Taste of Kingston was a five-day global food trail taking local people on a journey around the world via hospitality businesses and high streets in Kingston’s town centre. Nine local businesses with connections to global cuisine were involved; from Parisian brunches at Haché, to Middle Eastern flavours at The Cheeky Pea, and the Chicago-inspired menu of Woody’s Bar and Kitchen. Alongside this, seven artists collaborated with the businesses to create bespoke events to draw people through their doors.

Read the full story in Voice Magazine

Thanks to National Lottery players, we’ve been awarded funding to host a creative and cultural event to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee 🎉

The Community Brain will collaborate with us here at Creative Youth to co-curate an exciting community art exhibition – Global Voices Local Places – that explores how The Commonwealth has shaped the local community within the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

Arts Council England’s #LetsCreate Jubilee Fund is made possible thanks to National Lottery Good Causes.

Administered by UK Community Foundations 🙌

#PlatinumJubilee

Aztec is pleased to announce that Creative Youth has been named as its Charity of the Year in 2022 and has set a target of £6,000 which it will raise through a series of fundraising activities.

A team of between 8-9 employees will carry out the three-peak challenge in August 2022. The aim is to climb all three in just 24 hours. Starting with the ascent of Ben Nevis in Scotland, the team will drive to, and then ascend Scafell Pike in England, then onto Snowdon in Wales, walking over 23 miles with ascents totalling more than 10,000 feet. A minibus will transport everyone between the peaks, driving a total distance of approximately 500 miles with the team attempting to sleep and eat as they travel.

In September 2022, a team of Aztec employees will join the iconic London to Brighton Cycle Ride. This is a 55 mile ride taking riders from Clapham Common through the North & South Downs and ending on Brighton sea front.

In addition to its fundraising efforts, Aztec has also pledged to donate audio visual equipment required for Creative Youth’s Gala Dinner at Glenmore House in Surbiton on 30^th March 2022. Creative Youth produce the FUSE International Festival in Kingston-upon-Thames each summer and Aztec has pledged to provide audio visual equipment for the organisers free of charge.

“We have supported Creative Youth in various ways for over 10 years, but we have never formalised our support” explains Aztec’s Managing Director, John Robson. “As we emerge from the pandemic, we feel that young people need our help more than ever. We decided that making Creative Youth our Charity of the Year would be a great way to achieve this, plus we could encourage our own employees to support this amazing local charity in a truly fun and engaging way.”

CEO of Creative Youth Louise Coles said “Aztec have been huge advocates and supporters of Creative Youth for many years, and we are really pleased they have named us their official charity of the year. It has been an incredibly challenging time for young people. Our work remains more important than ever and it is a huge boost that local businesses, such as Aztec, recognise our vital role.”

Editor’s Notes:

Aztec Event Services:

Founded in 1989 and based in Chessington, Aztec has established an enviable reputation in live events, providing technical production and creative services to all types of events literally all over the world. The company is renowned for using its technical expertise to enhance the client experience, and thrives upon creating innovative solutions for events, ensuring that each experience is on brand, on message, and engages with its target audience.

Creative Youth:

Creative Youth is a charity based in Kington-upon-Thames.  As the name implies, it was born out of an ambition to encourage and celebrate the creativity of young people, which they define as ages 5 to 26. The first International Youth Arts Festival (now called FUSE International) was held at the Rose Theatre in 2009, and it has since grown to become the largest festival or its kind in the UK.

The charity is a local organisation with national and international reach that has nurtured and showcased a broad range of talent throughout the festivals, events and training programmes. They will also soon be launching a new and exciting creative space for young people in Kingston and surrounding areas.

Thanks to Creative Youth a minimum of 1,500 young people engage with, and benefit from, their involvement in the arts and creativity every year.

For further information please contact Charlotte marketingdirector@creativeyouthcharity.org or Aztec marketing@aztecuk.com

“Young people more than ever need the opportunity to connect with Europe and sit on a global stage. I wanted to create a group of like-minded organizations, companies that work towards supporting young people, young, emerging artists, young actors. We’re in the same business, we’ve got the same kind of values. I was keen to get Gabriela over and share her practice with emerging directors.”
– Louise Coles

Read the full article here

Theatre Arts Group are an independent theatre company in Romania that trains and supports emerging artists. They are one of Creative Youth’s four European partners.

Community, Learning and Participation Lead Archie O’Neill represented Creative Youth at the previous ‘State of the Borough’ panel which took place virtually.

Following an introduction from Cllr Andreas Kirsch, the speaker panel included:

• Forbes Low, Chief Executive, Kingston Chamber of Commerce
• Dr Naz Jivani, Clinical Chair for Kingston, South West London Clinical Commissioning Group
• Iona Lidington, Director of Public Health, Kingston Council
• Peter Mayhew-Smith, Group Principal and Chief Executive, South Thames Colleges Group
• Archie O’Neill, Community Learning and Participation Lead, Creative Youth
• Pippa Mackie, Chief Executive, Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau
• Sanja Djeric Kane, Chief Executive Officer, Kingston Voluntary Action
• Fiona Tarn, Future Culture Lead, Kingston Stronger Together Hub

#StateOfTheBorough22

Join us for a discussion about the barriers experienced by actors, performance artists and creatives who are neurodivergent and how we can all implement change to broaden access.

