CB
I would like to see efdss get involved in the folk festival scene again, as you know they used to run Sidmouth ,chippenham, whitby,and many others.

That's not going to happen. It's not what efdss does any more. It is a support and resourcing organisation. Anyway, why would it seek to duplicate or compete with what others are doing so well?

CB
I would like to see them do the sort of thing that the Hallamshire traditions have done[I believe they were involved in promoting either the hallamshire or a similiar event in yorkshire[[THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY,but i cant find the thread]]

You mean like the Take Six Project I described earlier, which covers nine counties?

CB
I know they have financial burdens,But the involvement in schools needs to be encouraged as much as is possible,

Yes of course they have financial burdens which is why we can't afford to do them without funding - which is why we are applying for funding.


Comhaltas appear to have political influence which helps their funding.
efdss might well approach Andrew Rosindell mp for romford who seems to want to promote StGeorges day[with folk events][ idont agree with his politics],but if he is keen on promoting folk music for whatever reason,he is a possible ally,and someone with some influence,who may be able to help e.f.d.s,s.

Do you assume we're not talking to government agencies? Of course we are. DCMS, MLA, EDMP, anyone who has the slightest bearing on folk music in education. And we recently contributed to the DCMS Committee Evidence Session on Caring for Collections with regard to connecting education with resource materials in our possession. You also have to realise that the government and cultural institutions in Ireland have a different attitude to traditional music than over here. In UK it seems to take longer to get things done and there's more competition for funds. It's getting better and a lot more folk development agencies are making successful bids than before, but we're not there with the big stuff yet.


CB
In the meantime PROMOTING CONCERTS AT CECIL SHARP HOUSE,booking acts that are going to put bums on seats, and providing adeqate facilities, is something that if efdss isnt doing they should be. to accumulate you must speculate.

Interesting isn't it that on the one hand people can say that the Society is London-centric and then someone like you can say "promote concerts at Cecil Sharp House" and if we do then someone else will say why don't you do it up North, and so we go on. Yes of course it is nice to put stuff on for Londoners and we do run concerts at the House but that's incidental to the business of providing resources nationwide, which is what we really aspire to do. As for speculating to accumulate, concerts in London are notoriously difficult to get to break-even stage and speculating with members money is maybe not a good idea, especially when the majority of members wouldn't be able to benefit by attending (it's that London-centric thing you see!!).

All in all, everything you've suggested we're already doing or have made a conscious policy decision to avoid because it doesn't coincide with our strategic plan or somebody else is already doing it effectively.

J