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Latest News from Minerva HQ

The Alternative Xmas Stocking Returns

Our annual flagship event returned to St. Mary's Creative Space in Chester on Sunday 4th December with 2 sold out shows giving each of our groups the chance to share pieces that they had created especially for the occasion. We had every possible different angle on Christmassy stories plus refreshments and a chance for parents, young people and friends from all across Cheshire to share the afternoon with one another. As one of our audience members told us some years ago 'It is the official start to Christmas'.

We're now off on our Christmas break with all Youth Theatre groups returning in early January. Please use our Contact Form to enquire about joining us, we have places open in all groups this term.

Lache Celebrates Togetherness

On Saturday 23rd July Lache Community Cenre came to life with a brand new community art installation created by local people to celebrate notions of community and togetherness in the aftermath of COVID. Developed by Minerva Arts Lache practitioner Jude Miller and funded through the Cheshire West and Chester Reopening and Recovery Fund, the Together Tunnel project brought together visual arts and creative writing to create an immersive installation. The sharing day was supported by local theatre company Sunrise Productions who performed two pieces and Chester Dancing who tea danced their way into the afternoon. It was great to bring together users of the centre to share this event. A big thanks to Jo McDonald, our visual artist and to Radiate Arts for their support as well as all the local people who took part in creating the artwork.

New Young Producers projects kick off in Sandbach and Crewe

In follow-up to the work that took place within the Spare Parts programme in 2020-21, we are about to start running two brand new Young Producers schemes in Sandbach and Crewe. Head over to the Projects page to read a quick blog from Sandbach Project Manager Shana on how that project is progressing. Our Crewe project will be running during the summer holiday and for more information, drop us a message via the contact page.

Malpas groups share their Brand New Show!

Come and join both our Malpas Youth Theatres on Saturday 2nd July to share their new show, created with local writer Ged McKenna. Tickets can be booked at this link.

Work Based Learning with University of Chester

This April, we took on our latest pair of Work Based Learning students from the University of Chester. We have been hosting these students since 2014 and each year it gives us the chance to meet and spend time with fantastic young people who input brilliant ideas and enthusiasm into our work. This year, Jessie and Olivia were no exception and we asked them to write a blog for us about their experiences.

Olivia
Hi! I’m a psychology student and I spent my five-week placement with Minerva Arts as a Project Manager.
My favourite part of this placement was the number of creative visual-based tasks I got to complete, I created posters for art workshops and competitions, creative writing workshops, and a drama festival. I also particularly liked creating the backdrops to coincide with the children’s Hades School of Magic play.
Some of the less creative tasks I completed during this placement included research-based tasks such as searching for venues, researching schools near the venues and where to advertise what was on. I also helped draft an application form for the Holiday Activities and Food grant which included calculating a full budget to apply for.
As somebody with an anxiety disorder it was pleasant to spend my time here. All the staff were extremely kind, with both their speaking and text tone coming across very friendly, which eased my anxiety and allowed me to reach out for help when I needed it and to produce the best quality of work I could do.
Overall, I think Minerva Arts is a fantastic company and charity to work with and I consider myself quite lucky that I got to have this experience.

Jessie
Hey! I am currently studying Musical Theatre and I have just completed my 5-week placement with Minerva Arts as one of their project managers.

Throughout my placement I got to be involved in a wide range of projects with tasks ranging from research to designing and creating visuals for the youth theatre. One of my favourite opportunities was being able to help with new projects and watching them grow.

The staff have been very warm and welcoming from the start and made me feel very comfortable whilst working with them. They always encouraged me to come up with new ideas and allowed me to be as creative as I wanted to be.

I think Minerva Arts is an amazing opportunity with an amazing team behind it. I am very grateful and thankful that I got the chance to work with them all.

Virtual and Live Work Experience projects

Throughout 2020 we offered a range of virtual work experience placements to Year 10 and Year 12 students and our doors have remained open to students throughout 2021, culminating in a brilliant 'live brief' style project int he last week of the Autumn term with lovely Year 12 students at Helsby High School.

If you are a Year 10 student, in Further Education or a Level 5 university student and you have missed out on a work experience placement this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, get in touch and we will organise a virtual placement for you. There is more info on our Work Experience and Volunteering page and you can get in touch to start a conversation.

New Youth Theatre Case Study

This year, we were grateful to be supported by Sanctuary Housing to run our Lache Youth Theatre group. As part of their support to us, they requested that we send them a case study after the year of funding had completed to help share with them the impact that their funding was having on the young people and the community in Lache. Jude got to work and produced a brilliant write-up of the journey that one of our members has been on since she joined at the start of the pilot project back in September 2018. We loved it so much we thought we'd share it and you can now view it on out Tumblr blog right here.

Fundraising

We have recently stepped up our efforts to diversify our revenue streams to support the huge expansion that we have had between 2018 and 2021. Part of this is starting out in the world of online fundraising. We are now live on shopping platform Easyfundraising as well as being available to select on AmazonSmile. We are also using donations platform Local Giving for campaigns throughout the year. You can find out more about our fundraising efforts and see how you can get involved and support our work on our brand new Fundraising page right here. We will be instigating several other new initiatives throughout 2022 so watch this space!