Boost Fund Stories: Spotlights Community Youth Theatre, Angus
Spotlights Community Youth Theatre
The Boost Fund is delivered by Corra Foundation and is a partnership between STV Children’s Appeal, Comic Relief, and Corra Foundation, and is supported by players of Postcode Lottery. Boost is currently open to applications and provides small grants for community-led organisations across Scotland supporting local people affected by poverty or disadvantage.
Based in Forfar, Spotlights Community Youth Theatre is a charity that offers free classes in the performing arts to children and young people from across Angus. Started in 2018 by a harassed mother of four whose children all wanted to do acting, Spotlights regularly has over 40 children involved on a weekly basis.
We believe that drama and theatre should be available to all, regardless of barriers faced. Therefore, we work hard to ensure every child and young person can participate in our classes and performances equitably. By offering free classes, we can remove the financial barrier that often prevents families from accessing drama classes. Our volunteers also support children and young people with disabilities to enable them to participate equally.
“I have really enjoyed creating the shows. It has helped me be creative and has allowed me to build better friendships.”
We applied to the Boost Fund for rent and volunteer costs, which has enabled us to continue offering our classes free of charge to local children. As a small rural town, Forfar can have families living in abject poverty on one street, and the next street over can have very well-off families. Because of this, the poverty in rural towns is often hidden and overlooked. Many families must travel to the nearest city to work due to a lack of opportunities in the town, which can place further pressure on family finances and time spent together. There are few art opportunities in the town, meaning children and young people not involved in sports or uniformed groups have limited access to follow their interests.
The Boost application process was straightforward and clear. One of the main issues for funding applications is always finding the time to complete the application forms, therefore having a clear and simple form that is easy to complete is always appreciated.
Many of our students participate both on and off stage, taking on roles such as choreographer and stage crew. Currently, our various groups are working towards performing some original works, including a musical that they have written themselves!
“It’s great as everyone gets their opinions and views in the musical and everyone gets a chance to try new things, e.g. tech and stuff.”
Many thanks to Spotlights Community Youth Theatre for writing this piece for us. Follow and find out more at:
Find out more and apply to Boost here.
