Citizens for Culture - our response

Published on 30 September 2025.

What would creativity and culture look like in the West of England if they were for everyone?

That was the question posed to us by Citizens for Culture, which is bringing together people from across the West of England to explore how creative opportunities can be accessible for everyone.

In our response we looked at the importance of children and young people’s access to arts and creativity. We shared evidence demonstrating how our work with children is important and life-changing, supporting mental health, educational attainment, confidence and so much more.

We know that creative activities and theatre can impact wellbeing in lots of areas of children’s lives. We decided to focus on 3 areas we think are key:

Curriculum

Embedding culture and creativity into the Curriculum.

Our call for change - for every child to access theatre and creativity in their school. 

Connection

Bringing people together and forging Connection through shared experiences.

Our call for change - for greater access to creative opportunities and theatre outside school for all children, especially Disabled young people.

Community

Working with, responding to and celebrating the local Community.

Our call for change - for theatre and creativity to be part of making every community vibrant.

Read more below about each area along with examples and evidence from our work.

Curriculum

Embedding culture and creativity into the curriculum.

When we think about equitable access to culture and creativity – for us we think about the early start in life and how we can ensure children and young people have fair opportunities.

We want them to experience joyful, skill-building and educational activities. We want to remove barriers to access and ensure that creativity and culture are a part of everybody’s life experience. Children taking part in these activities in and out of school helps with friendships, creativity and self-expression.

This starts with education – from early years settings, through school life and including home-educated families.

If culture and creativity were genuinely embedded in the curriculum, we know there would be a huge impact on outcomes for children and young people.

Our call for change - for every child to access theatre and creativity in their school.  

Light Up School Learning

Light Up School Learning is just one example – in this project we used drama to help develop children’s speaking and listening skills. Evidence from an independent evaluation found not only did it improve speaking and listening, but it also improved learning, confidence, and wellbeing.

“It has given the children the time to work positively and improved their wellbeing” Teacher, Light Up School learning, 2023

“It helps with our stress as well as with our learning. When we get stressed as a class, Mr SM uses a game to take the stress away” Pupil, Light Up School Learning, 2023

“Observations of lessons throughout the project suggest pupils felt more positive during and after the session. Teachers also spoke of changes, such as pupils showing more resilience, managing their emotions better and overcoming fears.” Project Evaluation, Light Up School Learning, 2023

Learn more about Light Up School Learning

Light Up Language

Our current three-year project is focused on how drama, storytelling and other creative provocations can support pupil oracy in primary schools and early years settings.

“One child in Year 2 who was reluctant to participate has become so much more confident in their speaking and behaviour. Their parents have noticed a real difference at home as well as at school.” Teacher

"I am so much more confident...now people say I am very chatty in class." Child

Learn more about Light Up Language

Touring theatre into schools

We also create shows for children and young people and these are often their first experience of live theatre.  We know that watching a show not only brings happiness and relaxation, but can also help children to process complex emotions.

We measured emotional wellbeing before and after watching one of our shows – Vixen and this is what we found:

Children were able to experience intense and conflicting emotions in a ‘safe’ space which can aid their emotional development. Vixen report, 2022

I felt several emotions… I felt sad, I felt happy, and I felt I was going to explode (laughs) because I hadn’t seen anything like it before. (Comment from a Year 4 child who had not experienced theatre previously)

Having experienced feelings of sadness, worry and anger within a mediated setting of theatre, younger children may be more confident to deal with difficult emotions when they experience them in real life. Vixen report, 2022

Learn more about the evaluation findings in our Vixen Impact Report (PDF - 1.9MB)

Connection

When thinking about what creativity and culture would look like for everyone, we believe that ALL children and young people need places where they can come together, play, take risks and make friends in their local community. We do this through regular Youth Theatre sessions run from our studio in Barton Hill.

It is important children and young people are seen and known and have a place to belong through positive and supportive relationships with other children and adults in the community, and to live in neighbourhoods that are vibrant and creative.

Our call for change - for greater access to creative opportunities and theatre outside school for all children, especially Disabled young people.

Feedback from our Youth Theatre participants and parents:

"This is the first club I have ever felt I fitted in.” Youth Theatre Participant

“I love it – my favourite thing about coming here is being with you all.” Louder Than Words Participant

“It has helped my child learn how to be part of a group and make friends which hugely improves their wellbeing.” Youth Theatre Parent

"Mum, I love Travelling Light so much" (I asked him why and he said) "when I have had a bad day at school, I come to Travelling Light and I feel happy again.” Louder Than Words Parent

“She developed a greater sense of herself as a creative person since joining the group. She knows her contribution matters and so she's at ease expressing her ideas and thoughts.” Youth Theatre parent

Community

A large part of our work is about the bringing together of people, having a shared experience – building a sense of community.

Taking part in activities in the community supports connections and reduces isolation. This might be on a regular basis, such as through our holiday programmes which offers activities and food for all the family or at larger events like our Winter Lights project in January of this year, which celebrated joy, light and the warmth of community.

Our call for change - for theatre and creativity to be part of making every community vibrant.

Feedback from our independent evaluations:

Watching a show can bring happiness and relaxation, but can also help children to process complex emotions. (When The Birds Sang and Vixen evaluations)

"They all got something from it. On the way back there were lots of talks about feelings. Some children who do not speak also commented during and after the performance. Their confidence grew during the afternoon." (Comments from two Eary Years Practitioners.

Watching a show and enjoying an experience together with a family member can support connections and play, and emotional literacy in very young children (Igloo evaluation)

Winter Lights

Over 700 children, young people and their families took part at Wellspring Settlement in Barton Hill. Featuring theatre performances, storytelling, craft activities, a room of joy, a room of play, and a lantern parade, Winter Lights explored how to co-create events and stories with children and communities.

The community valued the free and inclusive activities for local families and 88% of audiences spoken to by our evaluator said they didn’t normally access arts or culture or only did so through Travelling Light’s activities.

“You don’t get to interact with other people very much these days because everyone is indoors on their phones, so this was lovely. You get to feel part of the community. It helps me socialise with other adults and not feel isolated.” Parent at Winter Lights

Find out more about Winter Lights

Thank you to all our supporters

With thanks to all the funders and supporters that help us keep going with this important work.

To find out more about how you can support our work, visit our support us page.