Make Plays Change Lives

1. Make Plays ChangeLives

2. Welcome to Peer Productions • Thank you for your interest in Peer Productions. We are currently actively seeking expressions of interest from potential trustees to join our board. • We have put together this presentation to give you a brief overview of the organisation but if you would like to know more before applying then please do give our Managing Director Claire Knight a call on 01483 476825. • To apply please email your CV with a brief email outlining your key skills and experiences to claire@peerproductions.co.uk

3. What is Peer Productions? • An artist led organisation dedicated to pushing the boundaries and possibilities of making theatre with for and by young people. • A successful training organisation committed to developing young artists and equipping them with the tools they need to forge a meaningful career in the arts. • An award winning social enterprisebringing in 60% of turnover from earned income. • A leading touring theatre company delivering performances to in excess of 10,000 young people every year.

4. Amy Brown Administrator Claire Knight Managing Director Nina Lemon Artistic Director Rebecca Alloway Assistant Director Wendy Smithers FreelanceFundraiser Key skills: Administration, tour management, ICT, finance & book keeping Education &Training: York University Key skills: Project management, partnerships, sales, finance and training Education & Training: Winchester University MA Cultural and Arts Management Qualified assessor Key skills: Fundraising, Project management and evaluation. Education &Training: Surrey University PG Dip Arts Management Key skills: Directing, performing, workshop leading Education &Training: Peer Productions graduate University of Kent Performer in comedy duo Party for Two recently returned from Edinburgh Fringe Key skills: Directing, playwriting, workshop leading.and social enterprise Education & Training: Royal Holloway and Central School of Speech & Drama Qualified assessor Commencing PHD September 2015 Who We Are - Staff

5. Our Approach • Three groups of beneficiaries taking part in high quality arts projects: • Young artists undertake high quality training to enable them to take the next step in their creative careers - this is evidenced by graduate success rates • Targeted groups of young people take part in drama outreach projects designed to improve their confidence and creativity - previous participants have gone on to join further creative programmes including youth theatres. These groups include young parents, young carers and LGBTQ young people • Young audiences (aged 11 to 18) receive high quality theatrical productions tackling complex issues - for many of whom we are their first experience of live performance. • Our quality measures include: • Feedback from schools - we ask them to rate plays as pieces of theatre in addition to educational value. • Our graduates’ development and success in their next step. • Our research and connections to other organisations.

6. The Past • Founded in 2006 as a not for profit organisation. • Trained 81 young artists as actors and peer educators. • Graduates at many leading drama schools and forging successful careers in the arts. • Toured educational plays to schools across the South East reaching an audience of 75,000. • Worked with a wide range of disadvantaged groups including those with learning disabilities, young parents, young carers, young offenders and LGBTQ young people. • Registered as a charity in 2013. • In 2013 successfully adapted our training scheme into a recognised apprenticeship in partnership with North Herts College, offering a blended model whereby Peer Productions acts as both employer and training provider with a cohort of 16 learners.

7. Key Achievements • 2012 – Children and Young People Now (CYPN) Youth Volunteering Award for The Body Image Project • 2012 – Toast of Surrey Business Awards 2012 – Shortlisted for Best Social Enterprise • 2011- KidsCount Members of Parliament, Special Award 2011 for Contribution by a Community Group (Highly Commended) • 2009 – Unltd Level 2 Award – Nina Lemon • 2009 – National Crimebeat Awards – Highly Commended for The Teenage Pregnancy Project • 2014 - 100% completion at Level 3 Community Arts Apprenticeship • 2014 – Toast of Surrey Business Award – Winners Apprenticeship of the Year category • 2014 - Arts Award Good Practice Centre • 2013 – Toast of Surrey Business Award – Winners Best Social Enterprise and shortlisted for Apprenticeship category

8. Lydia Fraser PP Graduate 2009 Anthony Stephen Springall PP Graduate 2008 Katherine Carlton PP Graduate 2010 Actor Katherine left PP to train at LAMDA. On graduating she went directly into a West End run of Much Ado About Nothing and is currently performing in Grandad, Me... and Teddy Too at the Polka Theatre. She continues to support PP as a visiting masterclass leader. Composer & producer Anthony left PP to train at East15. Since graduating, he has founded Alchemist Theatre Company developing work for EdFringe which has transferred to London’s Arcola Theatre. With The Blue Brothers he was the youngest producer in the West End. He continues to support PP as a visiting masterclass leader. Actor & singer Lydia left PP to train at GSA. Since graduating she has performed in a number of productions and has recently returned from an international tour of Buddy. Our Alumni • PP alumni have trained at major drama schools including LAMDA, GSA, Central School of Speech and Drama, Drama Studio London, LIPA, Manchester Met, East15, Rose Bruford and AADA in New York.

9. Our Partners • College and Training Providers - North Herts College and JACE Training • Schools Partners - Each year we tour to around 60 schools with a high rate of rebooking • Community Partners - The Youth Consortium (Surrey and Borders), Surrey Youth Focus, WAVS, Various community groups including Surrey Young Carers and Surrey Youth Justice • Cultural Partners - Arts Award, Artswork, Tender, Surrey Arts, Surrey Heritage • Developing Cultural Partnerships - Phoenix Cultural Centre, Farnham Maltings

10. The Present 2014/15 • Offering a free Level 4 Creative Practitioner Course accredited through Rock School for 13 young artists. • Delivering three schools’ tours including a new piece exploring mental health and self harm. • Delivering the Tender Healthy Relationships Project (Year 3) • Delivering Arts Award Adviser training and the Arts Award Adviser Forum for Surrey. • Delivering a comprehensive community programme which includes a new vulnerable girls’ group designed to use the arts to empower and enable young women. • Offering a series of creative masterclasses for young artists aged 16 to 25 (funded by the Foyle Foundation). • Working in partnership with Surrey Arts and Babcock4S, delivering as part of Impact Arts a project to raise attainment at Drama GCSE (funded by Artswork).

11. The Future • Creating a sustainable business model with the stability to plan long term. As the charity grows we intend to maintain the 60:40 split between earned income and donations (charitable and public). • Developing our training opportunities to offer a wide range of accessible arts training for young people aged 16+. • For example we are exploring the possibility of developing an Autistic Theatre Company aimed at high functioning young people with an ASD diagnosis whose training is often halted at Level 3. • Extending our network of associate artists using the Foyle Masterclasses to kickstart this. • Exploring touring in non-school environments and developing theatre for adult audiences. • For example this year we are researching and developing That Porn Play, a piece of verbatim theatre exploring this generation’s response to the ubiquity of hard core pornography.

12. What skills we are looking for? • Following the departure of two experienced and valued trustees, we are actively seeking new board members so that we can strengthen our governance and draw on a range of experience and expertise to enable us to take Peer Productions to another level. • Currently the board is made up of Artistic Director Nina Lemon and Managing Director Claire Knight together with Heidi Colborn (Assistant Head Teacher and expert in creative education), Ed Baker (expert in social enterprise) and Matthew Cuzner (PP alumni, currently working for British Film Institute). • We are seeking board members who can bring expertise in: • Fundraising (both public and private) • Marketing • Human Resources • Theatre arts • Marketing • Legal • Charity Finance • If you feel that your expertise does not fit into one of these categories but that you have something different to offer we’d like • to hear from you too. • Trustees meet a maximum of one evening a month usually at our base Woking Youth Arts Centre. Trustees then provide • additional support normally by telephone or email regarding their specific areas of expertise.