As a New Year gets underway, the New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich is delighted to announce that they will receive funding for another three years from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to continue their Agent For Change project.
The New Wolsey Theatre will receive £140,000 over three years to continue the employment of current Agents For Change Amy Nettleton and Jamie Beddard. Thanks to their work with the theatre, working within in the Artistic and Communications teams, the theatre has seen dramatic improvement in the amount of engagement with D/deaf and disabled audiences and artists since they both started in post in 2014.
Amy Nettleton, Agent For Change working the Relationships section of the Communication team, says: “This funding is such fantastic news for our community, it will allow me to continue building relationships with D/deaf and disabled communities across Suffolk by delivering talks, or tours at the theatre. We have so much scope now to work more closely with our existing and future audiences. National Disabled Peoples Day is coming up in March and this funding will allow me to really focus on bringing people far and wide to the New Wolsey Theatre to celebrate our access and build new audiences. Look out for exciting opportunities!”
Jamie Beddard, Agent For Change working with the Artistic team says: “We are delighted to have successfully secured funding for next 3 years, allowing us to consolidate and develop our work as Agents for Change. Our new initiatives include incorporating audio-description into our next production The Last Five Years creating an equality of access for our visually impaired audiences; attending shows as, and when they choose. There are a number of national programmes, including Ramps on the Moon and Act for Change aimed at placing D/deaf and disabled people centre-stage, and this funding ensures the New Wolsey Theatre can continue to lead the way in bringing about lasting change for disabled artists, audiences and participants”
The Agent For Change project started in 2013, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, with the appointment of Ali Briggs who worked across the organisation to develop relationships with audiences and participants, working with the theatre to spread the word about The Threepenny Opera – a co-production with Nottingham Playhouse, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Graeae Theatre Company – which inspired the Ramps On The Moon consortium. She started the project by making first contact with groups and clubs in Ipswich who would never see theatre as an option for them, and helped the theatre facilitate the breaking down of barriers to make theatre and the arts an accessible option for everyone to enjoy. Ali also informed a better way of working with D/deaf audiences and artists, helping train staff in basic British Sign Language skills, and working with the marketing team to develop better communication tools for D/deaf and disabled audiences.
A new website dedicated to the Agent For Change project, where resources and findings will be published to help inspire other theatre into embedding disability awareness into their work will be launched in January 2016.
All performances programmed at the New Wolsey Theatre that include additional services for those who are visual impaired, D/deaf or hard of hearing, or for those who need a more relaxed environment to enjoy the show can be found at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/accessible-performances
If you would like to find out more information about how you can get involved with the work the New Wolsey Theatre are doing to boost the awareness of D/deaf and disabled , or want to help action change in the arts no matter how big or small that action might be, please email [email protected] or[email protected],
