National Youth Theatre Connections 2027, Bristol Old Vic, Arts Award, a new youth arts charity and a six-month creative home at Emery Gate
Rag & Bone Arts is entering an exciting new chapter, with a growing programme of opportunities for young people across Chippenham, including National Youth Theatre Connections 2027 at Bristol Old Vic, new Arts Award qualifications, a dedicated youth arts charity and a six-month creative base at Emery Gate.
National Youth Theatre Connections 2027
Rag & Bone Arts has been selected to take part in National Youth Theatre Connections 2027, one of the UK’s leading programmes for young theatre-makers. As part of Connections, Rag & Bone Arts’ young company will perform The Long Table by Chris O’Connell, whose work includes writing for Frantic Assembly.
The production will give young performers the opportunity to work with a professional creative team, develop their theatre skills and experience the demands and excitement of producing a professional-standard production.=
The young company will perform locally before taking the production to Bristol Old Vic, giving Chippenham’s young performers the opportunity to perform on one of the region’s most significant stages.
A new creative home at Emery Gate
Rag & Bone Arts will also be moving into a new building in Emery Gate for six months. Their current building is being leased to a new venture, and Acorn has helped them find a new space in Emery Gate for the next stage of their work. Through their National Lottery and DCMS-funded Home from Home project, the space will provide young people with somewhere to hang out with friends, explore their creativity, develop skills and help shape the activities that matter to them.
A key part of the project will be giving young people a genuine voice in what happens in the space. Rag & Bone Arts is planning to help create Teen Takeover in February 2027, with young people involved from the very beginning, developing ideas, making decisions and helping to plan and deliver events.
A new youth arts charity
Alongside these developments, Rag & Bone Arts has recently established a new charity dedicated to high-quality youth arts engagement and training for young people aged 10–25.
The charity is supported by four local trustees, bringing valuable local knowledge, experience and a strong commitment to the community.
The charity aims to increase opportunities for young people to access creative activity, develop artistic skills, take part in training and discover pathways into further education, employment and the wider creative industries.
This is particularly important in Chippenham, where there is currently no performing arts qualification available at the town’s college. Young people who are keen to gain performing arts qualifications have to travel to Bath, Trowbridge or Salisbury.
Arts Award: Developing young creatives
Rag & Bone Arts is also beginning to offer Arts Award Bronze, Silver and Gold, giving young people the opportunity to gain nationally recognised arts qualifications. Arts Award enables young people to develop their own creative practice, discover different art forms, engage with artists and arts organisations, share their work and build skills that can support future education, training and employment.
A New Chapter for Young People in Chippenham
With National Youth Theatre Connections 2027, The Long Table, Bristol Old Vic, Arts Award, the new youth arts charity and Home from Home all coming together, Rag & Bone Arts is creating an ambitious programme of opportunities for young people in Chippenham.
The aim is not simply to provide activities, but to create genuine creative journeys, helping young people discover what they enjoy, develop their skills, build confidence, gain qualifications, have their voices heard and see where creativity could take them.
Young people interested in getting involved with The Long Table, Teen Takeover, Home from Home, Arts Award or the wider Rag & Bone Arts programme are encouraged to get in touch.
Laura Graham-May, Artistic Director of Rag & Bone Arts, said
This is an exciting moment for Rag & Bone Arts, but more importantly, it’s an exciting moment for the young people we work with. We have some fantastic opportunities coming up, and we want young people to help us shape them.
We are incredibly excited to be part of National Youth Theatre Connections 2027. This is about working collaboratively, taking creative risks and experiencing what it feels like to be part of the professional theatre world. Performing at Bristol Old Vic is a fantastic opportunity and one that we hope will inspire our young people to see just how far they can go in the world of theatre.”
Equally, we want our Hangout Space to feel like a place that belongs to Chippenham’s young people – somewhere they can come in, meet others, try something new, learn and have their voices heard.
A young person might walk through the doors of Emery Gate to play pool, have a chat with one of our creative youth workers and discover a passion for theatre, music or the arts. We want to help make those possibilities visible.
For more information about the Rag & Bone Arts, visit www.ragandbonearts.com or email Laura at ragandbonearts@gmail.com.
