Are Gove’s Bibles good for schools? Have your say…
This week, copies of the King James Bible were sent out to every state school in the country, courtesy of the education secretary Michael Gove. They were paid for by donations, not from the public purse.
Let us know if you think the scheme is a good idea in the survey below, and if you don’t, please comment on this post to suggest books that could have been donated instead.
To find out more about the bible plan on The Guardian, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE to read more opinions on Gove’s bible project and the Vanity Bibles opinion, as the spine references Gove himself.
Mobile phone user? Scan the code below to access the survey…
New Patron for MakeBelieve Arts
This year our esteemed patron, Vivian Gussin Paley, will be joined by our new UK patron, Michael Rosen.
MakeBelieve Arts turned 10 in February 2012 and so we decided it was time to look for a UK patron; someone whose work we valued and who we would be able to build a relationship with over the coming years.
Having read Michael Rosen’s blog and his numerous articles on the importance of creativity in the lives of all children, we felt hugely inspired. His writings and the opinions he expresses, link so clearly with our own beliefs and core values. We also love his stories and poems and felt a strong synergy with his ability to engage children with reading, writing and telling stories through make-believe.
Having invited him to become our patron we were delighted that he accepted.
Michael Rosen is one of the best-known figures in the children’s book world, renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter.
As an author and by selecting other writers’ works for anthologies he has been involved with over 140 books. He lectures and teaches in universities on children’s literature, reading and writing. Michael is a familiar voice to BBC listeners and is currently presenting Word of Mouth, the magazine programme that looks at the English language and the way we use it. From 2007 to 2009 Michael was the Children’s Laureate. He visits schools with his one-man show to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and has also visited schools throughout the world.
Poetry critic Morag Styles has described him as “one of the most significant figures in contemporary children’s poetry.” He was, she says, one of the first poets “to draw closely on his own childhood experiences … and to ‘tell it as it was’ in the ordinary language children actually use.”
His publications include:
You Can’t Catch Me
Don’t Put Mustard in the Custard as Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
We are looking forward to working with Michael as we strive together to highlight the need for creativity in the lives of children, young people, teachers and parents alike.
For more details about Michael visit our PATRON page.
Read MoreCr8net 2012
On the 24th April 2012, CIDA, the Cultural Industries Development Agency’s is holding its Cr8net 2012 conference – A Major Creative Industries Conference being held at The Royal Institution of Great Britain.
The focus of the Cr8net conference is the creative industries, especially for those who work in the sector and have a role to support and develop others.
MakeBelieve Arts is a media partner for the conference.
The event will be packed with useful discussions and lectures, with the day being hosted/chaired by Matthew Taylor, CEO of The RSA.
Other Arts professionals joining him will be:
Alan Davey, CEO, Arts Council England
Professor Andy Pratt, Head of Culture & Creative Industries, KCL
Araceli Camargo, The Cube London
Claude Grunitzky, founder of Trace magazine
Deborah Bull, Executive Director, King’s Cultural Institute
Dirujan Sabesan, Web designer, Creative Nerds / SBTV
Ekow Eshun, cultural commentator & former Director of the ICA
Hasan Bakhshi, Director of Creative Industries, NESTA
Baroness Lola Young, Crossbench peer and writer
Natalie Wade, Projects Manager, Small Green Shoots
Pim Baxter, Deputy Director, National Portrait Gallery
Roger Wade, Founder of Boxpark
Sara Shamsavari, Artist
Paul Kirkman, Head of Culture at DCMS
A New Peer Learning Network
I have recently become part of re.volution, a national peer learning network which aims to radically reconfigure business and organisational development support for arts and culture organisations.
Re.volution is the brainchild of Mission, Models, Money, who worked with industry lead bodies to design the approach. The programme is supported by Arts Council England and Scottish Arts Council.
As a peer, I have committed 3 days per year to help fellow peers with any challenges they may have with their mission, model or finances, and likewise I’m able to seek support from other peers with the challenges we face here at MakeBelieve Arts.
One of the exciting aspects to re.volution is the online community where peers have the opportunity to post their challenges on the Mission, Models, Money website so that other peers can get in touch and offer their time, support or ideas for solutions.
There is also the opportunity to attend training, meet other leaders from arts organisations across the country, access tons of literature already written around the subject of missions, models or money within arts organisations and take time to solve the age old problem of doing too much with too little and far too often, too alone.
