Time for children to get cultural (From Warrington Guardian)

Time for children to get cultural

A PIONEERING project will fund a variety of children's activities at museums and other cultural places of interest.

Gateways to Learning will benefit youngsters aged five - 16, including traveller children and pupils at hard-to-reach schools, in Halton, Warrington and across Cheshire.

Cllr Allan Massey, Halton Council's executive board member for children and young people, said: "From a young person's point of view, the most important aspect of a meaningful, creative and cultural entitlement may be that it opens up exciting possibilities for them to have fun, explore, meet other people and develop their own identity.

"Cultural entitlement could go a long way towards helping them get the most out of their lives."

The initiative will be launched at Halton Castle later this month when children will have the chance to enjoy activities such as wattle and daub workshops, medieval pilgrim badge-making, legends and storytelling from bygone days, and designing medieval tiles, madrigals and musical instruments.

Gateways to Learning is funded by a grant from Museums, Libraries and Archives North West (MLA NW).