I am raising money for Norwich Theatre Royal overall, but I am raising money for a particular project of theirs: Theatre of Sanctuary.

This is a project that involves providing support, a safe space, refuge and both kindness and compassion to refugees and asylum seekers. They provide a space where attendees can support each other, grow in confidence and express themselves creatively through workshops, performances and trainee schemes such as Stage Door 10, providing people from displaced backgrounds with experience working in various aspects of theatre and giving them the skills to find work, become theatre practitioners so that they can teach other people what they have learned, and to believe in themselves.

The Theatre of Sanctuary have performed a piece named Three Migrant Women, featuring three women and one man (and also a baby!), featuring movement, storytelling and music to tell their stories. This was completely devised by the performers, and enables us to see displacement, resilience and hope in their stories.

Three Migrant Women has recently finished a tour, performing in theatres across the UK such as Nottingham and Litchfield, and a pilot trainee scheme has been set up for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners who are enrolled with Norfolk Adult Learning and City College to gain practical experience of working in the theatre industry, leading to the learners having skills that they can use to find work in the sector or in other sectors, and gaining important skills such as confidence and believing in themselves.

I work with Norfolk Adult Learning, supporting ESOL learners and learners with learning disabilities on a variety of courses, such as Functional Skills English and Independent Living Skills. This cause means something to me because Norwich Theatre Royal is creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to grow and develop as both professionals and as people, supporting them with finding work and learning new skills. As a country, inclusion and compassion are two of our most important values, and if you donate, Norwich Theatre Royal will be able to create more projects that enable the theatre to stay open, support the community, and support the people in the community.