Bringing young people with SEND together thanks to National Lottery Project Grants

Told by an Idiot is a touring theatre company that takes creative risks, tells universal stories and includes everyone. Jenni Grainger, Executive Director, tells us about the importance of bringing young people with special education needs and disabilities together to get creative and how building strong partnership relations can benefit touring productions. 

Back in January 2021, the pandemic shut the country down for the second time. The way people enjoyed cultural activities and expressed their creativity was forced to change and, for many people, this presented challenges. Told by an Idiot is an organisation who puts the inclusion of everyone at the heart of its work, so we sprang into action to plan and deliver a live show and workshop programme for those that have been shielding. 

We felt it important that the project was delivered as close to peoples’ doorsteps as possible and for it to continue our collaborative work with young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. Importantly, we wanted to give people the opportunity to have fun and be creative together. Thanks to support through the Arts Council’s National Lottery Project Grants programme, we launched Get Happy 21, a revamped and community engagement focused version of our hit family show Get Happy.

Watch our film created by FilmCity to see the project in action:

Touring and building relationships across the country

Throughout August 2021 we toured across England to Ipswich, Sandwell, Plymouth and Derby. We worked with over 40 freelancers, an array of local funding bodies, and dozens of community groups to deliver the project. For every place we visited, we delivered a full week of workshops for local families and groups followed by six free performances of our show across Saturday and Sunday – entertaining 150 young people with SEND and performing for over 900 people in locations known to have less access to high quality arts provision. On Sunday evening we packed up and moved to the next location ready for the following morning, to start again. 

It felt like a welcome return to Told by an Idiot’s very early days, travelling as a troupe with our show in bags, ready to perform at the drop of a hat. The difference this time, however, was the establishment of strong local relationships in each location, months before we arrived. We collaborated with a local delivery partner in each location who was already a trusted member of the community. They helped encourage audiences to the show and had direct conversations with participants and their families to support them in taking part in the workshops. 100% of participants said that the workshops gave them a stronger sense of community. Without our partners, this project would not have worked. We visited Plymouth at a difficult time for the local community but because of our embedded connection with local partners, in this case Theatre Royal Plymouth and Real Ideas Organisation, people were confident in attending the workshops and the performances. 

Seeing how my daughter actually interacted and came out of her shell was so emotional and so have asked if she could be a part of a youth theatre group in September. 

– Parent of workshop participant 

 Get Happy 21 is not just a show or workshops for young people with learning disabilities but its open to the whole family and Told by an Idiot’s work is great for everyone…everyone can come

– Jen Sumner from Hubbub Theatre, Derby 

One of our core company values is “Include Everyone”. Get Happy 21 proves that we should, and can, go above and beyond the standard production model and regular touring circuit to ensure our work reaches those who often feel excluded from theatre or feel live arts activities aren’t for them. This project allowed us to work with incredible teams of people across the country from theatres and community hubs, to resident Zumba classes, to find local spaces, get on local mailing lists and find local practitioners to run our workshops with the Told by an Idiot values at the heart. Each and every person involved in Get Happy 21 worked hard together for this project to be a success, and it was. We can’t wait to tour like this again. 

Get Happy 21 was supported through National Lottery Project Grants. National Lottery Project Grants is open for any arts, library or museums projects that benefit communities in England. The Arts Council recently updated this programme to help us bring creativity and culture to even more people in villages, towns and cities across England, delivering our strategy Lets Create. Find out more here.