To read more about re.voution and how to become part of the programme CLICK HERE
First there was the Bloodbottler…
…Then came all the rest of Road Dahl’s gruesome (not so friendly) giants.
But the Year 2s at Greenslade Primary School in Greenwich have discovered many more monstrous specimens. On a top secret, headlining grabbing mission, our brave Roving Reporters travelled all the way across ice, sea and sand to Giant Land; take a look for yourselves – a rugged, rocky landscape scattered with skeletons…
The land of giants
Here they discovered giants the likes of which have never been seen before. There was the Gutgurgler, Bonespitter and Heartsmasher, each and every one treachorous and terrifying – see for yourself…
First glimpse of a ghastly giant
These Footcrunching, Ribgrinding beasts were seen Lipsquishing and Gutsburping all across this desolate desert of a place. Our intrepid explorers weren’t put off; snapping pictures and scribbling descriptions all the while…
Reporting back from Giant Land
To find out what other giants are out to get us during the witching hour, here’s all you need to do…
…Follow these 3 simple steps:
1.Think of a body part, e.g. Belly.
2.Think of a sound or movement your body makes when you are eat, e.g. Slurp.
3.Add an ‘er’ on the end.
Put them together and what have you got? Your very own gruesome giant name: The Bellyslurper.
Eurgh, horrid!
Read MoreMakeBelieve Arts: Across the UK
Although Lewisham is the home of MakeBelieve Arts, and a lot of our work takes place in and around London, we are currently expanding our reach to enable us to deliver more programmes across a wider section of the country.
We have three satellite branches in:
Kent,
Essex,
Bristol & North Somerset.
And a regional focus on:
Surrey,
Berkshire,
Wiltshire.
Keep your eyes on the website for updates from our three satallites.
Click here to download a full booklet of programmes we deliver across the UK.
Giant Tours: The biggest trip you’ll ever take
In Autumn 2011 Giant Tours visited over 15 schools in London and was supported by The Wellcome Trust. Part of this support enabled us to evaluate the programme.
Professor Davies from the Centre for Research in Early Scientific Learning, Bath Spa University, evaluated the Giant Tours programme. The evaluation revealed many key findings including how well the workshop helped children become more aware of body systems – digestion, circulation, immunity – ways of keeping healthy and issues relating to biomedical science such as ethics.
“The workshop has achieved learning through the provision of a multi – sensory experience involving extensive pupil participation in role – play, humour and song. This engaged children’s attention and fired their enthusiasm”.
Professor Daniel Davies
Professor Davies includes these findings gathered from the pre and post-workshop drawings completed by the participating pupils:
-
The number of children who could identify AND correctly position at least one organ connected to the digestive system increased from 75% before the workshop to 94% after;
-
89% of children in Year 3 & Year 4 could identify at least one organ in the circulation system before whilst 100% could after;
-
The number of children linking red blood cells to the circulation system rose from 21% to 67%;
-
Correct linking of the white blood cells to defence rose from 24% to 90%.
“Giant Tours is an innovative and extremely important positive step in improving the knowledge and health awareness of school children. It takes sound scientific information and presents it in a unique and fun way that is both educational and entertaining. It delivers in areas where traditional classroom-based teaching feels somehow inadequate – yet can be done easily and effectively in any school environment. With key national curriculum principles in mind, it is both a relevant and essential part of a child’s learning. I feel privileged to be involved in such an exciting project and look forward to working on more of them in the future.”
Dr Ranj Singh, Consultant Paediatrician
“72% of teachers who were involved in the Giant Tours programme were of the view that it was children’s participation in the workshops through the use of drama/role play which had been crucial in engaging their attention, ‘making complicated facts accessible’ and ‘relating science to their own experience’.”
Professor Daniel Davies
For the full report CLICK HERE
Read MoreWelcome to the dumps!
During the half-term, local primary school children worked with MakeBelieve Arts and artists and musicians from the Blackheath Conservatoire to transform the conservatoire’s art building into an urban dump complete with rats, cats, a factory and an enchanted rye field which culminated into a magical promenade performance last Friday.
“Welcome to the dumps!” said Annekoos, the drama director and MakeBelieve Arts Creative Associate, and the story unravelled. The audience were instantly transported to a world the children had created, based on Maurice Sendak’s book We’re All In the Dumps. Guided through the conservatoire, the performance was accompanied by vocal soundscapes, instruments, singing, digital projections and of course the marvellous artwork all produced by the children.
