International Youth Day: Celebrating Young People
International Youth Day (run by the UN) is held each year on the 12th of August and is an initiative that celebrates the qualities of young people and recognises the challenges that today’s youth can face. So, what better time to catch up with our Learning and Engagement team to reflect on their ‘wow’ moments from the last academic year and aspirations for the next?
Written by our Learning and Engagement team, edited by Kelly Scotney and Aaron Cawood
Catherine Hayward
What has been your highlight of this (academic) year in the Learning and Engagement (L&E) team?
Something I’ve enjoyed this year is seeing how the team and our programme have flourished to provide a broad range of high-quality experiences for all ages from 6yrs to young adults starting their careers in the arts and education sector.
Undoubtedly the organisation and the wider arts sector have faced a myriad of challenges this last year (no need to dwell on them here). However, it’s been heartening to recognise that this academic year has seen investment in our L&E programme and the launch of several new projects, including our innovative work experience model, after-school drama clubs, technical theatre training, and teacher CPD.
These programmes, whilst led by our fantastic team, wouldn’t be possible without the added investment and support offered by other departments such as Comms and Tech. So my highlight would be the whole Company getting behind our programme, resulting in extraordinary learning experiences for all our participants.
On a lighter note, dressing up as Ghostbusters for the Child Friendly Leeds Awards earlier this month was super fun. How lucky am I that this is my job and I get to work with such lovely creative people.
The Learning and Engagement team dressed as Ghostbusters. Credit Aaron Cawood
What was your ‘wow’ moment when you saw progress in a young person?
In September, we launched a technical theatre training programme at City Varieties, with students from University Centre Leeds, delivered by our in-house technical team. On the first morning, I recognised one of the students from a summer takeover festival we had delivered in 2015! He spoke enthusiastically about his experience and how he remembered planning activities at our venues and performing on stage, as he proudly showed off his knowledge of the venue to his peers. In our work, it’s not always easy to know the impact for a young person, particularly in the long term, so it was fantastic to see that an engagement this young person had with our venues many years before continued to resonate with him and gave him the motivation and confidence to pursue (backstage) theatre as a career.
What are your hopes and aspirations for the coming year?
To continue to develop our programme to make our work even more accessible. We know many young people across the city do not have the opportunity to experience theatre for many reasons. We will continue to work with schools in these areas to develop our after-school clubs, tailoring our offer to meet their needs.
Our technical training programme with University Centre Leeds will continue, training the next generation of theatre technicians and similarly, we are developing a programme for established and trainee teachers to support the teaching of arts in primary schools.
Catherine presenting at the Leeds Creative Skills Festival 2023. Credit Aaron Cawood
Of course, our work is all about the individual and the change that we can make for every young person. My role has developed during the 14 years I’ve worked at Leeds Heritage Theatres and now it’s less often that I am working directly with participants, but I’m excited about the opportunities I now have to make connections across the city and to support our fantastic creative team in reaching even more young people.
Also, War Horse is coming to The Grand and I can’t wait to see that on our stage!
Catherine Hayward at City Varieties. Credit Yorkshire Post
Stephen Brennan and Sophie Ashley
Imogen Hinchliffe and Sylvia Barber
What has been your highlight of this (academic) year in the L&E team?
Imogen: In the February half term, we partnered with Circus Leeds to deliver circus skills workshops as part of our school holiday provision, LHT Unwrapped. We ran two days of workshops for young people aged 8-11 and 12-14. Under Rosie from Circus Leeds’ expert instruction, we saw a group of young people with minimal circus skills flourish and, by the end of the day, they donned circus hats performing with diablo, spinning plates, flower sticks, and many more. Rosie even taught me to hula hoop (something I have never been able to do!).
Imogen delivering a tour at The Grand
Sylvia delivers a tour at The Picture House
Sylvia: We have recently introduced an after-school film club for our friends at Brudenell Primary School, which was an opportunity for young people in our local community to attend the cinema for free and be introduced to a range of different films, from mainstream classics to independent hidden gems. Through repeated visits to the cinema, the young audience gained confidence within the space and we hope will engage further to hopefully become the next generation of cinemagoers. This simple yet impactful project had a positive response from the participants and next year we are expanding our offer to double places for local primary schools.
What has been your biggest challenge this year and how did you manage/overcome it?
Imogen: Balancing so many projects. We have been so busy with Leeds Grand Youth Theatre (LGYT), school tours and workshops, LHT Unwrapped, after-school drama clubs, and many more! It helps to have such an organised and positive team. Every member of the L&E team is so supportive.
