The George Best Belfast City Airport Community Fund has provided financial support to local arts organisation Young at Art that works with nursery and primary school children to help expand their creativity.

Young at Art’s ‘Creative Child’ programme provides pupils aged three to 11 years old with creative experiences using arts-based engagement to explore communication, opinion-forming, literacy and creativity.

As part of the project, pupils from St Matthew’s Nursery in East Belfast visited The Strand Arts Centre recently where they received a behind-the-scenes look at the facility and enjoyed performing a series of dance and drama games on stage.

Jackie Fauteux, Creative Child Co-ordinator from Young at Art said:

“The Creative Child programme supports key priorities in child development and education, bringing under-engaged children forward and increasing their confidence, imagination and critical vocabulary.

“We rely heavily on funding to be able to make this project happen, and Belfast City Airport’s support has helped us in part to deliver the initiative to 3 schools situated close to the airport. We are very appreciative of the support we have received.”

Emma Gilmore of Belfast City Airport, who joined the children at The Strand Arts Centre, commented:

“It was fantastic to see the children enjoying being on stage and getting to experience the lights and sounds of a theatre. The Creative Child programme provides a great platform for children to learn and develop in a fun environment.

“At the airport, we have a dedicated Community Commitment Plan which aims to enrich and support our local community, protect our environment, invest in our people, and help young people realise their aspirations and potential through education.”

For more information on the Community Fund or to find out how your group can apply for funding, please visit: www.belfastcityairport.com/community

George Best Belfast City Airport can also be found on Facebook (George Best Belfast City Airport) and Twitter (@BelfastCity_Air).