Register your attendance by or by visiting the following link:

This webinar is part of a free series by Creative Youth, called So You Wanna Work in/Change the Arts, discussing key arts industry topics. Visit our page on Anchor to listen to our full archive of webinar sessions.

Chair:

• Michelle Payne

Panelists:

• Ushiku Crisafulli
• Emy Parsons
• Tabby Lamb

Make sure to read below to find out about all our panelists and their work below, also be sure to check out their social media pages or websites to discover more!

Michelle Payne (Chair) [pictured bottom-left]

Michelle is a director and playwright from Essex recently working on artist-led programme Future Forms with the Donmar Warehouse under the guidance of Sacha Wares.

Michelle was a 2019 recipient of the Regional Theatre Young Directors’ Scheme completing a three month residency at the Mercury Theatre Colchester. Here she assisted Ryan McBryde on Cinderella which was nominated for Best Pantomime at the Great British Panto Awards.

In 2020 her immersive, site-specific dance play Squad Goals at Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. received multiple 4 & 5 star reviews and features from theatre and national press before being published by Salamander Street in April 2021.

Michelle is currently developing two new musicals. Enthusiastically, Yes! about sexual consent with singer-songwriter Craig Webb with the support of Harlow Playhouse. A song from the show was performed at The Garrick (West End) on 4th October as part of Adam Lenson Productions & Aria Entertainment’s The Chamber Musical Sessions. And Man Enough co-written with Emy P is currently a finalist for The LET Awards and was workshopped in February 2022 at Theatre Peckham, supported by Arts Council England.

Twitter: @chellesta / Instagram: @chellestaa

Ushiku Crisafulli (Panelist) [pictured bottom-right]

Ushiku Crisafulli is a chef, poet, playwright, actor, performance artist, comedian, musician, writer, spoken word and hip hop artist, and founder of the OpenMind Collective which curates community focused cross-genre creative collaborations through live events with a multi-disciplinary focus.

He runs the various Bards projects throughout the UK on behalf of Local Gems Poetry Press, and is currently honing his writing, directing, music and comedy skills as a recipient of an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant.

He’s currently working on his second solo show, Unmasked, which challenges language around autistic authenticity through comedy, hip hop, and theatrical monologues and an accompanying exhibition that uses visual arts and soundscapes to challenge the language around autistic enjoyment and environmentalism in collaboration with Filipino Artist Miel Timtiman and Nigerian artist Akilo Joseph.

Instagram/Twitter: https://ushikucrisafulli.com/about/

Emy Parsons (Panelist) [pictured top-right]

Spoken Word artist, Composer, BBC featured poet and Musician born and raised in Essex. Emy trained at the British Academy of New Music and has worked with Youth Creation (Stars of Britain’s Got Talent) since they first opened their doors in 2006. On a personal mission to raise awareness and de stigmatize the negative viewpoints surrounding ADHD and Mental Health in adults, Emy describes “Man Enough” as her “Dream musical project”.

She is also a proud Ambassador of the “Nutritious Minds” charity, who support and mentor individuals living with ADHD, Autism and much more. Emy.P featured in the list of TOP 50 Neurodivergent Women 2019 and recently won the Undiscovered UK Spoken Word artist award.

All episodes of Emy’s Mental Health/Neurodiversity Podcast “Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix Me” are available now on Spotify and ITunes.

Instagram/Twitter: @emypmate

Tabby Lamb (Panelist) [pictured top-left]

Tabby Lamb is a non-binary writer and performer based in East London. She is equally inspired by Carly Rae Jepson and Tennessee Williams, and strives to tell stories that explore the intersections between popular culture and politics.

Their debut solo show SINCE U BEEN GONE, which Tabby wrote and performed, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019, after previewing at the Gate Theatre. The show was spectacularly received by audiences and garnered a glowing 4* write up from the Guardian who called the play “bold, honest and swollen with love”.

They were part of the Soho Theatre Writers Lab and the LGBTQ Arts Review #RaisingOurVoices scheme for queer and trans writers, Oxford Playhouse Playmakers scheme, and Oli Lansley’s Writing for Stage and TV course. She is also an associate artist for Middle Child and Theatre Royal Stratford East.

They are currently under commission at The Unicorn Theatre, The Place and Kilter, Pentabus and 45North. Alongside their passion for writing, Tabby is a facilitator and runs creative arts projects for people from the LGBTQ+ community. They also founded Theatre Queers & can often be seen advocating for Trans Rights across their social media platforms and beyond.

Website: http://tabbylamb.com/

So You Wanna Work in/Change the Arts is a podcast & webinar series produced by Creative Youth Charity. This series is part of CY’s wider Creative Talent Programme which offers artistic, strategic and business support to young emerging artists. Generously supported by Arts Council England. 

