Reach Inclusive Arts is a Wiltshire disability arts charity which has one of only 10 projects to make it through to the semi-finals in the Best Arts Project category of The National Lottery Awards. The Awards are an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.

The project which is up for this exciting award involved over 100 young disabled people from three secondary schools in Swindon. The participants considered the theme of inclusion and expressed their ambitions for their adult lives through original drama pieces which they devised themselves. The sessions were led by professional theatre practitioners and were co-facilitated by disabled adult actors. The disabled adult actors who were involved were from Partners Theatre Company which is resident at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon.  Their mentoring role was an inspirational element for the participants as they have successfully incorporated the performing arts into their adult lives. The project culminated in a public performance on the main stage at The Wyvern Theatre which is the largest venue in Swindon.

The winning project in each category will receive national recognition on a BBC1 TV show later this year and will receive a £2,000 cash prize.

Reach Inclusive Arts want to win this award to recognise the talent, effort and commitment which the participants demonstrated throughout this project. If they win they will use the money to run the project again later this year.

Voting for the semi-finals starts at 9am on Tuesday 1 June and ends at midday on Friday 18 June. To register your vote for MAKING It A.R.T call 0844 686 5102 (calls cost 5p from a BT landline. Call charges from other networks may vary, calls from mobile phones may be considerably more) or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards

The three projects in each of the seven categories with the most number of votes will go through to the final round of public voting in July.

For further information please contact: Helen Whelehan or Yvonne Chamberlain at Reach Inclusive Arts on 01793 520318

Reach Inclusive Arts
Charity Number: 1116680
Company Limited by Guarantee: 542127