We are changing the way we run the Young Actors Company to secure our future.
Over the last 12 months, our fundraising events and initiatives, and the support we’ve received from our friends and extended family, have sent a clear message: the work of the Young Actors Company is hugely valued in our community.
That’s why we are determined to keep the youth theatre open, to keep changing lives and to keep equipping local young people with transferable skills they can use throughout their lives and careers.
In order to do this, and to ensure our financial sustainability, we’re introducing membership fees from September 2019. This, together with the generous and hugely appreciated funding we receive from the Taylor Family Foundation, will ensure we can continue running the Young Actors Company.
We’re also very grateful for the continued support of New Wimbledon Theatre.
Our aim is to be one of the most affordable youth theatres in south London – and we will always offer free places to members who need them.
Our fee structure is designed to cover costs, which include staging three full productions each season – and the fee will be subsidised by the generous support of our sponsors and our own fundraising activity.
We’ll also continue fundraising, appealing to local businesses and applying for grant funding in order to keep our community projects running and to offer free places to all the young actors who need them.
Our current costs are £550 per member per year: in order to offer excellent value to all our members we are setting the fee at £300 per year, payable in two instalments (due in September and January).
All 60 places in the Young Actors Company will still be subject to our annual intake auditions in September.
Current members will receive a 10% discount if they sign up for an audition before 8 July 2019 and are subsequently offered a place.
Siblings will also be entitled to a 10% discount.
This fee structure offers incredible value for money (particularly compared to profit-making stage schools in the area that charge over £300 per term!) and we look forward to continuing the creative, confidence-building and unique work we do for many years to come.
The Young Actors Company ‘open door’ scheme
Our mission at WCTT’s Young Actors Company remains the same: we believe that young people from all backgrounds in Merton deserve to learn, to achieve and to have fun.
Our ‘open door’ scheme is for young people who cannot afford the membership fee – the scheme is designed to cover the full cost of annual membership.
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be speaking to business leaders in our community to encourage them to fund free places – and we’ll continue our fundraising work to make sure free places are available for all the young actors who need them.
To find out more about auditioning for the Young Actors Company, our open door scheme, or to fund a free place for one of our amazing Young Actors, please get in touch.
Download 2019/20 YAC Registration Form.
