ART & CULTURE AWARD: SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

Art & Culture Award 2026: Supporting Evidence

"We are immensely proud to be nominated for the Arts & Culture Award. At CAMM, our mission extends beyond teaching music - we build vibrant creative communities, nurture local talent, and bring live music into the heart of Skipton. Below is a celebration of our students, partners, and community impact."

August 2025

In August, we hosted the Music & Art Holiday Club for ages 8-11 partnered with Craven Arts House.

Music & Art Kids Holiday Club 2025

500+

Active students + musicians performing or collaborating

25+

Community Events & Concerts Delivered

1600+

Live Audience Members Reached

100%

Passion for Local Culture

September 2025

We welcomed students back for a new academic year. Make More Music 2 began in partnership with Craven Arts House. Our Mum band 'Giving Up Pink' performed their first ever gig at Soundbar! We also hosted our very first Open Mic night at Craven Arts House.

October 2025

It is important that our teachers and team are involved in live music performance. In this month, Meg gets gigging with local Northern Soul band 'The Bluesouls', Make More Music continues and we host our first social 'a.k.a. a night out around Skipton's bustling live music scene' for our Mum bands.

November 2025

We hosted our second Craven Arts Open Mic and hosted a showcase of our bands at the Soundbar. Our second Mums band 'Taking Up Space' played their first gig!

"Amazing community music space! Very well facilitated, clean professional safe space to create music!"
Tim Cook, Musician

December 2025

Weekly lessons continued as normal up until the Christmas break!

January 2026

We welcomed new teachers in January, enabling us to grow our student base!

"The word that stands out to me is 'inclusion' and passion for giving everyone the opportunity to perform whatever level they are at. All students at CAMM are free to try new things and build confidence so that they can explore their musical potential. It is a real journey, a personal one that feel like a partnership between the child and the music teachers."

Caris Kingham, Parent

February 2026

We awarded our first 'Commitment to Craft' award to a student who had shone in his dedication to drumming. We borrowed a plastic trombone from the Skipton Community Orchestra which the children loved to play! We hosted another family-friendly Soundbar showcase and students shared their performing skills with Skipton.

March 2026

Children experimented with new and exciting instruments that we purchased/were donated including a melodica, a trumpet, a clarinet and a cello. We took on a third room at Craven Arts House, giving us the chance to expand our group sessions in size.

"A fundamental place for musicians to develop their skills under expert guidance and tuition, highly recommend. This is great for Skipton and the North Yorkshire music scene."

Luke Thompson - Local Artist

April 2026

Make More Music project 3 began, we received a saxophone for students to explore, children investigated the inside of a piano, Easter Kids Holiday Club took place and we continued to adapt our teaching and learning to suit the evolving needs of our students.
Something we are passionate about at CAMM is up-skilling our 18-25 year olds; giving the powerful skills and work experience for the future. In this month, we took on a 19 year-old photographer and content creator and Meg's daughter Annabelle (aged 3) carried out numerous maintenance and up-keep jobs around the music spaces.

"A fundamental place for musicians to develop their skills under expert guidance and tuition, highly recommend. This is great for Skipton and the North Yorkshire music scene."

Luke Thompson - Local Artist

May 2026

May was the month we had our first Skipton Live committee meeting. This took place after one of our Soundbar showcase gigs. We have young musician and artist, Sylvia, make artwork to promote the Make More Music Open Mic. We hosted an excited open-air workshop for Skipton Bid in the Ampitheatre space.

We welcomed our 4th women's group to the academy 'Mums That Strum'!

We launched Skipton Live, a new music festival for August 2026, partnering with Skipton Town Council, SkiptonBID and Craven Arts.

Youth Open Mic Night at Craven Arts House. Photos by Anya Dickinson

Soundbar Showcase of Bands. Photos by Riley Sayer

"I had my first singing lesson with Alex at Craven Music Academy in Skipton and thoroughly enjoyed it. Alex helped me warm up my voice, find my vocal range and get started on a song, explaining everything clearly and making me feel completely at ease. Most of all, the lesson was great fun, and I came away feeling much more confident and excited for the next one. Highly recommended!"

Sandy Fishpool, Student

June 2026

'Giving Up Pink' won the 'Commitment to Craft' award for their dedication to writing their own music with teacher, Alex. We had a stall at Sheep Day to spread the word about Skipton Live. The home-ed band had a look at a broken bass guitar to diagnose its possible faults. We worked on ukulele skills, drumming, music production, sound engineering and songwriting. Director, Meg, carried out outreach work at The Skipton Academy where she delivered high quality music education, funded the York City Council's 'Cultural Passport Programme'.

"Not only are the teachers incredibly talented musicians, but they’re full of enthusiasm and wonderful people to learn with."
Phillip Street

July 2026

We hosted the bandstand stage for two-day long, community festival, Ilkley Live. We spent some time educating some of our Mum band members on live sound which will be helpful for upcoming events! We experimented with digital DJ decks which children and adults all loved. We also welcomed a gorgeous, full-size, double bass from The Skipton Academy.