The installation and show was a real eye opener, full of fantastic ideas and sets a great precedent for things to come.
“It is so imaginative! The children have made the most amazing sculptures. They have completely transformed the space. And wait until you see the rats!”
New Chief Executive of the Conservatoire, Sydney Thornbury
“I loved when we recorded our voices sounding like rats – we went on for 12 minutes and none of us wanted to stop!”
Christopher, performer, 7 Years
A digital text book for every learner?
So this is a bit of a long shot today as I redirect you to a blog from a blog!!!
Crazy I hear you say, but in fact it is a great piece of writing that is very balanced and informative about the launch of the Apple digital text books. This could be a revolution in how children & young people learn. However I agree with one of the commentators at the end of the blog – Apple will need to support schools to get their product into the classroom. Roll on the education programme from Apple and the discounts for iPads so more young people can experience this exciting new horizon.
To read the article, go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2012/feb/18/apple-digital-textbooks-education?CMP=twt_gu
Read More02.02.02 – 02.02.12: 10 years on…10 years strong!
What a party, what a cake, what a 10 years!
Last Thursday MakeBelieve Arts celebrated 10 years of creativity, learning and stories. MakeBelieve Art-ers old and new were joined by friends and family to share an evening of ideas, entertainment and appreciation - showcasing the work and the people of this innovative and inspiring company.
As a core member of the MakeBelieve Arts crew I was proud to see our children and young people performing in front of the audience – including the Mayor of Lewisham, teachers, funders and supporters from London and beyond. I was moved to hear stories of change and growth from those we know and love and, like everyone, I was in awe of…the CAKE!!!
Congratulations to Trisha Lee – the figure head of the organisation who has nurtured MakeBelieve Arts from being a little seedling in her back room, through the sapling years into the fine specimen of creative education you see before you today. Well done to the MakeBelieve Arts team for showing what can be achieved when you put love, sweat and icing into things, and thank you to everyone who joined us and shared in the stories and celebrations of a decade - it might be the first, but it won’t be the last!
‘Please Sir, can we have some more Dickens?!’
Today marks the 200th Birthday of arguably one of Britain’s greatest and most important writers, Charles Dickens. At MakeBelieve Arts H.Q we’re celebrating his life not only because of the literary legacy he left behind, but because he championed story and valued its importance in society. Today MakeBelieve Arts carries that torch which he and other literary visionaries ignited in the minds of children and adults across the world.
For me, the success of Dickens lies in his timeless themes which have captured generations; tales of hardships and heroes, fortunes and friendships, adventure and discovery, set to the ‘bleak’ and unforgiving backdrop of Victorian Britain. Dickens was a master of words; skilfully creating characters who splashed off the pages and into our imaginations.
I recently visited the Museum of London’s Dickens exhibition – which was both fascinating and enthralling, as the landscape of Dickens and his tales are brought to life in an unravelling book. To experience it yourself, you can follow this link. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/London-Wall/Whats-on/Exhibitions-Displays/Dickens-London/Default.htm
Here’s to the next 200 years of not only Dickens stories, but our own.
Patter cake patter cake…
Long have MakeBelieve Arts been planning our 10th Anniversary celebrations which took place last night, and with planning comes great decisions and tasks. After discussing decorations and activities, speeches and memories up came the topic of the cake. And what’s a party without a cake?
The brief: a victoria sponge with a some elegant white icing and a picture of us all on top… oh yeah and it has to feed over 100 hungry party goers! In my head I thought, why not!? Little did I know the hurdles involved in baking and puzzleing together 8 of the largest cake-tin sized cakes money could buy.
Of course a trial cake was essential when baking a cake of such monsterous proportions. This went well, although it was beginning to become clear that my initial fear of carrying icing of that scale across and on to a giant sponge was the least of my worries!
Tuesday 1st February 2012: CAKE DAY. And believe me it was a day. 2 kg of flour, caster sugar, icing sugar and butter; 32 eggs;4 kg of icing; 2 jars of apricot jam; 4 jars of strawberry jam; 2 metres of ribbon; 2 ‘eatyourphoto’ edible cake pictures (shameless plug – but they were pretty brilliant) and one very messy, sticky kitchen later and the MakeBelieve Arts 10th Anniversary Cake was born!
