Over the last weekend in March the Cashback Highlands Engagement team, with a cohort of young artists, delivered a program of discussions and music. Despite the past year, the voices and experiences of our young people were heard in such a positive and meaningful way through many amazing moments.
Participants and members of the engagement team reflect on their weekend getting together online…
Graeme Roger (Cashback Highlands Lead)
‘I’ve been part of the Eden Court crowd for several years now and I have always been keen to be part of events and groups that they host. I’ve gotten to know everyone there and I consider Eden Court a second home. When they asked me to come in and showcase my music and help host one of the shows, I was delighted! I had missed Eden Court over lockdown and I was happy to be involved with the team again. I prepared a set and got on board! We all had a really great time that night, everyone was super excited and happy to be there. Even with some last minute changes to the running order and some technical issues, we were all calm and everything went off smoothly without a hitch. Everyone there was super supportive to each other and there was a great atmosphere.
I would love to do these sort of events again and I urge anyone looking for a great time to attend if they can!’
Bere (Music producer and Cashback participant)
‘We had a fantastic weekend at the end of March with our CashBack Back Online activities. The weekend kicked off with our first LGBTQIA+ Lives on Screen session, programmed for our young people by Natasha Ruwona, and we’re very excited to invite those who attended back to launch our new creative arts group for LGBTQIA+ young people and allies in the next month. CashBack Alumni Callum did a brilliant job of hosting various Q+A’s, screenings, and the quiz! I absolutely loved joining in on the music nights, catching up with participants and finding some great new music. After a few months of COVID restrictions and building closure, it was brilliant to reconnect with our participants and come together as a team online – I hope we can use this new platform again in the future, it was great fun.’
Maili Fraser (Arts Practitioner Film & Visual Art)
'It was amazing to see everyone again, I really enjoyed it, I can’t wait to see everyone again'.
Murron (Filmmaker and Cashback participant)
‘It’s been a long lockdown and even harder for some of our partners and young people, so it was so nice to finally be able to do something for them. The Eden Court ‘Back Online’ event was a great way to reconnect with legacy Cashback members, to work with them and offer experiences for our newer members and project partners.
Jonathan Davies (Arts Practitioner, Theatre)
It made me feel very proud working with Callum and Murron on a professional and equal level, devising and creating content, as it just shows how far they have come through the Cashback program. I was so worried people would have zoom fatigue, but everyone brought their A-game and made the weekend less of a work weekend and more of a social and a catch up.
Some great talks, conversation and music but most of all connection in these strange times. We all can’t wait to meet face to face but really think this online format can work in tandem with in the room working. Onwards and upwards as they say!’
Find out more about Eden Court + CashBack.