2017
2017 was a wonderful year. We took our young people on many cultural and educational trips, performance opportunities and, as usual, made impactful contributions to our community and its aspirations. Enter completed 27 major projects this year.
Musical Theatre International
March, 2017
We were invited to perform for a panel of international Broadway and West End judges at The Curve Theatre, Leicester for the inaugural MTI event – the biggest celebration of young musical theatre in the UK’s history. Our cast of young performers won a raft of applause, great accolades and were chosen to perform their piece before the whole assembly of youth performers, which comprised of over 1000 young people. Being the only group representing our region, our young people were excellent ambassadors for the North East of England.
High Sheriff Award Winners.
April, 2017
Enter CIC won the High Sheriff of County Durham’s Award for community engagement and in particular, yet another of our original, self-penned musical (written and performed in 2016) which supported one school in gaining their Science Mark.
“Ferryhill-based Enter CIC, which provides free or low cost performing arts, confidence and skills development for mostly disadvantaged young people, was awarded £1,500. One of its high-acclaimed projects, and the one that earned them this award, is a new musical called The Curious Case of the Human Being which help pupils understand their science curriculum.”
The Northern Echo
The Institute for Mining and Mechanical Engineers visit
June, 2017
for Mining and Mechanical Engineers in Newcastle to get a taste for the working conditions and the mechanical innovations of mining at the turn of the century. One student, Ashton, was inspired to draw a picture of one of the miners he saw and this became our emblem on T-shirts and other regalia for the project.
Beamish Museum Archives visit
June, 2017
A special and exclusive visit to the archives of Beamish Museum to speak to Curators and volunteers who manage the collection. They were incredibly knowledgeable and our students and staff came a way with a renewed respect for the work carried out by everyday people and those who aimed to innovate in the coal mining sector.
Durham Mining Museum Research Visit
July, 2017
A wonderful resource right in the middle of the Town Hall, Spennymoor, we took a group of young people to conduct research and look for stories, locations and artefacts that we could bring to life in our living museum performance.
Visit to Kynren.
July, 2017
A whole student-body theatre trip to Kynren, a large-scale outdoor performance of English History featuring local volunteers.
Art, Music and Craft Community Workshops
July, 2017
We brought in a range of local artists over the course of a week to work with the community. We handed the whole building over to the artists who ranged from textile artists, African drummers, ceramic artists and portrait artists. Everyone had a wonderful time and the creative juices flowed in abundance.
Hame - Sid and Michael Chaplin
July, 2017
We took some of our students to the book launch of Michael Chaplin’s, Hame at The Miner’s Hall, Durham. Hame is a new collection of stories, poems and writing by acclaimed writer, novelist, poet and screenwriter, Sid Chaplin.
NCMME - Performance and Learning Trip
July, 2017
We took two groups from our upper school and lower school to The National mining Museum for England and performed a range of works including our When Yesterday Was Young heritage performance. As well as performing it gave the young people a chance to descend underground into a real coal pit as well as learning more about the men, women and children that supported the industry with labour and skills. This led to a wonderful partnership being developed between Enter CIC and NCMME in Wakefield.
Beauty and the Beast Summer School.
August, 2017
Beauty and the Beast Summer School for our younger performers and new children from the local and wider communities.
Festival of Remembrance 2017.
November, 2017
Enter CIC students were invited to perform our own songs and readings at the Festival of Remembrance 2017 in Durham Cathedral. This event is the largest remembrance event of its kind outside London’s Albert Hall.
Customs House Pantomime Trip
December, 2017
One of our professional performers Ellie was performing at the annual Pantomime at South Shields Customs House theatre. We went along to surprise her with a number of children and we had a back stage tour and photo opportunity.
Blood Brothers Trip, Sunderland Empire
December, 2017
We took interested students on a theatre trip to see the fantastic Willy Russell musical, Blood Brothers. It was a powerful musical which was loved by all. We also were treated to a chat with cast embers after the show as one of our staff members was friends with the cast.
Darlington Festival of Youth Drama
March, 2017
A few of our students who are specifically interested in Drama wanted to work in a wider context and present their skills to other professionals. We facilitated this by entering them in the Darlington Festival of Youth Drama. Our students won seven of the trophies overall on the day and Susie came away with the two top prizes and two other trophies for best performance and best monologue (which was written by Paul Flynn).
