Co Down Man Receives MBE For Arts Services

A Co Down man is to receive an MBE for his services to the arts and community.

Founder and Director of Beat Carnival, one of Northern Ireland's leading arts organisations, David Boyd will be presented with his award at Buckingham Palace on 02 April.

The Holywood man is the brain behind Belfast's Carnival Centre, where visiting international artists come to share their expertise in one of the best facilities in the UK, and has brought community projects to some of the region's most disadvantaged areas.

Since its foundation in 1993, the small, dedicated team at Beat Carnival has brought positive change and transformation to the lives of thousands of individuals and to the wider communities across the region by creating opportunities to participate in Carnival Arts.

The organisation produces impressive, large-scale carnival events, reaching out to local communities to get involved in helping to create carnival performances from scratch.

It benefits young people from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds who learn new skills and acquire new confidence through their involvement with the organisation. From creating music, choreographing dance routines and designing spectacular costumes, through to creating floats and props, local communities become fully immersed in the creative process whilst working alongside David's professional artistic team.

Beat Carnival also develops and supports professional carnival artists, establishing a sustainable legacy of creative skills and knowledge, as well as focusing on outreach, collaboration, shared celebration and achievement across the various communities of Northern Ireland.

David's initiative is principally funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Director of Arts Development at the Council, Noirin McKinney offered her congratulations: "Through their artistic work, David and Beat Carnival bring people and communities closer together and offer an invaluable platform for carnival artists to develop their skills and talents. David's passionate advocacy for Carnival Arts as a pathway to education, job creation, self-esteem, skills training and cross-community and intercultural inclusivity, has proven to be a significant force for positive change."

With David's dedication to enhancing people's lives through engagement in the arts, the output of this small organisation is truly remarkable and has built close working relationships with community organisations across Belfast. He has implemented more than 20 specific arts engagement and education programmes in Greater Shankill, one of Northern Ireland's highest-ranking areas of deprivation and disadvantage, designed to address community challenges and give children and young people their best chance in life.



(JG/MH)