Why do we do what we do?

In March we were overwhelmed by your generous donations to our Big Give campaign. As a result we raised over £10,000 to support our work with communities and schools in the UK; improving access to creative opportunities and cultural activities for young people who face poverty of opportunity.

Funding like this allows us to create participation projects such as Legends of the Fen, which we have been working on since January this year. During this multifaceted project, we have worked with over 250 school children from Cambridge, and across Fenland. Our artists lead creative writing workshops with groups of children, and then brought their stories to life in a new co-created show. This show will be performed at the children’s schools by our ensemble of professional actor-musicians, with their families also able to join them to watch.

The act of writing their own stories gives the participants a strong sense of agency, and a confidence in their own ability to be creative. Furthermore their ideas are then validated by being used in a professional show.

“There was such a marked difference in the confidence and engagement of the children from when we first met them, to the end of the last session. They were keen to learn new skills, help each other, and were proud to show off what they had achieved.” – Workshop leader

Projects like this succeed in giving cultural and social confidence to children who may otherwise feel excluded, or have a sense that culture is ‘not for them.’

Although nothing can sum it up better than this fantastic quote from a previous participant:

“We’ve never really had theatre here before but I’m really glad you came, and I want theatre again. It makes me want to dance around and it makes me want to go home and tell everyone.” – Workshop Participant – aged 9