That's Entertainment - Gaiety Afternoon
April, 2017
A wonderful opportunity to showcase some of our professional cast performers, alongside our aspiring youth group. This was a wonderful opportunity for a full house of our elderly community to dance, sing and chat with friends, but it was also a valuable experience for our youth group, many of who had inspired to enter the world of musical theatre or professional performance.
Michael Buble Tribute - Gaiety Afternoon
May, 2017
Another amazing performance from visiting artist, Michael Buble. Another sold out venue for a firm favourite among our community. From the old classics to his modern pop-inspired work, Michael didn’t disappoint and had our students dancing and the Gaiety audience walking, cha cha-ing and rhumba-ing on every spare bit of floor space! Luckily we had refreshments for everyone!
Diversity Project.
June, 2017
We hosted free diverse workshops available for the community to access. Throughout the day we had Cultural Tile Painting, Polish Silk Painting, Indian Rangoli Art, West African Dance, West African Drumming and Traditional Northumbrian Clog Dancing. It was wholly enjoyed by all the local community.
Enter CIC’s has always worked hard to ensure that we work with and learn from as wide and diverse a group of individuals and groups as possible. This has created a unique and fully inclusive environment for all to be recognised/seen, represented and given access.
Beamish Museum Visiting Workshop
June, 2017
Beamish Museum came to The Enter Centre to deliver a workshop about the daily life of everyday people during the turn of the century when coal was the main job of the working class in the North East. There were lots of questions, lots of answers, some songs, tales and games. A wonderful time was had by all.
Beamish Hall Choir Performance
June, 2017
Beamish Hall invited our youth choir to perform at a prestigious event. It was an honour to perform, and, as you can see from this photograph, it gave our students an opportunity to glam up for the occasion.
When Yesterday Was Young.
June, 2017
A large-scale performance heritage project. Hundreds of people from our community engaged with the storytelling, artefact-finding and heritage discovery elements of the project. A website was created and it continues to attract hundreds of people to new areas of historical discovery.
LSI Gospel Choir
July, 2017
Part of our award-winning programme to bring a range of arts and culture opportunities to the local community, we brought up LSI Choir from London to perform some classic spirituals and some classic soul songs. Our elderly community were captivated and the LSI Choir had a wonderful time performing for us.
T I T O Performance Choir
August, 2017
Members of our student choir were invited to perform at the TITO Community event in Spennymoor, which celebrates local causes and supports them with fundraising and gives back to the community.
Wynyard Hall / Masonic Choir Performance
August, 2017
Members of our student choir were invited to perform at Wynyard Hall to entertain members of the Masonic Lodge in Durham. It was a wonderful venue (in the Hall’s exquisite Wedding and Banquet Marquee) and all our students had a wonderful time.
Enter CIC has often performed free of charge to raise funds for charities and an array of good causes. The projects we have supported have raised millions of pounds to help those in greatest need.
Lieutenancy Dinner Choir
October, 2017
Members of our student choir were invited to perform at the annual County Durham Lieutenancy Dinner. They performed their hearts out and gave a rendition of a number of classics as well as the new work by Paul Flynn, Forever Song, written to celebrate the great work done by the Sentebale charity in Lesotho, Africa.
Easington Social Welfare Centre - Underneath the Banners
November, 2017
We were invited by County Durham Community Foundation to perform one of our songs from The Wind Road Boys at their celebration of projects at Easington Social Welfare Centre. Suzie and Danny did the honours by performing Underneath the Banners and brought the theatre to great applause and tears.
Charity Shoe Box Appeal Support.
December, 2017
The sixth of a host of regular, annual support events for the community. A local church, which runs a shoe box appeal all year, invites us to help them back the hundreds of boxes needed to be sent to children across the world who won’t, otherwise, get a Christmas present.
Santa’s Magical Experience.
December, 2017
The fabulous fifth instalment of our annual Santa’s Magical Experience. Children come with families to experience a performance, and an interactive tour of Santa’s Workshop and see Santa. Each child gets a present that fits their needs and Santa even speaks to them personally (as parents send on the child’s ‘good/naughty’ status as well as the wonderful things they may have done for the family and any hopes and dreams they have).
Like what we did during 2017?
Contact us
For more information about how you could get involved directly, or support our valuable work with disadvantaged groups and individuals.
