Project Funding 2017
Flipside Green Alphabet Project - (£1500)
The Flipside Festival organised poetry workshops in 8 Suffolk Primary Schools including a poem composition project featuring the Green Alphabet. The resultant poems were read by the children in a public performance attended by friends and families. The pupils then concluded by preparing collages to illustrate their poems. The material from the project was displayed in Lowestoft Library.
Photoeast
As part of the first PhotoEast Photography Festival, the Chivers Trust funded a series of participatory photography workshops with pupils from Sidegate Primary School and their families, led by former Ipswich schoolboy and world renown photographer, Julian Germain. Over 30 parents and pupils aged 5-11 took part.
The theme of the workshops was ‘Generations’, reflecting Julian’s own work photographing families of four and five generations. Participants were asked to bring along their family albums and find photographs of parents, or grandparents, when they were the age of the primary school pupils now. Parents and grandparents shared stories and memories with the children, prompted by the photographs. These newly created images were then set alongside the originals in a series of diptychs and a short film was made of the children talking about the process. The film and photographs were launched at the school’s own Arts Festival and also projected at the PhotoEast Festival on the Ipswich Waterfront.
Theatre Royal Norwich Schools Project (£2,000)
The Autumn project involved children from Mile Cross Primary, Valley Primary and St Augustine’s Primary schools. Each school created their own version of Rossini’s Barber of Seville performed at the Theatre Royal on 12th November 2017
Eastern Edge Theatre Company - Bonnie & Clyde (£500)
EETC is a brand new theatre company created by the young Charlie Pittman, based in Suffolk engaging young people in all aspects of theatre. They played to full houses and the production received great press reviews.
Total Theatre (£2,000)
This company champions inclusive theatre for people of all ages and has many members with disabilities and additional needs. Donations this year were given towards their opening outdoor performances at the opening of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival in May and the day of the Lord Mayor’s procession.
The Garage Trust - Sleeping Beauty (£2,000)
Over two weeks during the summer holidays, 50 children and 25 artists and volunteers came together at The Garage Norwich to create a theatre production of Sleeping Beauty. The creative professional team of 4 were supported by volunteers dealing with stage management, props and costume making. The young people created a show under the guidance of the professional team and over two weeks learnt a range of acting, dancing and singing skills aimed, through teamwork, to improve communication and confidence. The creative and rehearsal period culminated in 4 performances in The Garage Theatre with an audience of 400 over two days.
“My daughter Evie described the experience as the best two weeks of her life. To see her in a speaking role really helped develop her confidence and self-esteem and to meet like minded people. It made our summer!.”
Parent
A Suffolk based Summer School project involving 30 young people (13-21 age group) creating and producing their own theatre performance over a two week period with performances on 1st/2nd September. Our contribution funded five free places to participants from low-income families and supported running costs.
Amy Wyk, Artistic Director, commented “we were particularly impressed that the young people responded so well to the process and produced such amazing results. We worked them very hard – 9:00am to 6:00pm each day, & 10:00am to 10:00pm on the final 3 days. This is one of the very few experiences young people get which closely simulates professional acting and we find that the intensive nature of the project works well.”
“Such a fantastic experience. I have loved every second and I have been pushed past what I thought I could achieve!”
“It’s like a family get-together once a year. One of the best things I’ve ever taken part in.”
“It’s given me so many opportunities and help me to be more confident in myself.”
Participants
Wensum Junior School - Gloria and the Day of the Dead (£2,000)
Wensum Junior School has been through a difficult times in recent years but the 2016 Review conducted by a team of education consultants concluded with the words “Wensum Junior School is clearly heading in the right direction and the Trust thanks everyone involved at the school. This recovery must in no small measure be due to the special projects introduced to encourage children to work together.” One of these was the ambitious Opera Project working with the ROH model in partnership with Sistema. Year 5 children wrote and performed their own opera which they called Gloria and the Day of the Dead working with a team of four professional artist tutors, to cover the writing, composition, setting, production and performance.
The project provided a unique and lasting experiences for the children and the impact went beyond the classroom, as families have joined us for the performances in numbers never before seen at Wensum.
Thetford Voices (£1,000)
In 2017 Thetford Voices marked ten years of delivering Singing Workshops to children and young people in local schools and as holiday projects. The two-day workshop in August, themed as ‘Celebrate with Songs’, brought together fifty children and young people to work with student and adult leaders towards a programme of twenty songs for its closing concert.
African lullabies, a Beatles medley, show tunes and folk-song gave the young singers ample opportunity to display the enthusiasm, musicality and application which every year astonish and delight their audiences and encourage Thetford Voices to continue on its way.
