Youth Advisory Board 23/24

Our Youth Advisory Board, or YAB for short, is a collection of 12 young people who work together to elicit change at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.  Through monthly meetings, the board work together to reflect the wants and needs of young people who interact with and visit Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.

Work began on the formation of the board in 2021 after realising that Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds works with a large number of children and young people both within and outside of a school environment. However,  there was no direct forum where we could listen and learn from the young people we work with.  As we continued to formulate and create projects for children and young people, we wanted to make sure that those who were participating in our projects were the ones who were talking to us and helping us decide where the project should go.

This past academic year has been the pilot year for our Youth Advisory Board. We had 12 fantastic, reflective and passionate young people who really cared for the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and the arts. Over the previous year, they’ve worked together to improve our bar offering for audience members, introducing a non-alcoholic option, and supported the creation of our ‘Hangout’ programme which provides young people aged 11 -18 with the use our theatre space for activities that are not just theatre-focused. They worked with us to increase awareness around accessibility, creating the ‘Easy Read and Visual Guide’ for both our Pantomime and the Bloom Festival, whilst also supporting the marketing plan for the Bloom Festival.

Ethan, a member of our Youth Advisory Board, when talking about his experience said “Being part of the YAB has felt empowering through giving a platform where we can comfortably share our opinions. Truly a valuable space to have.”

Looking forward to the new academic year, the Youth Advisory Board are excited to settle into their roles here at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds. They want to explore how they can make theatre accessible to young people via our in-house productions including our Pantomime and Spring production. They’ll also be working to expand our ‘Hangout’ programme creating a variety of events for all young people who are located in and around West Suffolk.

Overall, the addition of a Youth Advisory Board at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds has had a positive experience for the young people involved. The creation of our Youth Advisory Board has provided a space for young people to feel valued and appreciated for the ideas they bring to the table. Because of this, the Theatre Royal team are adapting our programmes to reflect the ideas from the young people we work with. The Youth Advisory Board has been a really successful implementation into our children and young people’s programme here at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and we cannot wait to see how the programme develops over the coming years.

Written by Emma Thorpe, Young People’s Producer.