South Hill Park offers a breadth of creative arts opportunities suitable even for the very young. Our aim is to nurture and inspire a lifelong love of creativity and freedom of expression through the creative arts.
The benefits of access to the arts for children as they grow have been well researched, including confidence building, cognitive development, emotional benefits and improvements to communication skills.
First Experiences
Nothing beats seeing the excitement in a child’s eyes as they watch one of our many live shows and get caught up in an adventure unfolding on the stage. Seeing them enthralled as their favourite characters come to life or watching them sing and dance along provides special memories for families, a buzz that stays with them for a long time after and often sparks an interest to join in the fun.
Access to our exciting and wide range of workshops and courses are offered to children, from pre-school age and upwards, to enable them – under the guidance of skilled tutors – to explore their creativity, fire their imagination and discover an appreciation of art, music, drama and dance.
Talent of today, stars of tomorrow
At South Hill Park we ensure we provide a range of opportunities for children who are developing an interest and talent in performing and visual arts, helping them hone their skills or make new friends who share their emerging passions…
- We offer the chance to shine on stage from the ages of 6-19 during our hugely popular community productions (including our Easter show and pantomime), for which open auditions are held. We also offer a two-week long Easter and Summer School for ages 12-19 and a one-week Project for children ages 6-11.
- Our long-running, free youth group, Eleven Seventeen runs every Friday at our venue, with a further group run at Bracknell library on Saturdays. In this setting, young people between the ages of 11 and 17 are given the opportunity to try out different art-based activities led by a professional tutor while nurturing friendships and building their confidence.
- Our Wilde Young Producers scheme also offers free places to 15-20 year olds who have a keen interest in the arts and would like to find out a bit more about what happens behind the scenes. In weekly sessions, participants learn about producing, budgeting, marketing, collaboration and idea generation. This all culminates in the team taking the lead during Wilde Week and helping to deliver a programme of events to over 600 primary school children – quite an achievement with some great life skills acquired.
- Our Wilde About Arts program is for young carers age 11-17 (referred to us by Bracknell Forest Council), providing them with an opportunity to relax in a friendly environment away from their everyday responsibilities.
Wilde About Arts – Support for Young Carers
Wilde About Arts offers a safe space for vulnerable young people across Bracknell Forest to express all aspects of their creativity with a group of peers who understand the circumstances they face at home. The group can feel comfortable talking about their feelings whilst taking part in various arts activities.
For Russell Turner, who has facilitated the course for over eight years, seeing how tapping into their creativity helps even the most apprehensive children find their voice is a privilege like no other.
Watch Russell’s story to find out more about this wilde outreach project that your support helps to deliver.
Holiday programs
Alongside all the work we do with schools during term-time, we have expanded our children’s holiday programs. We support families during school holidays so that children have the opportunity to maintain their creativity during the breaks. We also want to remove financial barriers by making these events free or as low cost as possible, as we know that the long breaks can be a considerable cause of stress for some families.
Our holiday programs include our involvement in the Bracknell Forest Council Summer of Fun initiative, our Summer and Easter Workshops and our Summer and Easter Schools/Projects, on which bursary places are available via the Bracknell Forest Council Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) scheme and in collaboration with Artemis Performing Arts College.
Growing up with them
We hope that young people who have participated in any of the opportunities we provide will hold onto their passion for the arts and keep coming back to our venue as they grow. We have heard stories from our volunteers and supporters about how they remember taking part in a play here as a child and now bring their grandchildren along to do the same. We love to hear how South Hill Park remains a central focus for families in the local area and helps to provide core memories and skills from a young age.
You are South Hill Park
South Hill Park is a registered charity and it is only through the donations, grants and legacies of our members and supporters that we can maintain and build on the work we do here.
Please help us continue to inspire, connect and enrich through the creative arts.
Need Help?
South Hill Park is a registered charity and it is only through the donations, grants and legacies of our members and supporters that we can maintain and build on the work we do here.
Please help us continue to inspire, connect and enrich through the creative arts.