It is with great regret that the trustees of Kirkby Stephen Community Arts have made the decision to cancel the upcoming Steps Up project with local schools.
The inaugural project in 2018 was a huge success, and the feedback from participants and audience was fantastic. After such a challenging time for young people recently, we were keen to revisit this success. A project this ambitious, however, requires commitment from all the partner institutions. Despite all our best efforts – securing funding which meant no financial investment from participants and partners; a year-long planning process, and huge amounts of unpaid time and energy – our key partners have not been prepared to fully commit to the project, despite earlier promises.
We are hugely sorry to disappoint our potential participants, but we wanted the best possible experience for you and we couldn’t be certain that we could deliver that. We will be spending some time now thinking about how we might deliver community-wide projects, and how we best use public money to promote the arts for local people.
Many thanks to all those who have invested time and money in this project so far, your work really has been appreciated.
The Trustees of KSCA
In July 2018 Kirkby Stephen experienced a very special and unique piece of theatre, created and performed by young people from the community. Pupils from Kirkby Stephen Grammar School, Appleby Grammar School, Kirkby Stephen Primary School, Orton C of E School and Warcop C of E Primary School worked with nationally-renowned theatre company Tangled Feet to create a bespoke theatrical performance. Pupils worked across all aspects of the production; acting, music, design, backstage, scriptwriting, media, marketing and catering. The Westmorland Family and Augill Castle provided support with catering and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick offered backstage and administrative expertise. During eight days of hard work, dedication and fun, 150 students put together a spectacular ensemble production which was enjoyed by over 400 members of our community.
KSCA Steps Up was funded by The Frieda Scott Charitable Trust, The John Strutt Foundation, The Westmorland Family and Westmorland Arts Trust.
