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    Interview: Who Cares? Matt Woodhead does

    Matt Woodhead on Who Cares? The play and the campaign.

    Our latest podcast interview is with Matt Woodhead, co-Artistic Director of Lung Theatre. Matt wrote Who Cares, a play about young carers. The play led to the creation of the Who Cares Campaign which has gone on to help hundreds of children who act as a primary carer for other members of their family.

    You can read a previous interview we did with Matt here. You can also see our review of the play when it was perfromed at 2019’s Edinburgh Fringe here.

    The radio version of the play is still available via BBC Sounds here.

    You can follow us on Spotify or Itunes (plus many other other podcast providers) for future editions of our interview series. Further information can be found on our Podcast here

    Who Cares? National Tour

    ‘The Alarm Rings. I take a breath. Then it starts’

    Sitting at the back of the bus, skipping the lunch queue and skiving lessons. At school Nicole, Jade and Connor are just like everybody else. But when they get home, things are very different. 

    Nicole started caring for her mum when she was four. Every morning Nicole helps her get washed, put on clothes and eat breakfast. Jade has always cared for her brother, but she never expected to look after dad as well – now she juggles two lots of appointments, two lots of prescriptions, two lots of assessment forms. Connor cares for his mum. But he doesn’t like to talk about it. 

    ​Adapted from real-life testimonies, this bold and pertinent piece of documentary theatre examines our failing care system, the impact of austerity and what happens when a child becomes the parent.

    ​Made in partnership with The Lowry & Greater Manchester Charity, Gaddum and its Salford Carers Service. With funding by Arts Council England, Curious Minds and the Oglesby Charitable Trust.

    Full tour dates and booking can be found here More

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    NEWS: The Roaring 20s: A New artist development programme

    Our wonderful friends at LUNG Theatre have teamed up with Harrow Art Centre to offer 12 young people an opportunity to apply for their new development programme. The programme is packed full of help and guidance from people within the arts industry, and will culminate in a scrtach night where you can showcase your work.

    The full programme will allow the 12 successful applicants to have:

    10 online masterclasses with industry leading creatives and professionals working in the arts. These masterclasses will be in everything from writing, directing, producing and multi-disciplinary arts.Space and support to make their own piece of work for a scratch night at Harrow Arts Centre.£125 to spend on their artistic development.A silver arts award.

    Applications are currently open to anyone aged 18-25 who is not in full time education or employment or training. The deadline for applications is midnight on the 31st of March.

    The Roaring 20s will be facilitated by Qasim Mahmood (Actor with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Rep and BBC’s Doctors) and Blanche Fitzgerald (Participation Programmer at Harrow Arts Centre)

    Qasim Mahmood said: What stops people from underrepresented backgrounds achieving in the arts is a lack of opportunity and advice. This project is bridging that gap and opening up the world of theatre to everyone.

    Blanche Fitzgerald added: Harrow Arts Centre is thrilled to be partnering with LUNG in this exciting next stage of theatre making for over 18s. This is a programme centered around making the world of theatre more accessible and opening participants eyes up to the host of opportunities within the industry. If you’ve wanted to try out theatre but haven’t yet taken the plunge, this is the programme for you!

    There is a taster session Monday 29 March at 6pm, details here

    More information is available on LUNG’s website here

    Everything Theatre is always happy to support schemes such as these and we’ll be very excited to see how the successful applicants get on. Maybe we will see you at the scratch night later in the year. More

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    Feature: Young Carers Action Day

    Last month we interviewed Matt Woodhead, author of Who Cares?, as well as Campaign Manager for the Who Cares Campaign. Matt’s passion for young carers had a profound effect on us at Everything Theatre so we wanted to do more for him and to support Young Carers Action Day. What follows is the joint work of Matt, LUNG theatre, Who Cares Campaign and some of the young carers supported by the organisations involved with the campaign.
    And if you can, please do show your support by making a donation towards the Who Cares Campaign.

