We already knew, before starting out on our research journey, that youth theatre produces great performers and youth arts leaders. But we also wanted to know whether participating as a young person made for better teachers, doctors, and so on, so we had a particular interest in evidencing impact on those who went on to work in sectors unrelated to the performing arts. 

We were delighted to be able to evidence a positive impact on participants’ confidence, emotional intelligence, resilience, teamwork and leadership skills, emotional wellbeing, and broadened horizons. These findings are now being communicated to key policymakers, funders, and network members, and YTAS hopes to use them to shape future planning and delivery in the youth theatre sector. We hope youth theatre organisations themselves will find the proof of their impact, as evidenced in our report, useful for funding applications and sparking ideas for future projects and collaborations. 

The full report (including methodology, key findings and the full case studies) can be found online at > https://ytas.org.uk/projects/long-term-impact-youth-theatre-participation/

If any FST members have upcoming newsletters, we would love the opportunity to provide you with a piece for this. 

If you’re also able to help us share the results of the research, that would be very much appreciated. Our social media accounts have some posts suitable for sharing > 

https://www.facebook.com/YTArtsScot (pinned post)

https://www.linkedin.com/company/youth-theatre-arts-scotland/ (pinned post)

Please contact hollie@ytas.org.uk if you need any further information, or have any questions at all. 

 

I hope you find the research as useful and interesting as we have!

The funded five-day programme will offer professional youth theatre artists the chance to:

Working alongside peers from across Europe, the participants will take part in a series of workshops and be introduced to a range of Scottish organisations who are working to widen access to youth theatre for all. Including: Birds of Paradise Theatre Company, Solar Bear’s Deaf Youth Theatre, Ignite Theatre, Impact Arts, and Sanctuary Queer Arts.

More information on the opportunity and how to apply is available here:
www.buzznetwork.eu/lab4info/ 

10.30am - 1pm, Friday 28 April 2023

Lyceum Theatre, 30b Grindlay St, Edinburgh EH3 9AX

This workshop is open to all artists and freelancers based in Scotland who are involved in the young audiences sector, or interested in making work for young audiences.

Networking can often invoke feelings of anxiety and imposter syndrome. However, it is often an essential way that freelancers find work and make connections within the theatre sector. In this workshop we will explore practical ways to reduce anxiety around networking events.

More information is available on the Imaginate website.

How to apply

This workshop is free to attend with a place for up to 15 people. There is budget to support costs associated with access needs and travel from outwith Edinburgh.

To express an interest, please fill in the Google form via this link.

If you have any questions about this workshop please email Anna Broomfield or you can call the office on 0131 225 8050.

The FST Bursary is supported by funding from Creative Scotland. It aims to nurture the development of professionals working within the performing arts in Scotland by supporting an attachment to an established theatre, dance, or opera company, venue, or design team in the UK or internationally. 

The objective of this bursary scheme is to develop the applicant as a professional performing arts practitioner and to encourage the adoption of best practice. 

The aim of this session is to answer any questions that you might have and share information and tips with each other. 

Join us for this informal and interactive peer to peer sharing event which is aimed at demystifying project budgeting.  

We will be joined by seasoned producer Sarah Gray, of Scottish Theatre Producers, who will talk through the budgeting resources that she has created for FST, during the session we also encourage participants to share their experiences, bring questions and be part of the conversation.  

This session is the first of our peer to peer sharing programme. Each event will have an experienced professional from within the sector share their knowledge to kick off the conversation and then we will open it up to the group.  

This event is aimed at emerging producers, administrators, general managers or anyone who wants to know more about budgets! 

Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer, editor, and publisher who created the free-access Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide with artist Maria Stoian, to help creatives understand their rights and best practices as freelancers.   

This session is for sole traders in the creative industries; while the information will be particularly helpful to early-career freelancers, it is applicable for those at any stage of their career.  

How do you operate as a creative freelancer? What are your rights, and how do you protect them? What happens when things go wrong, like late payment or a dispute with an employer? How the heck do you do your taxes? 

Join Heather Parry, the co-creator of the Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide, for a practical and supportive workshop on navigating your career in the creative arts as a sole trader. With a focus on easily understandable help and simple guidance, this workshop will cover five top tips for operating as a creative freelancer, including specifics on: 
 
1. Setting your rates. 

2. Saving for the future. 

3. Dealing with late/nonpayment.  

We will end with a Q&A to discuss anything at all, so you can bring your particular questions and queries.  