Suffice to say I now have an unbelievable amount of sympathy and admiration for those bakers in the Skoda cake car advert! It was totally worth it though, just to see the look on the faces of those who has giant slices to match the proportions of the cake!
On Being Ten
I am writing this on the eve of MakeBelieve Arts 10th birthday. As I was riding my scooter through the Rotherhithe Tunnel this morning, I got to thinking of all the changes that have happened over those ten years. The fact that I was riding a scooter being one of them.
But also, as I remember back to those early days, when MakeBelieve Arts was still based in a box room in my house, I start thinking about how technology has changed.
10 years ago if I went on the internet it was on dial up, and for the shortest period of time. If the phone rang while I was online we’d get booted. I remember the joy of having a separate phone line for the internet put in, let alone the celebration when we heard about a new thing called broadband – unheard of, you can be online, and using the telephone at the same time…
Now as I type this blog on my iPad, connected wirelessly to someone else’s internet, I wonder what an early version of myself would have made of all these advances.
As a business we have enjoyed adapting and changing, keeping breast with the potential of new technologies, spending time working out how we can incorporate aspects of this in our work with children and young people.
I find myself so proud of our boys literacy group, who although identified as ‘struggling with literacy’, have taken to blogging with an enjoyment and enthusiasm that many of us could learn from.
And I also love the fact that even with technology, you still cant beat the relationship between an audience and performers in a live theatre event, and how, for the children we work with, delivering that first theatre or interactive workshop experience, is as magical today as it was all those years ago.
Happy Birthday MakeBelieve Arts
Read More
It’s all over the news!
Yesterday Bill Gates came to Deptford Green School in Lewisham, somewhere MakeBelieve Arts has worked with throughout the years, and gave an inspirational speech to the pupils.
All this came about because of a programmed called Speakers for Schools. Teachers can apply for inspirational speakers and the school gets someone for free. This could be anyone from a leading professional to the Prime Minister. Each person on the Speakers for Schools list has signed up to provide one talk per year.
So what of the impact of this type of work? Well Mr Gates’ visit certainly enthused the school and their pupils and will be something they are unlikely ever to forget. I hope for the future these visits will garner an overall positive effect for those schools as much for the teachers as the pupils, as they are the people who are there to continue the inspiration and support of the pupils, as they figure out what they want to be, who they are and how they want to inspire others with their lives just as these speakers inspired them.
To read more about Mr Gates’ visit:
http://www.deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk/index.asp?PageID=310
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16726193
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
Read MoreCountdown to MakeBelieve Arts 10th Anniversary begins…
MakeBelieve Arts was born in the bedroom of a flat in Deptford on 02.02.02, so next month turns 10 years old on 02.02.12.
To celebrate we have compiled a book of MakeBelieve Arts testimonials. From poems to anecdotes, funny recollections to moving memoirs, the MakeBelieve memory book has it all!
We will be posting 10 teasers on our Facebook wall, Twitter, blog and below in the lead-up to the BIG DAY when we will feature the whole book on our website. Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a new testimonial taster.
“I remember the day I found out I was going to be a brother…”
Callum Sheridan-Lee, son to the Artistic Director, Trisha Lee
“In walk Trish and Isla. Pigtails, stripy socks – fire and dimple smiles. They were here to lead a Helicopter INSET but what they did to me was switch a light on that still burns strong today.”
Zoe Mazula – Creative Associate 2003 – 2006
“The name MakeBelieve Arts came to me in the middle of the night with such force I had to get out of bed”
Trisha Lee, Artistic Director and Founder Member
“MakeBelieve Arts has been a source of inspiration, challenge, pleasure and joy for my whole working life”.
Mary Watkins, Creative Associate 2006 – Present
“We had immense fun as a team, produced wonderful work and audiences loved it…no small thing!”
David Baird, Musical Director, 2004 – Present
“There are many many more experiences, past and ones to come, that have seen me grow both professionally and personally, that I will carry in my heart forever as a huge part of my own story.”
Pippa Taylor, Administrative Director, 2008 – Present
“So we’re sharing stories – not just the one of course, that would be impossible, because story is the life blood of MakeBelieve Arts.”
