Fèis participation fund for low-income families

YOUNGSTERS from lowincome families on Lewis will be able to attend a summer fèis free of charge – thanks to community wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust (PST), writes Mark Entwistle.

The charity has donated £500 to Fèis an Rubha to enable organisers to offer funded places to children from families that meet the eligibility criteria.

The creation of the fund has been warmly welcomed by the fèis organisers – both locally and at national level – who said the sponsorship would ‘make a real difference’ in reaching young people and fostering the next generation of traditional musicians, Gaelic singers and actors.

This year’s fèis takes place in Sgoil an Rubha from July 30 to August 3, with places costing £35 for the week for the first child and £30 for any additional siblings.

Fèis committee chairwoman Anne Macaulay said that although the festival was good value – working out at £7 a day for childcare – the cost was prohibitive to some and they wanted to be inclusive. She said: ‘We have become aware over the past few years that although we’ve tried to keep the cost of the fèis as low as we possibly can, for some families that’s still too big an outlay, especially if there’s more than one child in the family,’ she said.

‘We know there are some families that might have been able to stretch to one child but when it’s two or three children, then that one child can’t come because they can’t all come. Our idea was to look at ways of having a fund to help out the families who are in that situation, where the cost is preventing some children from participating.’

All families who receive the comhairle’s school clothing grant will be eligible for assistance from the fund, although details will be given nearer the time about how to apply for a funded place.

Anne acknowledged that some families will still fall through the gap – but stressed the use of this criterion means the fèis committee will not have to assess anyone’s finances themselves, adding: ‘We didn’t want to be putting ourselves in the position of making that kind of decision.

‘We don’t know what the takeup will be but I think it’s important to be as inclusive as we can be and that, whatever might be stopping people coming, it’s not financial concerns.’

The main fèis is for children aged eight to 18, while there is also a class for those aged five to seven and a cròileagan for children aged three to five.

The numbers attending Fèis an Rubha, which began in 2006, have been increasing year-onyear in recent times, with more than 60 taking part last year in total – a record number of participants.

Anne pointed out that it has become more important than ever to allow as many children as possible to experience the fèis, given the reduction in specialist tuition in schools due to council cutbacks.

‘Children don’t get the special music teachers anymore. It’s become more and more that it’s only the young people whose parents can pay for it who will have access to that kind of thing. The feis really opens it out.’

Donald John MacSween, general manager of Point and Sandwick Trust, made it clear that this would not a one-off – but that PST would continue to support Fèis an Rubha.

Fèisean nan Gàidheal, the umbrella organisation which provides support to fèisean (Gaelic arts youth festivals) across the country, warmly welcomed the sponsorship for Fèis an Rubha.

Calum Alex Macmillan, Fèisean nan Gàidheal development manager, said: ‘Fèis an Rubha continues to go from strength to strength each year, contributing greatly to the local community and the development of the Gaelic arts within the Western Isles by providing a range of excellent learning opportunities for the next generation of traditional musicians, Gaelic singers and actors.

‘They will now be able to reach more young people than ever before with this new sponsorship, making a real difference for families within the local community.’