Birmingham Hippodrome to raise £20,000 to boost access to theatre and new creative opportunities for young people

Birmingham Hippodrome is encouraging the public to help raise £20,000 to support its work with young people who face barriers to arts engagement and help develop their creative talent. The campaign will run for one week from midday on Tuesday 19 March to midday Tuesday 26 March.

The campaign is part of the Big Give Arts for Impact initiative through which any donations made will be doubled. Birmingham Hippodrome’s involvement in this campaign will help drive forward the Hippodrome’s ambition to become the most accessible venue of its scale in the UK.

Working with local partners to remove financial barriers for access to theatre and creative experiences, funds raised will enable Birmingham Hippodrome to offer:

• opportunities for a minimum of 200 local young people to develop creative talents, confidence and leadership skills through creative workshops in their communities and at the Hippodrome
• access to world-class performances
• the chance for young people to grow their engagement with existing Hippodrome programmes and groups, and develop creativity as part of a rich and diverse community

In the last year, Birmingham Hippodrome’s work across Learning and Participation helped 5,500 young people attend a show at Birmingham Hippodrome, 44 schools benefitted from the Hippodrome’s Education Network and over 4,000 sessions were delivered in classrooms.

Current youth and community projects ran by Birmingham Hippodrome include youth programme Young Advocates, who work with numerous departments at the Hippodrome to gain valuable industry insight and opportunities to be part of curtain raiser performances on the main stage.

Head of Fundraising and Development at Birmingham Hippodrome, Judith Greenburgh said: “We’re delighted to be taking part in the Big Give’s inaugural Arts for Impact campaign this spring and would like to thank the Creative Futures fund for their support as our charity champion for our fundraising campaign.

We are committed to becoming the UK’s most accessible venue and we are encouraging supporters to get behind us to help unlock and develop the creative talent of young people. We want to provide exceptional experiences for young people in underserved communities across Birmingham and the Black Country, during our 125th anniversary season and beyond.”

The campaign launches at midday on Tuesday 19 March to midday Tuesday 26 March. Find out more and donate here