The arts are something that I have been invested in for many years. When I was 10, I took part in my first amateur production which was ‘Les Misérables School Edition’ (directed by Paul Wildman) at the wonderful ‘Mill Theatre’ in Sharnbrook; from that day onwards, I fell in love with theatre and all things creative. The Mill Theatre provided me and so many other youths with a passion for the arts and played a big part in why I am here today doing what I do. Creative Youth is delivering on that very same mission and it is one of the many reasons I love it and the work we do.  

In current years I have turned to the music side of the arts, studying Music Industry Studies at the Academy of Contemporary Music and most currently an MU in Composition for Film and TV at Kingston University. I also am the frontman of the theatrical rock band ‘In Albion’, which has been a fantastic thing for me, combining my love for theatre and hard rock and roll.  

All in all I am obsessed with performing arts and absolutely adore that I can help contribute to the creative endeavours of other young creatives. 

It’s been a tough couple of years for us, we’re sure a difficult time for you, and it has most certainly been a testing experience for our young performers and aspiring artists.

The Gala is a celebratory night of great food, awesome performances, and unbridled fun! Starting with a reception at 6.45pm, the evening includes a sumptuous meal, an impressive variety of entertainment from some fantastic young performers and is topped off with an auction and speed raffle!

Mindful of people’s finances, we are keeping the ticket price the same as the 2019 event:-
at £100 for an individual ticket
or £900 for a table of 10

How to book
If you would like to join us, please email tickets@creativeyouthcharity.org to reserve your place.

We really hope you can join us for what promises to be a wonderful experience.

AMP Kingston is a new project we are aspiring to deliver in 2022, responding to an identified community need to better understand and access the borough’s rich music heritage.  The project will focus on these three areas:

• Connection to young people – the translation of heritage to young people within the community. Young people are key to CY’s work so this project will ensure an integral link between past and present

• Creativity and Heritage as active co-partners – in RPM, there was less focus on the creation of new art. To activate the legacy of the project, the heritage uncovered will be used as a greater springboard for inspiring a wider variety of arts forms, not only music.

• Gigs and live music venues – This new project actively builds on the brilliant resources from Kingston RPM but firmly places young people at the heart, building a sustainable legacy for future generations.

The Programme Manager will provide leadership to ensure the strategic overview, outcomes and project deliverables are achieved at an excellent standard, including monitoring and evaluation.

For the full job description, all specific application guidelines and information surrounding the project please click here.

If you have any queries or questions for us then please don’t hesitate to contact our General Manager, Natalie Chan, on admin@creativeyouthcharity.org. Deadline for this role is Friday 25 February 2022 at 12pm GMT.

Monday 24 January, 7pm BST

Panelists and Chair to be revealed very soon, stay tuned on our social media channels to find out who will be taking part in our very first ‘So You Wanna Change the Arts’ session. This new addition to our free webinar programme allows you to be involved in the discussion relating specifically to participation and change to the industry.

You can register your attendance .

Panel members:

Chair – Laura Sedgwick
Panelist – Robin Lyons (Ergon Theatre)
Panelist – Megan Willett (The Knot)
Panelist – Josephine Owen (The Knot)

Laura is a London-based theatre producer and co-ordinator. For the last several years she has worked on UK commercial theatre productions, mainly in the West End and on UK tours. Originally a participant of the Stage One trainee producer scheme, she has since worked as an independent producer, and is now working for National Theatre Productions.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, whilst not working in theatre in a paid capacity, they spent their time self-educating and engaging with sustainability in theatre, alongside joining various voluntary organisations. She is currently a declarer with Culture Declares an Emergency.

Robin is one of the co-founders of Ergon Theatre – a company that makes performance based work about the climate crisis and futures. Ergon wants to make climate science more accessible to people in educational, entertaining and empowering ways. They believe the arts have a huge role to play as a communicating bridge between the science community and the public. Ergon’s debut show The Wicked Problem premiered on the main stage at Contact during COP26. Ergon are or have been supported by organisations including MIF21, M6 Theatre, HOME, Contact, ARC Stockton, Julie’s Bicycle, Broadway Green Alliance, The Lowry, RFK Human Rights, Bolton Octagon.

Outside of the world of climate theatre making, Robin is a writer, public speaker and award winning actor. Robin’s acting credits include winning ‘best performance’ at MCR Culture Awards for his work with Louise Wallwein’s Hidden and a role in the upcoming final series of Peaky Blinders. Robin most recently performed in Ergon’s debut at Contact.

The Knot is a multidisciplinary design studio, founded by Josephine Owen and Megan Willett. As driven individuals, they combine their passion for research, education and storytelling to form a strong duo – a knot.

Megan is currently a freelance animator and designer based in Peterborough. As a curious creative, they always aim to insight positive change, raise awareness and communicate the complex. Josie is a designer from London who loves experimenting with design to evoke a positive change in the minds of her audiences. Her working process relies heavily on research and the testing of materials to story tell, educate and inform. In her work her aim is to always teach others and herself something new.

This webinar is part of a free series by Creative Youth, called So You Wanna Work in/Change the Arts, discussing key arts industry topics. So You Wanna Work in/Change the Arts is a podcast/webinar series produced by Creative Youth Charity.

This series is part of CY’s wider Creative Talent Programme which offers artistic, strategic and business support to young emerging artists. Generously supported by Arts Council England.