's go see Lando!"

Regrettably, no picture exists of Yoda, complete with leaf-ears but you can just make them out in the film (before Luke bumps his head).


This is the "Ollie Twist" group filming Nancy's death scene. This group received quite a bit of help from some of the young people from Bristol who were also making films on the day.
After filming was finished for the day, we all celebrated with a slap-up meal at KFC before heading off to Slimbridge YHA for the evening.
The loan of a laptop meant that both groups did some editing work on their films during the evening. The day's activities were enjoyed by everyone.
You can visit the mentors' website using the following link: www.firstborn-creatives.co.uk