    Today is Young Carers Action Day. At LUNG we are standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

    My message to young carers is that you are not alone

    In the middle of last year’s lockdown madness, there was a ray of sunshine at LUNG HQ. The loo roll shelves in the supermarket were bare and theatres were empty, but for us there was a glimmer of hope: Gitika Buttoo joined our team.
    Every week for the last five months, Gitika has been spearheading LUNG’s Young Carer Creative Makers. In partnership with young carers services and their local theatres, Gitika has run online workshops with young carers in Salford, Kent, Cheshire West and North Wales. The mission? To train 30 teenagers up to be young leaders and radical artists.
    There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK who have been providing unpaid full time care to family members or a loved one during the Coronavirus lockdown. One in twelve young people experience being a young carer. That’s two in every class.
    Today is Young Carers Action Day. This is an annual event, organised by Carers Trust, aimed at raising awareness for young carers and the incredible contribution they make to their families and local communities. To mark the occasion, the Young Carer Creative Makers are getting active and banging the drum for other teenagers like them across the country.
    Tonight, these 30 young carers are doing a special performance for their family members, friends, teachers, councillors and decision makers. Ahead of the performance, we caught up with the group. Below is what they had to say, in their own words. On Young Carers Action Day 2021, this is what they want you to know:
    A message from young carers for the arts…
    ‘Every single young carer needs a free creative space to express themselves and who they are. Although we have big responsibilities, it doesn’t mean we don’t have the potential to become artists, writers, authors. You name it, we can achieve it.’
    ‘Sometimes, just being a young person is a lot. We need to have a space and a place to breathe.’
    A message from young carers for grown-ups…
    ‘We are not children, but we are not adults. We are kind of in a category in-between. I don’t think grown-ups understand how much our caring responsibilities affect our lives and how we’re different because of that.’
    ‘I have been bullied. When I told people in my class I am a young carer, they said “You can’t be a young carer, you are autistic.” They think I am saying it for attention. That’s why we need more support – or more awareness in schools, at least, so everyone can understand.’
    ‘Teachers need to acknowledge and not stereotype us as typical teenagers. If something has happened at home and we get told off for not concentrating in class it can be overwhelming. Just being acknowledged properly as a young carer in school could be such a powerful thing.’
    ‘I told my teachers several times that I was a young carer and it didn’t matter. They didn’t do anything. I asked for help but they didn’t do anything. This needs to change.’
    ‘Young carers don’t want to look weak. We want to look strong (not just for us, but for our family too). We may not want to express our emotions, but if adults can learn about young carers, they can help without us always having to ask for it.’
    A message from young carers for other young carers…
    ‘If you are an aspiring artist, don’t let limited supplies limit you. With even only a pencil and paper you can produce the most amazing things.’ 
    ‘Make sure you look after your mental health. I sometimes bottle up my feelings and it can come out in lots of different ways. Take time and don’t put pressure on yourself. Everyone needs a distraction from what is going on around them sometimes. You need to put yourself first.’
    ‘You are not alone, there is support out there. Like, whether that is someone who you know or your friends or your family, there is always a support there. You’ve just got to ask.’
    In the last five months since Gitika’s very first session, everyone at LUNG has been bowled over by the flair and tenacity of the Young Carer Creative Makers. As well as juggling home schooling and managing their caring responsibilities, all of them have flourished and grown as independent artists. And it’s only the beginning. A fire has been lit by Gitika and these 30 young carers.
    As we emerge from the third lockdown, we need to rally around our young carers. The loo roll shelf may be replenished and theatres might be planning to open their doors, but we can’t return to the status quo. In the arts and across society, we need to be doing more. 
    This Young Carers Action Day, take these ten messages with you – not only for today, but for the rest of 2021 and beyond. Now isn’t the time to sit back. Now is the time to get up and do something. Now is the time to act.
    Matt Woodhead is the Co-Artistic Director of LUNG and author of Who Cares.
    Young Carers Creative Makers is a partnership between LUNG, WCD Young Carers, Imago Young Carers, Crossroads Together, Gaddum, The Lowry, Quarterhouse in Folkestone, Theatr Clwyd and Action Transport Theatre.
    If you think you might be a young carer, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1rsZS8dzkkVSqQhJXHY67kj/information-and-support-carers
    To support young carers facing digital poverty, visit www.whocarescampaign.co.uk/digi-fund
    To find out what you can do to support young carers, visit www.whocarescampaign.co.uk/how-to-help
    To listen to Who Cares on BBC Radio 4, visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s191 More