We are committed to ensuring more children and young people in the UK can access creative opportunities.  Along with our public performances, we also work in deprived areas of Cambridge (the UK’s most unequal city) and rural Fenland with children experiencing serious financial and social barriers to accessing creative and cultural opportunities. Through our friends scheme we are raising funds to challenge inequal access to creative and cultural education opportunities for children and young people, and their families/communities in Cambridgeshire (and beyond).

Funds will help us continue to create playful stories that connect us all, and support us to continue to work with as many communities and schools as possible; improving access to creative opportunities and improving resilience and mental health for children and young people,  as we know that participation in activities such as ours promotes self-esteem and confidence.

“We are on the edge of town…for our children they are living in a ward where the life expectancy is 10 years less than what it is for those living in the rest of Cambridge. They are from a very deprived area…The project has been really powerful in showing them they do have a contribution to make”

– Headteacher, Galfrid School, Cambridge

It is possible to join our friends scheme and donate regularly, or make a one off donation. All funds raised will support us to continue to work with as many communities and schools as possible – below are just a handful of examples of the difference your donation could make:

£30 – NIE understands the value of creativity in the lives of young people and works with hundreds of school children every year. A gift of just £30 could help meet the costs of one young person participating in a workshop, supporting the development of expression, identity and the articulation of ideas.

£150 – Giving young people the opportunity to set their imaginations free is magical and helps to develop the creativity of young minds as well as key skills, such as critical thinking. By making a gift of £150 you could help a group of over 20 young people take part in an NIE theatre project  by supporting the cost of props and costumes.

£250  – Go further and support even more young people develop their creativity; a gift of just £250 could help over 40 young people to participate in workshops by supporting the cost of a professional artist running two workshops.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done this”
— Young person from the Top Secret at Alconbury Weald project

To read more about the impact of our work click here for the UK Annual Report 2023/24