Opening doors for underrepresented emerging young artists.
Cheryl founded Purple Moon Drama in 2016 as a way to build a fairer arts sector and provide opportunities for young people to benefit from quality arts provision.
Offering artist development programmes, facilitator training, holiday clubs, and more, the organisation supports young people to access the creative industry by providing resources and support, and also trains soft skills at a grassroots level for the development of children across London.
Challenges in the Arts Sector
“I want to create a safe space for young people to try their ideas, maybe fail, and try again.”
It can be difficult to get a foot in the door in the creative industry. In an already underfunded sector, opportunities for emerging creatives to gain the experience are limited, leadership opportunities even more so. The struggle to break into the arts sector is compounded for those facing any degree of marginalisation.
Purple Moon Drama aims to better equip marginalised young people with the confidence, skill, and network needed to set them up for future success.
Cheryl herself experienced frustrations with the many barriers she seemed to come up against, and often felt that her skill and her passion were not recognised.
“I got bored of trying to prove my worth in places that were determined not to see it.”
As an Applied Theatre specialist who has worked in settings such as the National Theatre, Channel 5 Television, and EMI Music, she felt well-placed to empower young people from marginalised backgrounds to enter the world of work, and to support them to navigate successful careers.
Holly McComish (former Associate Producer at Purple Moon Drama) and Cheryl
What Purple Moon Drama Offers
Purple Moon Drama is an arts organisation that supports young people with self-development schemes, training, and safe creative spaces.
“We don’t do anything without consulting the people who are going to benefit from it. Whether it’s a workshop, whether it’s a programme. Anything we do has come through a consultation process.”
Three core elements of the organisation are regular drama clubs that run during school holidays, accredited creative facilitator training courses, and artist development programmes. A recent project was a six-month incubator for creatives which supported ten participants with workshops, mentoring, rehearsal space, professional coaching, and a work-in-progress festival.
The opportunities are all developed by and with the Digital Youth Board who have decision making power and shape the direction of the organisation.
Cheryl is a big advocate of giving young people opportunities to take on positions of leadership, and has seen several past members of the Youth Board go on to mentor others, run their own workshops, and even work with institutions like the National Theatre.
Finding Support through Hatch
Cheryl and Emily Hill (Hatch Enterprise)
“I wanted to join a Hatch programme because I wanted the community.”
Cheryl knew what she wanted to build with Purple Moon Drama and joined a Hatch Incubator Programme to help realise this vision. She joined a programme exclusively for female founders and was able to benefit from the wealth of expertise brought by the speakers, and the rest of the cohort.
“I liked that it was online and it was women-only. There were some really, really interesting speakers that really just allowed me to think about certain aspects of my business in a completely different way.
“It really helped to expand my mind. I don’t usually get the time to think beyond the day to day and that’s what this programme offered.”
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