Watch the Full Report above
One of the the things that YMCA Leicestershire are custodians of, apart from young people who have experienced homelessness, is the Leicester’s oldest theatre, The Y Theatre. This was reflected in our ‘Impact Report’ for ’23-’24 and here are some of the highlights…
Hannah Torrance, the Theatre and Arts Manager, reflected on a remarkable year for the Leicester YMCA’s arts program, highlighting their vibrant participation in the Leicester Comedy Festival. “We had some really big names!,” she recalls, emphasising the festival’s success and the venue’s bustling energy. This year, the venue hosted between three to five shows weekly, surging to twenty-six events during the festival’s week and a half. However, the organisation faces a challenge since its primary mission – supporting young people -makes it ineligible for traditional arts funding. As Hannah notes, “We’re entirely reliant on the ticket sales that we get from events and the generosity of the charity,” stressing the importance of community support to sustain Leicester’s oldest theatre as a vital cultural and historical space.
In addition to preserving the theatre, Hannah and her team have focused on youth development, offering young people skills training that can translate into real-world employment. “We’ve started to look at customer service and barista training as part of our front of house team,” she shares, also mentioning an upcoming technical training program. Their recent involvement with ‘In Good Company,’ a Midlands-based arts collective, aims to expand opportunities for local artists and deepen community engagement. Torrance is excited to welcome young people onto the team, providing them with vital skills and experience. For many of these young people, as she explains, “…education… can then become a barrier to those early employment opportunities,” but by supporting them with initial work experience, the YMCA aims to foster future opportunities in the arts and beyond.
Hannah goes on to discuss; “What a brilliantly busy year it’s been! We’ve built on past successes, welcomed larger audiences, and delivered a fantastic programme of comedy, music, drama, and so much more. It’s been an absolute joy to see our stage graced by incredible talents like Suzi Ruffell, Aurie Styla, James Haskell, Bridget Christie, Francis Rossi, Mahalia, Richard Blackwood, Zoe Lyons, Seann Walsh, The Coral, Rosie Jones, Mark Watson, Richard Herring, and Ivo Graham.
With such a packed programme, we’ve expanded our core team, and for the first time since the pandemic, we now have a full complement of staff. This puts us in an exciting position to broaden our theatre’s work across Leicester in new and impactful ways.
Leicester Comedy Festival remains a yearly highlight, and this year was no exception. We hosted our biggest festival programme yet and were absolutely thrilled to retain our title as Best Large Venue at the Leicester Comedy Festival Awards for the third year running—especially knowing it’s voted for by our audiences. What an honour!
A key focus this year has been deepening our engagement with YMCA Leicestershire residents. Our Events Lab workshops have been an incredible way to share the team’s expertise and open up career pathways. These weekly sessions have been wonderfully varied, from barista training and sound and lighting design to theatre programming, lino printing, and audio recording techniques. It’s been inspiring to see the enthusiasm and creativity these workshops have sparked.
In February and March, we were proud to be part of the BBC’s Bring The Drama festival, hosting free interactive workshops that offered a behind-the-scenes look at how we deliver our programme of events. The workshops attracted participants of all ages, some traveling from as far as Birmingham and London to join in the fun.
Reflecting on the year, I feel immense pride in what we’ve achieved as a team and excitement for where we’re heading next. Here’s to another year of creativity, collaboration, and connection!”
Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/IsudY59uWg0
Read the FULL Impact Report here: https://bit.ly/417KIQ7
We are delighted to announce that our Theatre Stage is now more accessible than it has ever been! Thanks to financial support from the Theatres Trust Small Grants Programme over the past few months we have been able to purchase our new winch lift and have installed it in our Stage Left wing space. This is just the start of our journey towards making The Y Theatre as accessible as we can within the boundaries of our Grade II Listed status.
Hannah:
