YDance are delighted to announce that after the success of the three year Dance in Schools Initiative (DISI) they are once again joining forces with the Scottish Government Health Department on a new Project to get teenage girls active through dance. As part of the Health Department’s ongoing commitment to combat obesity in the young people of Scotland they are funding this three year Initiative to encourage girls aged between 14 and 18 to explore dance as an alternative to PE and other sports activities.

Shona Robinson, Minister for Public Health said:
‘The benefits of physical activity to health and wellbeing are enormous and the Scottish Government is committed to increasing participation across all ages. Declining activity levels among adolescent girls is however a particularly worrying trend and this new investment will give young women more opportunities and choices to enjoy the social, psychological and physical benefits of movement and exercise. Activities such as dance are likely to be a far more attractive option for many girls and young women than competitive sports, and can also promote mental health and wellbeing by increasing teenagers’ confidence and self esteem.’

The Initiative will be rolled out across Glasgow, Ayrshire and Orkney and is designed to create opportunities for teenage girls to get active by providing dance sessions after school, in the evenings and at weekends. It will build on existing partnerships as well as establish new collaborations with a range of organisations and agencies including SportScotland, Youth Scotland, the Active Schools Network, Health Promoting Schools, the education, culture, community and youth sectors of the local councils involved and Arts/Dance Development Officers.

The aims of the project are as follows:
• to use dance to promote physical activity in secondary age girls who are not participating in other PE and sport activities
• to use dance to promote a sense of physical and emotional well being
• to develop the individual through dance
• to use dance to attain and develop core skills such as communication and team work
• to encourage secondary pupils and school leavers to take certificated courses or community leader courses in dance


YDance Executive Director Carolyn Lappin commented:
‘I am delighted that the Scottish Government Health Department has agreed to fund our new Initiative to encourage teenage girls in Scotland to get active through dance. After the success of DISI this exciting new project will allow us to focus on bringing the benefits of dance to teenage girls – an often challenging group of young people to engage with. In fact we are planning to kick off interest in the Project by working with a group of young women from secondary schools in Glasgow to come up with a name for the initiative. We feel it’s really important that this is relevant to the girls that we want to get involved.’

The Project is already in the early stages of development and YDance Project Director Anna Kenrick is committed to a programme of meetings and planning sessions with contacts across Glasgow, Ayrshire and Orkney to ensure that the new Initiative is tailored to the varying needs of an urban community, a rural community and an island one.

Anna Kenrick said:
‘There has been a tremendously positive response to our new Project from all the organisations we have contacted and the teenage girls we have spoken to. It is essential that we look at existing delivery methods and communication channels in each of the three areas to enable us to effectively reach young women who are inactive or have not had the opportunity or confidence to dance. In Orkney we are ensuring that dance sessions are accessible to young women across the Islands, in North, East and South Ayrshire there has been a huge interest from Youth Services and the Active Schools Network and in Glasgow we are targeting regeneration areas in partnership with Active Schools Network and Community Learning Team.’

YDance’s new Project will begin delivering workshops in the three targeted areas in August 2008 and will continue until the end of March 2011.

For further information please contact Esther Currie – esther@scottishyouthdance.org /0141 552 7732 or Victoria Ram – victoria@scottishyouthdance.org/  0141 552 7736.