Young Actors Theatre Islington (YATI) engages young people with Theatre through performance, education, and outreach. We want every young person in Islington to experience Theatre, made by and for them. We believe that finance should not be a barrier to education or participation. Whether pursing the performing arts professionally, learning a new skill for enjoyment, or merely wanting to spend time with others, YATI provides high-quality, affordable opportunities to engage with Theatre.

We achieve this by offering over 60 hours of performing arts classes every week during term-time, and holiday courses, which together give over a thousand young people the chance to learn and perform each year. We run a one-year, part-time professional Foundation Course in Acting & Theatre-Making. We put on high-quality productions and offer regular showcases and scratch nights for our young people to gain on-stage experience. We take our work out into local communities giving more people the chance to experience the positive benefits of drama, and we represent over 200 young people professionally through our Agency, offering support right from the start.

Our home on Barnsbury Road in Islington is a safe space for our students, a second home for many, and a place where creativity is celebrated and nurtured. We also reach beyond our own walls and undertake community engagement and outreach work across the borough. Recent work includes Canal Tales, a project involving 40 young people from local schools and communities developing an intergenerational oral history project with those who worked on North London’s canals, which included podcasts, film and photography, and that formed part of the Angel Canal Festival, attended by more than 8000 people.

During a regular year, YATI earns income from class fees, paid in full by young people who can afford them, and at a subsidised rate for those who need support. We also earn about £5,000 per year from renting out our spaces when not being used for our young people’s activities, and we receive management fees as an agency. All income goes towards our running costs. However, that still leaves a funding gap of 13% (£86,000) of our revenue costs each year, which we have to meet through fundraising. This includes our Stage Door initiative, which enables young people to attend YATI’s classes and courses completely free.

We are passionate about making a real difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged young people. Your financial contribution will enable more young people to attend YATI as full members, giving them access to world-class teaching and personal development, and the opportunity to gain entry into the growing creative arts sector.

For every £2000 we raise:

• Six young people can attend weekly classes at YATI for a year.

• We can offer a fully subsided place on our Acting & Theatre Arts Foundation Course.

• Ten schools can take advantage of our transition year workshops to boost confidence and ready children for secondary school

• Forty of our young people can experience culture with a theatre trip

• A practitioner can develop and run a week-long project with local communities, enhancing skills and supporting them to find their voice.

A gift at any level would enable us to reach more young people, engage them with our work and help them towards a more positive and creative future. Thank you.