Alice Edwards, Creative Projects Coordinator, 2009 – Present
“MakeBelieve Arts is part of my story. I often frequent those particular pages in my mind and find them full of friendship, challenge, creativity and camaraderie. More than anything, I find them full to the brim with laughter.”
Fiona Campbell, Marketing and Administration Assistant, 2010 – 2011
“MakeBelieve Arts has been a huge part of my journey as a professional but most importantly as a person! It has been a wonderful and truly inspiring 10 years. I feel very blessed to be a part of the MakeBelieve Arts family and I look forward to all the upcoming years of wonderful adventures to follow!”
Deepa Parma, Creative Associate 2004 – 2011
“Who can keep up with the pace and vision of MakeBelieve Arts? In ten short years you have taken the simple notion of children dictating stories to be acted out with classmates, and given the concept a theatrical thrust. In so doing, you have expanded the imaginations of English schoolchildren and their teachers into every corner of school life.”
Vivian Gussin Paley, Patron 2002 – Present
The Shakespeare of Four Year Olds
Several years ago a four year old girl called Bethany told me a story.
‘Once there was a girl who was very married. She danced to the music with her marrier. And then there was a big bad wolf sneaking while she was dancing. And then they looked behind them and then they saw a wolf and the wolf gobbled them up. And then they was alive again. And then they went home and then they saw a broken chair. So much they liked the broken chair it broked into little pieces. And they then sitted on there new settee.”
I love Bethany’s story. I love the way at four she has already sussed out about being ‘very married’. And of course about dancing to the music with your marrier.
When Bethany told me her story while I wrote it down, she really struggled with finding the word husband. Undeterred she invented her own solution – the word ‘marrier’. What a fantastic word. Would you rather have a husband, a wife, or a marrier. If i had a marrier I too would be dancing to the music all of the time.
But apart from the romance, it also makes grammatical sense. If you bake bread you are a baker, if you teach you are a teacher, if you are married to someone you are their marrier.
At four years old Bethany was finding creative solutions to problems, developing her own words to communicate her meaning with the people around her. Isn’t that exactly the same as what William Shakespeare was doing all those years ago? And how beautifully rich is our language as a result of this type of exploration.
If we shut creativity out of our classrooms, if we concentrate instead on learning facts and dates, and testing and exams, we will never have time to make room for the fresh ideas, the ‘dancing marriers’ that will light up our lessons and excite us to savor new things.
Language is a fascinating thing, and allowing children to explore it through play and fantasy, through developing their own stories, trying out different roles and finding out what it feels like to see the world from another’s perspective, to incorporate story as a way of understanding maths or science, is how we will support them in developing their emotional intelligence and thinking skills. This is the sort of curriculum I know I would like to see in our schools, and it is a curriculum that I believe would support children in developing the literacy skills that are deemed so important by the current Minister for Education.
Literacy is important, we need to give our children every opportunity to play, like Bethany did with the English language. How else will they discover its magical serendipity and ponder over the fact that Gove rhymes with LOATHE and not with LOVE.
Read MoreChristmas Wishes for a Creative New Year
As Christmas rapidly approaches and the end of the year is in sight, I find myself becoming reflective on a year that has probably been the hardest financially in nearly 10 years of MakeBelieve Arts history. The company has been hit hard by invisible cuts. The current financial climate has had such an impact on schools and local authorities that our earned income from these places is down substantially.
So why do I feel so optimistic? There is a temptation to face inward when times are hard, to stop taking risks and try to cling on desperately to what you have, rather than look outwards and think about what we can learn from this current situation. For some strange reason this difficult time feels exciting.
There are great challenges ahead of us, but because we are so passionate about what we do, because we know so clearly that creativity in education has such a power, is so important for the children, young people and teachers we come into contact with, because we so often see the penny dropping, or a story forming, or a voice emerging from a child who never speaks, it actually makes the challenge of fighting to keep this going, all so much easier.
2012 will be hard, and I have a lot of anger and worry about the effects a prescribed Knowledge Based Curriculum’ will have on our schools perceptions or ability to access a creative curriculum. Budget cuts and anxiety about money can mean that the arts get labelled as luxuries and we forget the value that is added by a day of inventing, playing and imagining, and how much such a memorable experience brings back into the day to day life of a classroom.
So my end of year wish is that Michael Gove wakes up on Christmas morning having been visited by three ghosts.
The Ghost of Education Past will show him the work of some of the visionaries of our education history, like Rachel and Margaret McMillan, cutting children out of the clothes they were sewn into and giving them breakfast and nights in the fresh air to stimulate both their minds and bodies.
The Ghost of Education Present will force him to listen to 3 hours of Ken Robinson, then whisk him away to Reggio Emilia to see how creativity has impacted on children’s education, followed by a session with MakeBelieve Arts where they engage with a class of children in a creative science story that explores ideas well beyond there prescribed age.
And finally the Ghost of Education Future – shows a tearful Michael Gove how bleak the world will look if we focus only on testing, and facts rather than the joy of creativity and learning.
And so Michael Gove having woken from this nightmare will get the DFE back from vacation and by 2012 creativity and learning to learn will have a prominent place in the new curriculum and there will be joy and peace on earth for all.
Well a girl can dream…
Read MoreSeasons Greetings!
MakeBelieve Arts HQ is officially closed for CHRISTMAS! Little bursts of Christmas cheer have been escaping our lips for a while and we can now finally let it all go because IT’S CHRISTMASSSS.
Thank you to everyone who has supported MakeBelieve Arts over the past year from our Creative Associates, to all that have helped make our blog come alive, to you, yes you reading this Christmassy message.
We wish you all a jolly holiday and Happy New Year. Bring on 2012!
From Trish, Pippa, Alice, Ross and Louise
Read MoreSecond dose of the Ironmongers Boys Literacy Project
Now in its second year, the Boys Literacy Project was re-launched in September 2011.
Over the last term, and continuing for the next two terms, MakeBelieve Arts has been working with a small group of boys from Grinling Gibbons and Tidemill Primary Schools. These boys, from year 3 -5, have been identified as having a low attainment and ability in literacy, and the intention of the project is to boost their enthusiasm, quality of their writing and re-engage them in literacy through using a spectrum of creative approaches and tools.
“It helps me in school because I sometimes struggle with my learning and ideas…and here I always try my best and don’t struggle.” (Year 4 Pupil)
Building upon the pilot project in 2010, this year the programme has gone through many innovations; one of the biggest being the introduction of ‘blogging’. From our own research, and the shift in ICT being incorporated more into children’s education, we were keen to establish blogging alongside using drama and storytelling in our weekly sessions.
“It doesn’t matter that I get the spelling wrong sometimes, I feel confident and I share my ideas on the blog” (Year 5 Pupil)
Over the last term, the boys have been sharing their thoughts, inventions and stories on a global platform using this blog. Their mission was to go global, and since the project started, we have had over 1,500 visits to the site and many comments and contributions; from the USA all the way Australia!
“I have also enjoyed watching them all grow in confidence, wanting to share there ideas with their peers. This has also enabled them to build on relationships with each other and within the school setting, as this has also help them to express themselves in a more productive way.” (Teacher)
The project has come to a close for this term, but the boys will be back blogging in the New Year. Without giving too much away, next term the boys will be putting on their quizzical hats as they are launched into a story of GIGANTIC proportions!
Thank you for following their work, and please keep your eyes peeled for more posts in the New Year.
Click HERE to go to the Boys Blog
Read MoreTheatre Venture – the end of an era & the start of decline?
Last week Trish, Artistic Director, and Pippa, Administrative Director, of MakeBelieve Arts attended a farewell evening for the long standing community theatre company – Theatre Venture.
The evening was a celebration of their work – with the company turning 30 this year!
But it was also a space for contemporaries to talk about the current situations that many arts and community groups find themselves in, with ever increasing demand for funds and facing the loss of local government and education sector buy in and support of the work.
Two Theatre Venture programmes continue as they have moved, with members of the Theatre Venture team, to Immediate Theatre who are based in Hackney and work all over East London. Alongside this, the outgoing Executive Director, Gary Horsman is seeking to find a way to preserve the Theatre Venture archive and he would be more than interested to hear from anyone who can help in this endeavour, his details are on the company’s closing page: http://www.theatre-venture.org/
Everyone here at MakeBelieve Arts wishes the staff at Theatre Venture the very best as they head on to new creative adventures. We will tirelessly promote the benefits of the arts in the community and education even where current decisions are hampering the continuation of this work.
As each community or arts education organisation closes, in these times it is a sad blow for the sector as a whole.
Read More
Follow Us!