The Stage

Oldham Coliseum secures lottery funding to develop youth offering

Published Wednesday 2 September 2009 at 13:59 by Matthew Hemley

Oldham Coliseum Theatre has been awarded more than £200,000 to start a new three-year project aimed at supporting young people living near the venue.

The money, totalling £204,629, has been awarded by the Big Lottery Fund, which is committed to improving communities and supporting people in need.

It will allow Oldham Coliseum to initiate The Growing Stage, a project focused on ensuring young people can influence the development of opportunities available to them at the theatre.

The project will consist of four areas, including TheatreLAB, which will give young people the chance to work as part of a theatre group towards presenting an annual production, and DigiLAB, allowing young people the chance to develop creative skills when working with new technology.

Meanwhile, The Theatre Peer Training Scheme will work with young people to improve employability, and Theatre Pathways will provide mentoring opportunities with experienced employees at the theatre.

Executive director Liz Wilson said: “We want young people involved in the theatre’s development and this will bring about a big organisational change for the Coliseum.”