Last week, Chris and Camilla had the pleasure of visiting Come and Create, an outreach project from The Grange Festival. A 5-day summer workshop programme, where 70 children aged 10-15 from schools in the Basingstoke area come together to create a piece of musical theatre. The places are fully funded and open to all, with guidance from teachers who teach in the schools locally (most of which do not have creative arts resources) they target and encourage children to come forward who might not naturally do so, giving them an opportunity to be part of something where they can grow and develop.
The grant from Kerslake Robshaw Foundation goes towards the overall costs of the project. It is lead by expert practitioners, using music and drama to engage the young people in a subject matter of importance to them and put their ideas and their creativity centre stage. The project is about their ideas, their creativity and their journey. This years theme was AI, hearing the young peoples thoughts and fears, considering its power for good and bad. The project is about getting involved, not holding back, growing in self-belief and supporting each other in the creation of a piece of theatre. Liberated from the pressures of the school curriculum, and the constant assessment, confidence grows and participants who start the week well out of their comfort zone flourish, rise to the challenge, form friendships and enthusiastically throw themselves in the task before them.
