About

THE PLAY HOUSE NEEDS YOU!

The Play House is a registered charity, and for over 30 years we have supported schools to bring the awe and wonder of the world into classrooms across the West Midlands, using participatory theatre to support learning through a creative curriculum.

Annually we usually reach 15,000 young people aged 3-11 in socially economically challenging areas of the West Midlands, bringing the curriculum to life for with our touring programme of work with themes ranging from core subjects like Literacy or STEM, all the way to mental health and welfare programmes on topics such as bullying and knife crime awareness.

And now the Play House needs your support to continue our work.

It will come as no surprise that due to the COVID-19 pandemic The Play House’s work has been significantly impacted. The Play House is a charity which relies on income from our touring programme of work and support from grants and charitable donations. This year the Play House is struggling to deliver our touring work and is having difficulty securing funding for new projects.

EXCITING FUNDRAISING EVENT!

To support our fundraising efforts, The Play House is holding a “Storytelling Bike Challenge” inspired by the Play House’s own origins 34 years ago, when founder Steve Ball would tour Balsall Heath schools with his props and costumes on a grocer’s barrow!

Malcolm, our very own travelling storyteller, will be getting on his story-bike and cycling the Number-11 bus route here in Birmingham at the heart of where the Play House began. He'll be stopping off along the way at schools and venues to make some new friends along the way (prioritising COVID safety, and following all social distancing guidelines from Public Health England and the Department of Education).

Along Malcolm’s journey, children will choose trinkets objects and oddities from the story-bike, and then will join in as Malcolm weaves their choices into a unique exciting tale before their eyes. Transforming the mundane into the magical in the way only storytelling can!

We can't wait to engage children who might not usually access theatre, while taking The Play House back to its roots of storytelling in Balsall Heath.

PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING!

Any support you can provide will go towards helping The Play House continue it’s 30+ year history bringing participatory theatre and drama into schools support the language and learning of children. All donations will go directly towards allowing delivery of The Play House’s programmes in schools to continue across Birmingham, directly impacting children’s educational development.

We hope that you’ll consider supporting The Play House and help us keep the magic of storytelling alive.

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