Learn how to advocate for yourself and your peers from the start of your career onwards – and how to make the scary stuff less scary! 

These places will be allocated on a first-come first served basis. Please contact  fiona.mccurdy@scottishtheatre.com with your details to request a free place on this training. 

Carbon Literacy is an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions on an individual, community and organisational basis. The climate emergency is no longer a future concern, but something that is affecting and changing our lives in the here and now.  

This particular training has been developed to focus on the theatre industry, while simultaneously covering the science and economics which led us to the current situation.  

The training consists of a full day of learning, delivered in person, and includes group discussions across organisations and departments about how we prepare for the effects of the climate emergency on our work, and what we as an industry can do to mitigate those effects and reduce our ecological footprint.  

This training has been accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project, and as such meets all the criteria for learners to be certified by that body. Certification by the CLP confers a meaningful and robust award which has been rolled out to over 43,000 learners in 18 different nations. 

Tea, coffee and lunch are included within this session. 

These places will be allocated on a first-come first served basis. Please contact  fiona.mccurdy@scottishtheatre.com with your details to request a free place on this training. 

Carbon Literacy is an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions on an individual, community and organisational basis. The climate emergency is no longer a future concern, but something that is affecting and changing our lives in the here and now.  

This particular training has been developed to focus on the theatre industry, while simultaneously covering the science and economics which led us to the current situation.  

The training consists of a full day of learning, delivered in person, and includes group discussions across organisations and departments about how we prepare for the effects of the climate emergency on our work, and what we as an industry can do to mitigate those effects and reduce our ecological footprint.  

This training has been accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project, and as such meets all the criteria for learners to be certified by that body. Certification by the CLP confers a meaningful and robust award which has been rolled out to over 43,000 learners in 18 different nations. 

Tea, coffee and lunch are included within this session. 

Sarah Shimmen (Work Better Wellbeing), an experienced Organisational Wellbeing Consultant and accredited Mental Health First Aid trainer will be running this session.

The session is aimed at anyone who is a Mental Health First Aider (HR Officers and Managers are also welcome to gain an insight into the role of an MHFA’der) 

We will cover the following areas: 

Participants will be introduced to Ecostage’s holistic philosophy around sustainability with practical case studies, providing user-friendly, living examples of the connection between individual creativity and sustainability. 

The workshop and discussion explore opportunities to put the Ecostage principles into action in your own projects to co-create sustainable new narratives for the future of our society and the planet. 

Take action. Help to build a movement of ecologically-aware performance makers.
Ecostage is a grassroots initiative and website that provides a holistic framework, tools and resources for embedding practice-based ecological thinking at all stages of our creative processes and scales of production. www.ecostage.online

Past participants feedback:
“It is such a critical aspect of life and we all need to recognize how integral it should be to our work “

“The best thing about the workshop was the comprehensive approach to understanding the 7 approaches. Exploring how they are all interwoven would benefit anyone.”

“I appreciated the dialogue between the participants. It was nice to feel like I was part of the process instead of just a recipient of it."

“It's very enriching, from a personal as well as a professional point of view.”

“Compared to other environmental approaches it gives a more inter human approach.”

“I will be pledging to join the Ecostage website community because I feel like this is a great opportunity to learn.”

Learn how to use your leadership role to shape cultures that can promote positive work environments, build connections between team members, link individuals' contributions back to the wider business, and enhance good wellbeing and emotional literacy. 

We will cover the following areas: 

In the past, FST awarded two types of bursaries: Assistant Director (which also included Assistant Choreographer & Assistant Movement Director) and Producer Placement. However, we recognised that in order to aid equality within the sector there is a need to broaden development opportunities. Therefore, we have adjusted the Producer/Director bursaries to be more inclusive of the diverse range of vital roles which exist within the sector. 

The kind of roles that are now included within the bursary would be inclusive of but not limited to: 

If you would like to find out more about the Bursaries, we have an online information surgery on: 

30 March, 11-12pm – Book here 

Mentoring is a two-way partnership of mutual respect, between someone with experience and someone who is seeking support. The FST Mentoring programme aims to raise self-awareness, encourage increased self-reflection and support a people-centric approach to working. The skills are transferable and applicable in any walk of life, be it at work or home.

If you have any enquiries please don’t hesitate to contact Fiona McCurdy, Professional Development Manager.