In June, we celebrated our second year of Speak Up and welcomed over 150 young people from 5 Wakefield secondary schools into our theatre to showcase their performances, poems, dancing and songs. All of the work shared on the day was co-created by artists, young people and their teachers, speaking about their own lived experiences, and hopes for the future through a creative lens.

These brave young people took to our stage and shared what it is that they would like to 'Speak Up' about, platforming issues that matter to them, from culture, heritage, accessibility, the education system, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights and so much more. They shared idea of the world they want to live in.

We began the day with a fantastic performance from Highfield School, who are calling out for 'a world where accessibility is the norm, not the exception'. The students at Highfield worked with Speak Up facilitator Carla Addyman to co-create a piece of new theatre about their own lived experiences.

Outwood Academy City Fields spoke about the Seasons of Mental Health, Outwood Academy Freeston performed a wonderful and moving piece called 'Empatheatre'. Trinity Cathedral Academy explored culture, and their pride in who they are and where they come from, through music, song and dance.

Outwood Academy Hemsworth created an augmented reality exhibition in our Walker Studio space, called 'Hemworth', the ideal place to live. Matt Tulley worked with students to utilise projection, soundscapes and film to build an exciting and innovative landscape of Hemworth.

We were joined by some of our artists and facilitators who supported our young people through the creative process. Thank you to everyone who has supported our Speak Up programme so far, we can't wait to see what the next year brings!