Building stronger communities’ success for M6 Theatre

M6 Theatre Company

Rochdale based M6 Theatre Company is pleased to announce that it has received funding from the Home Office Building Stronger Britain Together programme. Through Positive Pathways over the next two years, M6 will help diverse groups of local young people in the borough of Rochdale to be more confident in their life choices through participating in creative engagement projects.

Participants will have the opportunity to work with writer and M6 Associate Artist Parvez Qadir to create a brand new monologue around themes of identity and pressure to conform. Through creative sessions, young people will help develop the work using their own experiences and opinions.

The funding will also support a tour of the monologue to Rochdale secondary schools and youth settings, with an accompanying interactive workshop. These workshops will creatively explore issues which affect local young people and provide signpost information for further help if needed.

A film and education resource will also be created and shared through partner schools and youth support agencies after the tour, enabling the monologue to impact more young people over a longer period of time.

Young people who wish to join M6 Youth Theatre will also benefit as the funding ensures that two extra weekly groups will continue running workshops for participants aged 8-18 in the borough.

M6 Theatre has a strong track record of working in partnership with a variety of organisations. They will be working in collaboration with Rochdale Connections Trust, who also benefitted from the funding, to ensure that the projects benefit as many people as possible in Rochdale.

Deborah Palmer, Managing Director and CEO of M6 Theatre said: “We are delighted that the Home Office supports strong creative approaches to building personal resilience. Local young people advise us that these monologues are a really powerful way to unlock important conversations for them.  

"The carefully facilitated workshops and legacy resources offer them the opportunity to better understand the complex contemporary landscape they have to navigate in both the real and virtual world. This funding will not only help make a vital difference locally but by sharing our project news nationally, we can hopefully offer a different, more positive story of young people living in Rochdale Borough.”

The Home Office’s Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) programme supports civil society and community organisations who work to create more resilient communities, stand up to extremism in all its forms and offer vulnerable individuals a positive alternative, regardless of race, faith, sexuality, age and gender.

Founded in 1977 and based in Rochdale, M6 Theatre Company is acknowledged as one of Britain’s leading touring theatre companies specialising in creating and delivering high quality theatre for and by children and young people. Core values of equality, diversity and inclusion are central to all M6's work, driven by a passionate belief in the unique power of great theatre to enrich and transform young lives.