The National Youth Theatre is launching a new national initiative aimed at creating jobs and bringing drama to disabled young people.
Young people, specialist schools and colleges and cultural community partners initially in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are being invited to be a part of the Inclusive Practice Collective.
Enabled by the Government’s Kickstart Scheme which provides funding to employers to create job placements for 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment, the Inclusive Practice Collective will provide 60 jobs for young creatives while offering a boost to drama provision in schools.
Announcing the scheme, the CEO and artistic director of National Youth Theatre, Paul Roseby said: “Disabled people and all young people are most at risk of reduced opportunities post-Covid. Rising unemployment figures emphasise the urgent need for a social and cultural recovery that prioritises creative jobs, ensures accessible and inclusive opportunities and celebrates the diversity of British youth in all its forms and that’s exactly what our new Inclusive Practice Collective is designed to do.”
On behalf of those involved in the programme actor and NYT alumna Rachel Denning said: “I am so excited to see this Kickstart programme happen, we need young and passionate allies to continue making this industry an inclusive one. Inclusion should be cool, creative and at the forefront of our practice; National Youth Theatre and its members have the power to do this and they are such an important voice in our industry.”
Discussing the impact of the NYT’s programmes, the staff and students of London’s Highshore School added: “Highshore School has been working with the National Youth Theatre since spring 2018 to pilot a variety of inclusive workshops and after school clubs. Students that have taken part have become more confident, have been more willing to work with others and have found new ways to communicate not only in their drama but in their school life.”
Inspired by the NYT’s young members, the Inclusive Practice Partnership will create 60 new paid jobs placements for young inclusion facilitators aged 18-24. Formal recruitment will begin in March with a pro-active search working with community partners, job centres and referral agencies including the local authority and youth employment programme in NYT’s home borough of Islington. The NYT has made a positive commitment to employing d/Deaf and disabled people and guarantee to interview all d/Deaf and disabled candidates who meet the minimum essential criteria for the role. Young people interested in joining the Inclusive Practice Collective should apply HERE.
As well as providing jobs for young people the scheme will deliver two academic terms of regular inclusive theatre activity for disabled young people in 15 SEND schools and colleges initially in Greater Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, West Yorkshire and London; up-skill and support young inclusion facilitators with industry-led talent development; work with cultural partners rooted in their communities to connect the collective to existing programmes and future employment opportunities; stage a digital festival for the collective celebrating inclusive theatre practice in schools and colleges and offer progression routes for young disabled people into the National Youth Theatre membership, as well as other local cultural opportunities.
Specialist schools and colleges and cultural community partners rooted in their local communities can email participation@nyt.org.uk by 25 March to express an interest in partnering on the scheme, which aims to build a national community of SEND schools with a focus on creativity and the arts.
In the first year job placements will last for six months from August until December. Activity will be delivered in partner schools between September 2021 and May 2022.
The Collective marks the national expansion of the NYT’s growing Inclusive Practice programme which is designed to build the representation of young disabled talent within the organisation and reduce barriers to accessing the opportunities offered by the NYT.
Angela Thomas
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