StageXChange – 2026

From 16 February 2026 to 6 March 2026 we worked with three groups of Young Carers (from Brentford, Enfield and Richmond) for three to four days of fun and inclusive drama workshops…

Over February and March, Lead Facilitators Aoife O’Sullivan, Marian Hoddy, and Emily Haldane alongside Assistant Facilitators Vinna Law, Sam Glyde-Rees and Zoe Morris guided Young Carers aged 8 to 13 years old, to develop their drama, confidence, communication and teamwork skills.

This project is co-created by the young people who then decide how the workshops should be designed to suit their needs, strengths and interests.

Through a variety of different creative workshops and theatre games the young people were given the opportunity to explore the process of creating a short piece of theatre, with one group exploring the theme of ‘lost and found’, one using a variety of creative work that came together into the devised play ‘Specsavers Spies’, and the final group drawing upon the theme of Young Carers Action Day – ‘Fairer Future for Young Carers’.

Watch our video to hear from one of our facilitators on how important this programme is:

The young people said during the programme, they enjoyed:

‘Everything!’

‘Making friends’

‘Even though we are very different, we came together to make a show’

‘Enjoyed meeting new people and performing’

‘Getting to present the show’

‘Getting to see behind the scenes’

‘The creativity. You get to explain what you want and have fun adding things into it!’

The programme clearly met its aims, with participants showing significant increases in confidence, creative expression, teamwork skills and willingness to try new things:

• 93% would like to do a creative project again
• 88% agreed that they had got to share their ideas in the programme
• 83% felt positive about doing creative activities at the end of the project compared to 51% at the beginning
• 57% felt happy meeting new people at the end compared to only 16% from the start of the project

Staff praised the workshops for their strong engagement, thoughtful adaptation to individual needs, and the clear growth in confidence shown by young people throughout the sessions:

‘The programme was extremely well delivered and created a safe, welcoming space where young people felt comfortable expressing themselves. The facilitators were engaging and supportive, and the session had a clear positive impact on participants’ confidence and wellbeing.’

‘I enjoyed watching the young people grow in confidence over the three days, so much so they were all involved in some way in the final performance. We had great feedback afterwards from both the young people and the parents.’

‘The programme gave them an opportunity to attend a new activity that they may otherwise not be able to access and to meet with other young carers. The workshops also provided the young carers with a break from the demands of their caring roles.’

‘Many of the young people expressed a wish to “come back tomorrow” because they were having so much fun and one child has expressed to their parents that they would like to do drama more regularly and are in the process of looking at opportunities to do so.’

We would like to thank our funders, Heathrow Community Trust and Brown Rudnik for making this programme possible.

Donate today to help ensure every child, regardless of background, has the chance to experience the transformative power of live theatre and open doors for the next generation.

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🎥 Video: Eleni Cashell