The LGYT team. Imogen Hinchliffe, Ashley Pekri, Dawn Holgate, Lizi Patch and Pete Rosser. Credit: Chris Coote
Participants of LHT Unwrapped at Hyde Park Picture House
Sylvia: Although the cinema reopened in June 2023, I was off on maternity leave and only returned that October (after three long years of closure which began just after I started in 2019). Although it was amazing to return to a fully refurbished cinema, it was also quite daunting after so many amazing plans had been mostly hypothetical and seemingly impossible for so long. However, thanks to the support and enthusiasm of colleagues to try things out and introduce lots of new ideas, on top of some great work before and during closure, it now feels like our offer for young people is taking shape and continuing to grow.
What is the best show/film/act you have seen at one of our venues this year and why?
Imogen: In May, I had the pleasure of watching Come From Away at Leeds Grand Theatre. I was so moved by the story of a small town coming together to care for so many people! No matter how long I spend in the venues, that feeling of watching a show never gets old.
Sylvia: We recently showed Sherlock Jr, a silent black and white film with Buster Keaton from 1924 to a fully booked screening for Spring Bank Primary School. The film felt like a slightly risky choice for a very young audience but the response to the film was amazing, ranging from spontaneous applause to raucous shrieks of joy, as Buster Keaton performed his iconic stunts. It was amazing to see such an enthralled and enthusiastic audience for an archive film and showed the power and impact of film, cinema, and community for young audiences.
Ashley Pekri and Phoebe Cawley
What has been your highlight of this (academic) year in the L&E team?
Ashley: Writing and directing a short piece for Leeds Actors in Training to perform as part of the civic remembrance event for Holocaust Memorial Day at the Varieties this year.
Phoebe: The work experience weeks with Year 10 groups from South Craven School and Carr Manor Community School were huge highlights for me. After the success of last year’s pilot, the team wanted to make sure that this year’s projects were just as impactful, rolling out two work experience weeks to give even more young people the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of a working theatre and engage with creative careers. My favourite thing was getting to see the young people grow in confidence and enthusiasm, as they met staff from across the organisation. It was particularly lovely to witness how different individuals and groups thrived in different roles, with some enjoying the design tasks, some excelling at budgeting, and others shining in house management roles. I hope that we have inspired some of their next steps as they think about what they want from their futures!
Ashley stars in LAIT's Find a Partner
The L&E team take selfies!
Phoebe helps at the Leeds Creative Skills Festival 2023. Credit Aaron Cawood
What was your ‘wow’ moment when you saw progress in a young person?
Ashley: There have been multiple ‘wow’ moments during our drama clubs in local schools, where young people have developed the confidence to perform a sharing to their parents, overcoming nerves, and realising what they can achieve.
Phoebe: Working with seven young people to plan and put together the Child Friendly Leeds Awards 2024. Over nine months, Stephen and I supported the young planning group to make decisions about theme, script, entertainment, and more. As the awards are such a large event, the group had a big task ahead of them, juggling the planning and preparation with their other commitments. Despite this, the group pulled together an amazing event and worked so hard to support each other through the nerves they felt before the big performance. Seeing them work together brilliantly as a team and deliver the script confidently was a big ‘wow’ moment as I’d been lucky enough to witness the development of friendships and confidence over the nine months. I couldn’t be prouder of the progress they made!
What has been your biggest challenge this year and how did you manage/overcome it?
Ashley: Juggling the different creative aspects of my role. For example, in June and July, I assistant directed and performed in Find A Partner (the end-of-year show with Leeds Actors in Training), while preparing to assistant stage manage Little Shop of Horrors with the Youth Theatre and nipping out for after-school drama clubs in between. I overcame this because I love it. Being challenged creatively and having a varied workload is why I do what I do.
What is the best show/film/act you have seen at one of our venues this year and why?
Ashley: Life of Pi at The Grand. The story, lighting, sound, and performances were just incredible. It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at our venues.
What are your hopes and aspirations for the coming year?
Ashley: To reach out to the community even more than we are and help make the arts accessible to areas of Leeds that may not feel they have access.
Leeds Heritage Theatres Engagement Fund
Every year, we work with young people across the city – in schools, youth groups and other sessions – to help them build skills, confidence and pride through our creative learning and engagement programme. All donations to this fund will help us to continue our work and reach more people across the region.
