The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre’s involvement in The Tillingbourne Tales Heritage Lottery Funded project stands out as one of our most memorable education programmes of 2016.
John Lambert, Job Durbridge, Charles Ball and Peggy were brought to life by our education team and placed each group of children as Mill employees, exploring working conditions and recreating life as it was when the mills were operating at their peak. Our schools workshops are designed to place each child into the shoes of their forefathers and foster lifelong learning through interactive teaching. We aim to inspire all participants by giving them a true taste of life from their past and through the retelling of their experiences in a school assembly, we allow the young people of the Tillingbourne Valley to educate each other about their rich history.
Of course, teaching can sometimes become a little bit repetitive, so with just a little bit of artistic licence, John, Job, Charles and Peggy also appeared at a number of other events as part of the HLF project and at one memorable after dinner event, demonstrated that adults can have just as much fun as the children!
Fast forward to 2017 and we were delighted to receive the news that Fidelity International have awarded a continuation grant for this part of the project. We have just put the finishing touches to our updated workshop that will allow another entire year group of young people to explore the characters from the Tillingbourne Tales. These workshops are scheduled to take place in the autumn term and are testament to the lasting legacy that the HLF project has achieved.
Nick White, Head of Youth, Education & Community at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
