Islington Giving Impact Report
Islington Giving, one of our local supporters, have released their 2021 Impact Report, which highlights our Inclusive Practice work in the Borough alongside other important community work across the Borough.
Reflecting on our Inclusive Practice work Chelsea Taylor-Day, Head of KS3 and Creative Arts at Samuel Rhodes School, one of our key local partners, said:
"The difference National Youth Theatre activity has made to the children is immeasurable. The workshops are so inspiring to our young people as they explore many different themes linked to life skills and personal, social development."
Inclusive Practice is essential to our work, and we want to make sure that our opportunities are welcoming and accessible for disabled and neurodiverse young people. As part of this commitment we run a programme of targeted work around the UK in partnership with schools, including the non-mainstream schools Samuel Rhodes and Richard Cloudesley in our home borough of Islington. This project received a grant through Islington Giving’s 2021 Young Grant Makers programme. Our partnerships involve in-school workshops, after-school clubs and work-placements in our building, which has recently been redeveloped to become fully accessible. It has also been a pleasure to welcome school trips to relaxed performances at our brand new, fully-accessible Workshop Theatre. We run regular training for our staff and associate artists in collaboration with Inclusive Practice experts such as Touretteshero, who we collaborated with during the pandemic to run Digital Heroes of the Imagination in Samuel Rhodes, among others. Many schools couldn’t accept visitors during the height of the pandemic, so we delivered the workshops virtually. Each student participant was delivered a superhero pack, and joined a video call with a NYT buddy who they worked with to design and bring to life their very own superhero. At a time when theatres were closed and group activities were few, the project brought a collective sense of creativity, community and joy.
We're grateful to Islington Giving's support of this work through their Young Grant Makers programme.
Find out more about our Inclusive Practice work around the UK