Starting young

Since we established a youth forum nine months ago at The Dukes in Lancaster changes have been made to how the theatre is run. The youth forum, which meets fortnightly, is an opportunity for people aged 13 to 25 to have a real influence on the theatre, and since then two youth forum members have been elected to our board of directors. In just a few months, the forum has already helped to improve signage outside The Dukes Centre for Creative Learning, a youth-specific space, and has worked alongside Lancaster-based Ludus Dance to create a social media hub at Lancashire Youth Dance Festival. Later this month, an end-of-term ‘youth takeover’ of the main building is planned which will see the forum taking on front-of-house responsibilities and running two days of events which they have progammed, including music, comedy, film, graffiti art, spoken word and drama. The forum is also pressing for the introduction of a membership scheme for young people to access the theatre and cinema at discounted rates. Other plans include spreading the word about the theatre and cinema with new marketing campaigns to promote it to local youth organisations and play an important part in youth arts networks across Lancashire.

The idea of the youth forum is to influence event programming and outreach work to help move the theatre forward strategically and artistically from a young person’s point of view

To achieve their aims, youth forum members must interact with all the different departments at the theatre, including management, marketing, front of house, production, cinema, creative learning and finance. Creative Learning Officer Paul Adams says: “The idea of the youth forum is to influence event programming and outreach work to help move the theatre forward strategically and artistically from a young person’s point of view. Hopefully, the forum is fun but if the members are looking to pursue a career in the arts, being involved with an organisation which can make a real difference is good for their CV and personal development.”

The Dukes has had a youth and community outreach programme since 2006 and its Centre for Creative Learning is based in a converted Methodist church, 100 metres from the main building. The creative learning team works in partnership with Lancashire County Council Young People’s Service to deliver a vast range of creative participatory opportunities in theatre, film, music and mixed media.

The idea for the forum came about after the board chair, Siân Johnson, had attended an Arts Council England seminar about improving diversity. She said: “At my table there was a young man from a youth group at Oldham Coliseum talking very passionately about various issues and I thought, why don’t we have a similar opportunity for young people and give them a chance to bring their ideas to our board meetings.” Back at The Dukes, all the young people who attend the many and various sessions run by the creative learning team were invited to express their interest in a youth forum and these came in the form of letters, films and portfolios. The successful eight young people then spent a term discussing what they wanted to do and developing a constitution. By December, elections were held for two members to join, with Polly Wain and Elizabeth Fox winning the most votes. They have since attended several meetings where the forum’s ideas have been taken on board.

Polly, aged 16, said: “I joined the youth forum because I have a real passion for theatre-making and a strong connection to The Dukes, having been in their creative learning programme for six years. As a youth rep on the board, I’m excited to be a part of a team giving young people more of a voice.”

Julie Gardner, board member and youth forum champion, said this new development is already proving successful. “Young people are a very big part of what we do. Right from the off, the forum has made impressive contributions and it is great to have new ideas from within the theatre. Young people are our audience of the future so the more we can work together, the better.”

Louise Bryning is Press & Marketing Officer of The Dukes, Lancaster.
www.dukes-lancaster.org