Big Lottery Fund award to help local young people articulate career aims
Shape has been awarded £490,000 over 3 years to use forum theatre to provide opportunities for learning disabled young people in 10 London boroughs to air their views on their options on leaving full-time education.
The grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Young People’s Fund programme will be used to bring 500 learning disabled young people together with employers and employment service providers in a series of events to explore the training and career options open to learning disabled school leavers. The conversations will be led by the young people themselves, facilitated through a drama technique known as “Forum Theatre”.
The grant is the 3rd largest in Shape’s history, and will allow Shape to continue its work to change mindsets and working practices in a supportive way. The programme will take place in Bromley, Camden, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Wandsworth and two other boroughs from 2010-2013. 
The project is driven by learning disabled young people; a group whose voices are rarely heard and whose post-education choices are often limited by the decisions of others. Articulate will give young people an opportunity to influence the policies and practices of the organisations that exist to support them into careers and further training. Through forum theatre, young people will be articulating their views directly to the policy makers, who will in turn be encouraged to think about how they can improve the services they offer.
Shape’s Chief Executive, Tony Heaton, says “this award really shows the value of Shape’s work in helping people think differently about disability. The Big Lottery is giving us a huge vote of confidence by making this substantial investment in our work, at a time when many funders are reluctant to make large grants. We’re giving young learning disabled people a real say in their own futures and creatively helping service providers to improve their understanding of, and ways of working with, this group.”
Articulate will start in January 2010 and run until December 2013. For more information please contact Kate Larsen, Programme Director on 0845 521 7356 or email info@shapearts.org.uk.
