Nerve Centre (organisation) facts for kids

The Nerve Centre is a super cool place in Derry, Northern Ireland. It started in 1990 to give young people a creative space. It's especially for those who might feel left out of traditional art activities. The Nerve Centre brings together popular music, film, video, animation, and interactive media. Its main goal is to help young people work together creatively and learn new digital skills.

Since 1999, the Nerve Centre has been in a special building right next to Derry's historic walls. It has a place for live shows, a café, practice rooms for bands, recording studios, and even studios for video editing and animation.

The films and animations made at the Nerve Centre have won many international awards! For example, the short film Dance, Lexie, Dance was nominated for an Oscar in 1998. And the animated short The Crumblegiant was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2008. That's a big deal!

Reaching Young People Across Northern Ireland

Since the early 1990s, the Nerve Centre has worked all over Northern Ireland. It organizes music programs, animation projects, and video projects for young people everywhere.

In 2003, the Nerve Centre opened another location in East Belfast called Studio On Creative Learning Centre. This centre helps schools and youth groups in the Belfast area get access to creative education and training. It's one of three Creative Learning Centres that support creativity for young people. The Nerve Centre also runs a second centre in Derry, right next door to its main building.

Learning and Future Careers

The Nerve Centre works with CCEA (a group that sets school qualifications) to create exciting new courses in creative industries. These include the Moving Image Arts A-level and Occupation Studies GCSE.

Through its centres in Derry and Belfast, the Nerve Centre helps thousands of young people in schools across Northern Ireland. Many of these young people might not have found their creative talents through regular school subjects. Now, they have a different path to learning and future jobs in creative fields.

The Nerve Centre is a charity, which means it's run by a group of people who want to help the community. These people come from education, arts, business, and funding groups.

A Hub for Entertainment and Creativity

The Nerve Centre is also a popular place for entertainment. It hosts events featuring popular music, film, video, animation, and interactive multimedia. It encourages artists to work together and gives young people a place to enjoy culture, especially if they don't feel connected to traditional art scenes.

Many famous bands have played at the Nerve Centre, like Fightstar, Scouting for Girls, and The Zutons. Even Snow Patrol played there when they were just starting out! In 2005, the centre hosted Ireland's first Anime convention, called Tomo-Dachi. The Nerve Centre is also where bands from Derry audition for the BBC's ATL Rock School.

Every year, the Nerve Centre helps organize the Instinct Festival. This festival celebrates the arts throughout the city and is free for all young people. It offers workshops that spark imagination and help young people under 18 appreciate the arts even more.

Challenges for the Future

Like many arts organizations, the Nerve Centre sometimes faces challenges. In early 2015, there were some budget cuts announced in Stormont that could affect the organization's future.

Notable performers

The following is an incomplete list of notable acts which have performed at the Nerve Centre: