Four Year ReportJune 2004 – June 2008

From drama groups inlocal village halls, to largeyouth theatres run bytheatre professionals,Promote YT are workinghard to ensure everyyoung person acrossScotland can access, aquality, safe, and enjoyabletheatre experience.KEN STOTT, PROMOTE YT (SCOTLAND) PATRON

CONTENTS 04DIRECTOR’S WELCOME06CHAIR’S STATEMENT08AIMS & OBJECTIVES10THE STORY SO FAR11NATIONAL FESTIVALOFYOUTHTHEATRE13SKILL UP16PROMOTION18YOUTHTHEATREFORUM20YOUTHTHEATRESURVEYS22FINANCIAL REPORT24CREATIVEPARTNERS&SUPPORTERS26STAFF &BOARDMEMBERS28 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Over 8000 young peoplefrom diverse backgroundsare engaged in youththeatre each weekthroughout Scotland.Youth Theatre is apower in its own right,supported and respectedby the national theatrecommunity.COLIN BRADIE,PROMOTE YT (SCOTLAND) DIRECTOR

Four Year Report 04

Promote YT (Scotland) was set up by themakers of Youth Theatre to help develop& support themaking of Youth Theatre.

Our inauguration in 2004 saw the birth of aunique organisation, whose role was as itstitle suggested, to Promote Youth Theatre.

Anyone who has engaged in a positive YouthTheatre experience, be it as a participant,practitioner or audiencemember, can neverfail to appreciate the positive impact thatit has on the young people involved.

Youth Theatre is still very much anunderrated art form. However the powerfulsocial, creative and personal impact it hason young people cannot be denied. It shouldbe accessible and affordable to all but isstill very much on offer to a limited few inScotland.

The core aims and objectives of PromoteYT (Scotland) have remained unchanged.We are, and always will be, committed toensuring all young people in Scotland haveaccess to a high quality youth theatreexperience.

None of this would have been possiblewithout the support of themany fundersand associate creative partners who haveworked with us over the past four years.Together, we have succeeded in instigatinga series of a high profile initiatives andevents that support this diverse and ficklesector we serve.

I hope that this report celebrates thesteps that Promote YT (Scotland) hastaken to foster the development of YouthTheatre so far, whilst signifying our energyand commitment to the future.

Promote YT (Scotland) can now assuredlycontinue to build on the foundationsalready laid, having been offered a securestream of funding from the Scottish ArtsCouncil until 2011.

Thank you for continuing to support andengage with Promote YT (Scotland).

ColinBradieDirector,PromoteYT(Scotland)

>Directors’ WelcomeIn the beginning therewas nothing… then…

Four Year Report 05

On average individualyouth theatre groupsengage with over 300young people throughouta year.

Four Year Report 06

The last four years for Promote YT (Scotland) have been yearsof success. Operationally we have delivered twomain annualevents, SKILL UP and the National Festival of Youth Theatre(NFYT), alongside a range of other smaller initiatives. Financiallythere have been some difficulties, as with any fledglingorganisation, but we have secured core funding fromScottishArts Council (SAC) each year as well as from other trustsand foundations.Within the sector our reputation and theexpectation ofwhat wemight achieve has continued to grow:interest in our work is steadily increasing and we now appeal toamuch broader cross-section of practitioners than in 2004.

Going forward, things are very positive. Our Business Planincludes several exciting new initiatives.We are now financiallymuchmore secure andmost importantly we have the confidenceof our sector, with whomwewill work to develop high qualityyouth theatre provision for all young people in Scotland.

Michael Richardson,Chair oftheBoardofDirectors

>Chairman’s Statement

Four Year Report 07

31 out of 32regions haveyouth theatreprovisionin Scotland

Four Year Report 08

>Aims & Objectives

Promote YT (Scotland) recognises youth theatre as a uniqueform of theatre practice which should

> engage youngpeople as active participants in thecreative process

> encourage thedevelopment ofthewhole personthrough the useofperforming art techniques

> viewprocess&product as equally beneficial

> aspire to standards ofexcellence in all areas

VisionStatementEvery young person in Scotland has the opportunity toparticipate in & benefit from high quality youth theatreexperiences

MissionStatementWewill develop youth theatre in Scotland

Four Year Report 09

Four Year Report 10

>The Story So Far...July 2003The Scottish Arts Council reviewofYouth Theatre is published byBonnar & Keenlyside

November 2003AYouth Theatre seminar in Aberdeenforms basis ofPromote YT(Scotland)’s Aims & Objectives

June 2004Promote YT (Scotland) isincorporated

January 2005PromoteYT (Scotland)’s first training& networking event,“Exchange” atPitlochry Festival Theatre

July 2005First National Festival ofYouthTheatre (NFYT 05) at themacrobert,Stirling

February 2006Training@networking event ,SKILLUP,held in Glasgow in associationwiththeNational Theatre ofScotland

May 2006One day training event, EssentialMarketing for Youth Theatres heldat the Royal LyceumTheatre,Edinburgh

October 2006NFYT 06 at Perth Theatre

February 2007SKILL UP training & networking eventheld in Drumnadrochit in associationwith Hi-Arts

October 2007NFYT 07 at the RSAMD in Glasgow

November 2007First Youth Theatre Forum hostedby Dundee Rep Theatre

April 2008SKILL UP training & networking eventat Perth Concert Hall

May 2008Second Youth Theatre Forum held atthe Royal LyceumTheatre, Edinburgh

June 2008Promote YT (Scotland) launch“This City” outreach projectin Aberdeen, in association withNFYT 08

October 2008NFYT 08 in Aberdeen in partnershipwith Aberdeen City Council

> > > > > >

Four Year Report 11

TheNational Festival ofYouthTheatre(NFYT) celebrates the dynamic, vibrant andinspirational work being created annuallyby youth theatres throughout Scotlandand beyond.

Held in a new and exciting venue each yearNFYT gives young people the opportunityto perform, share in each other’s work,develop new skills, network through socialevents and celebrate what it means to beinvolved in youth theatre today.

Year by year the popularity ofNFYT hasgrown upon reputation with the 2008event attracting over 300 participantsfrom across Scotland.

Now in its fourth year, NFYT has previouslybeen held at themacrobert in Stirling,Perth Theatre and the RSAMD in Glasgow.

NFYT 08 is being hosted in partnershipwith Aberdeen City Council. Promote YT(Scotland) & Glasgow based theatrecompany Glas(s) Performance, areco-ordinating an ambitious outreachproject in support of this year’s festival.The aim of the project is not only toestablish 3 new youth theatres inAberdeen but to train &mentor 3 newyouth theatre leaders.

The culmination of the project will bethe opening performance at NFYT 08in October. The festival has already receivedinternational attention and will play host toyouth theatres fromNorway and Ireland.

The plans for NFYT 09 have already begunand will be hosted in partnership with theFife Theatre Trust.

> The National Festivalof Youth TheatreMeet Create Learn Perform

Four Year Report 12

2005macrobert, Stirling

2006Perth Theatre

2007RSAMD, Glasgow

2008Aberdeen Arts Centre& The Lemon Tree

Four Year Report 13

> Skill UpTraining & Networking Event

SKILLUP is the annual national trainingconference for all youth theatrepractitioners, youth workers, teachersand anyone working with young people ina performing arts capacity.

The initial training & networking eventco-ordinated by Promote YT (Scotland)was called Exchange and became SKILL UPthe following year. SKILL UP 2008 was thefourth event of its kind in the history ofthe organisation and was a sell out event,with over 100 delegates present fromacross Scotland.

Promote YT (Scotland) endeavours toprovide a broad range of quality trainingexperiences.Aiming to appeal to everyonein the youth theatre sector; fromestablished practitioners who wish to

refresh their skills and network withcolleagues through to individuals who arenew to the sector and keen tomake newcontacts and gain experience.

Promote YT (Scotland) anticipate thatby offering an exclusive experience todelegates, young people will consequentlyreceive an extensive and high level offacilitation through their leaders.

Promote YT (Scotland) strives to establisha standard of best practice throughoutthe Scottish youth theatre sector bycontinuing to produce exemplary trainingevents such as SKILL UP. It is our vision toset a benchmark that practitioners willendeavour to deliver to their young people.

Four Year Report 14

2005 Pitlochry Theatre, Perth & Kinross2006 Scottish Youth Theatre, Glasgow2007 Craigmonie Centre, Highlands2008 Perth Concert Hall

Four Year Report 15

I love the SKILL UPevent & think it is

so important in termsof communication

YOUTH DRAMAWORKER

Four Year Report 16

PROmotion is the all encompassing wordfor Promote YT (Scotland)’s networkservices incorporating the website,newsletter andmail outs to the sector.

PROmotion originally began as theorganisation’s Ebulletin, distributed to theyouth theatre sector across Scotland fromthe beginning ofJanuary 2006 with news onthe sector, performances and employmentopportunities.

Promote YT (Scotland)’s original websitewas launched in 2005 and was newlydeveloped and re-launched in February2008. Features such as the Find YTs pageallow people to search for youth theatresin their area whilst theWhat’s On sectionfeatures performances, training courses,workshops and other events for membersof the sector to get involved in. The newScripts section is interactive and designedto give drama workers,writers and youngpeople the opportunity to access and sharescripts for youth theatre showsmoreeasily by uploading them onto the website.

The News section is packed with up totheminute information on youth perform-ing arts, funding opportunities and updatesfrom the organisation. Dedicated areasfor the organisation’s 2main events, NFYT& SKILL UP also allow for a better serviceto our members and dissemination ofinformation.

One of the new features on the websiteis the Jobs page with employmentopportunities from the youth theatresector fromScotland.

The success of the website is largely dueto the ability to update pages with theinformation as and when we receive it,thanks to the contentmanagementcoming in- house.

The response to the website has beenoutstanding,with over 40,000 hits in anyonemonth.

The website can be viewed at

www.promoteyt.co.uk

>PROmotion

Four Year Report 17

77%of youththeatres provide trainingfor their staff whichincludes attendanceat SKILL UP

Four Year Report 18

The Youth Theatre Forumwas established by Promote YT(Scotland) in November 2007. Youth Theatre Forummeetingsare an opportunity for anyone working in youth theatre tohave a direct impact on the sector in which they work.

They are designed to provide an informal platform fordiscussion & debate, exploring issues pertinent to thedevelopment of the youth theatre & youth performingarts sector.

Meetings have so far been hosted at the Dundee Rep andthe Royal LyceumTheatre; copies of theminutes from thesemeetings are available from the Promote YT (Scotland) office.

> National YouthTheatre Forum

Four Year Report 19

69%of youth theatresare supported byparticipants’ fees

Four Year Report 20

InJanuary 2008,PromoteYT (Scotland)launched its firstYouthTheatreSurveysince theSAC’s commission in 2003. Itwasadual attempt togauge the activity ofyouth theatres acrossScotland and tomap the sector.

Themain aims of the Youth Theatre surveywere:

> To establish an increase/decreasein participation

> To determine trends of best practice

> To discover areas where we canprovidemore developmental trainingfor practitioners

> To obtain a clearer idea of howmanyyoung people are involved with youththeatre/drama each week in Scotland

> To ascertain areas which lack provision

> To open up a dialogue with groupsand organisations who are unawareofPromote YT

> To demonstrate to the relevantfunding providers and policy makersthe scope of youth theatre in Scotland

In support of the Youth Theatre Survey,Promote YT (Scotland) administered asurvey for freelance youth theatrepractitioners within our network. This wasto better understand the freelance workforce and to discover how best theorganisation can assist with trainingand support.

Promote YT (Scotland) is committed toimproving the needs of freelancers andare using initiatives such as the HUB,to encourage a dialogue betweenorganisations and freelancers.

The results of both surveys werepresented at the Youth Theatre Forummeeting in May 2008. The results of thesesurveys are available upon request fromthe Promote YT (Scotland) office.

>Youth Theatre Surveys2008

Four Year Report 21

You don’t need abudget of thousandsto make people think,laugh and cryYOUTH THEATRE LEADER

Four Year Report 22

IncomingResources Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 404–05 05–06 06–07 07–08*

Donations and legacies £65,000 £70,000 £30,000 £70,005

From charitable activities £13,991 £15,206 £40,751 £9,707

Total Incoming resources: £78,991 £85,206 £70,751 £79,712

ResorcesExpended

Charitable activities £76,129 £70,124 £68,748 £77,473

Governance costs £1,000 £2,973 £1,597 £2,998

Total resources expended: £77,129 £73,097 £70,345 £80,471

*Audit in process at time ofprint

>Financial Report

£90,000

£80,000

£70,000

£60,000

£50,000

£40,000

£30,000

£20,000

£10,000

£0

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Income

Expenditure

Four Year Report 23

89%of youth theatres

engage with NFYT

Four Year Report 24

As a charitable organisation PromoteYT (Scotland) relies heavily on fundingproviders and partners to enable us torealise our strategic aims and objectives.

In addition to the annual core support kindlyprovided by theScottishArtsCouncil,Promote YT (Scotland) would like toacknowledge & thank the following, allofwhom have supported our work overthe past 4 years:

AberdeenCityCouncil

City ofGlasgowCouncil

ClackmannanshireCouncil

Hi-Arts

Highlands& IslandsEnterprise

JTHCharitableTrust

LloydsTSBFoundation

Perth&KinrossCouncil

TheFoundation forSport&Arts

TheFoyle Foundation

TheGarfieldWestonFoundation

TheGannochyTrust

TheHughFraser Foundation

TheRobertsonTrust

Creative partners have included

ARTIXOC

Arts inMotion

Birds ofParadise

BorderlineTheatreCompany

Citizen’sTheatre/TAGTheatreCompany

EdenCourt

Horsecross

Federation ofScottishTheatre

Glas(s) Performance

Highland& IslandsTheatreNetwork

National Theatre ofScotland

PlaywrightsStudio

Plutôt laVie

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

RSAMD

ScottishYouthTheatre

SolarBear

Visible Fictions

YDance

YellowMellowCreativeArts

Promote YT (Scotland) engages with acore group of over 50 youth theatresnationwide. In addition to these coreyouth theatres, Promote YT (Scotland)’sinformation services reaches a furthernetwork of over 250 individuals and artsorganisations.

>Creative Partners& Supporters

Four Year Report 25

Youth Theatre is “The engagementof children & young people as activeparticipants in the performing arts,where their participation is centralto the creative process”PROMOTE YTMEMORANDUMARTICLES, 2004

Four Year Report 26

Promote YT (Scotland) is a company limitedby guarantee & is a charity registered withthe Inland Revenue. The organisation isoverseen by a Board ofDirectors whomeet 6 times a year.

The Board aim to have a balancedmembership including representation bylay members with particular skills whichcan enhance the experience of thepracticingmembers.

The Promote YT (Scotland) office ismanagedby 3 core staffmemberswhomanage theday to day operating procedures oftheorganisation.Where additional assistanceor expertise is required, it is sourcedexternally fromorganisations or individualson a freelance basis.

PatronPromote YT (Scotland) is supported bythe successful Scottish actor; Ken Stott

>Promote YT (Scotland)Staff & Board members

STAFFDirectorColin Bradie

Development OfficerCaroline DonaldCommunications AdministratorKirsty Dickson

BOARD OF DIRECTORSChair of the BoardMichael RichardsonArtistic Director / Chief ExecutiveWest Lothian Youth Theatre

Company SecretaryColin BradieDirectorPromote YT (Scotland)

Vice-ChairNeil MitchellLocal DirectorLloyds TSB Scotland

Jen McLeodHR Professional AdvisorScottish ExecutiveJohn HaswellDrama Development OfficerShetland Arts Trust

Ben JeffriesHead of Marketingmacrobert Theatre

Mary McCluskeyArtistic Director / Chief ExecutiveScottish Youth Theatre

Jennifer McGregorAssociate Director (Community)Perth Theatre

Nick FearneArts Development OfficerMoray Council

Gillian HowieStudent & freelancer

Sarah BrighamAssociate Director (Creative Learning)Dundee Rep Theatre

Four Year Report 27

You guysare doinga great job!NFYT PARTICIPANT ON PROMOTE YT (SCOTLAND)

Four Year Report 28

Photography by Camilla Adams.All images taken at past Promote YT (Scotland) events

Report design by EmmaQuinn

Original NFYT and SKILL UP logos designed by KINETIC

All figures and text were correct at the time this report went to print.

Statistics based on Promote YT (Scotland) Youth Theatre Survey March 2008and Promote YT (Scotland) Freelancers Survey April 2008.

Promote YT (Scotland) is interested to receive feedback on any aspects of thisreport, please get in touch using the details below.

Promote YT (Scotland)Rosebery House, 9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5EZT 0131 3136810F 0131 3136800E info@promoteyt.co.ukWwww.promoteyt.co.uk

Promote YT (Scotland) is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status.

Registered in Scotland Guarantee number 269952

Recognised as a charity number SC035765

Promote YT (Scotland) is a member of the Federation ofScottish Theatre andthe Theatre Forum for Scotland. Promote YT (Scotland) additionally worksclosely with the National Association of Youth Theatre (England) and the NationalAssociation of Youth Drama (Ireland)

>Acknowledgments

Four Year Report 29

Youth theatre is theengagement of children& young people asactive participants inthe performing arts,where their participationis central to the motivationof the creative process.PROMOTE YT (SCOTLAND|)MEMOS & ARTICLES, JULY 2004