Derby Theatre’s Pledge to Young People

We pledge to:

• Co-create safe and accessible spaces with young people, ensuring they feel welcomed, valued, and able to express themselves freely.
• Meet young people where they are, making our activities more convenient and accessible to their needs.
• Create more opportunities for young people to volunteer, shadow staff and experience different parts of the organisation in a supportive, safe environment.

We pledge to:

• Create regular conversations with young people about our programming, planning and organisational direction, feeding back on the developments that result, and clearly explaining decisions when an idea can’t be taken forward, highlighting that respectful challenge is welcome and valued.
• Invite Senior Management Team members to join these conversations quarterly.
• Have 2 young people on the Theatre Board
• Be available as staff and creatives to share experiences, talk openly and respond to questions from young people.

We pledge to:

• Offer meaningful opportunities for progression, including work experience placements prioritising young people from underrepresented backgrounds and those with protected characteristics.
• Support transitions from participation to employment by developing routes into trainee roles, paid roles, volunteering, and shadowing across departments.
• Explore guaranteed opportunities such as graduate placements within productions (e.g. a place in the Christmas show company).
• Provide mentoring, including peer mentoring between recent graduates on staff and young people on our programmes.
• Offer studio programming and creative platforms supported and shaped by young people.
• Invite young people and alumni to events such as press nights and networking opportunities to help them build industry connections.

We pledge to:

• Share young people’s achievements through an ongoing, planned communications campaign celebrating their creativity, leadership and contributions.
• Amplify youth voice across our channels by giving them opportunities such as take overs, so that stories are told by them.
• Talk more specifically about youth involvement in our organisation, making visible the roles young people play onstage, backstage and as creative contributors.

We pledge to:

• Acknowledge and respond to the challenges young people face, working to remove barriers to participation and making sure every young person feels valued across the organisation.
• Make opportunities more convenient and accessible for young people—including meeting them in their own spaces when needed.
• Ensure that our recruitment processes welcome young people and include them actively in decision-making.
• Develop a process that enables participants to progress into trainee or employee roles.
• Provide resources and support that help young people develop their creative practice and build confidence to take the next step in their journey.
• Create annual opportunities—such as seminars, workshops and networking events—to connect young people with industry contacts, other venues and each other.