UK's only disability-led public facing theatre celebrates 10 years at the heart of its North East community
The UK’s only public-facing theatre founded and guided by people with learning disabilities, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, is celebrating its 10th anniversary
Over the past decade, Gosforth Civic Theatre has welcomed over 324,000 visitors - with more than 115,000 attendances to performances
Established and governed by people with learning disabilities, the unique venue has delivered over 2,100 SEND sessions from the theatre since 2016
A North East theatre that has pioneered a unique approach to arts and inclusion is marking its 10th anniversary with a year of celebration.
Gosforth Civic Theatre (GCT) - the only public-facing theatre in the UK founded and guided by people with learning disabilities - is celebrating 10 years of bringing arts and culture to life in the heart of the local community.
From April 2026 to March 2027, the venue will honour its 10th anniversary with a vibrant programme of special shows and events, including its popular Beer Festival, folk and roots music festival Beyond the Moor, and flagship performance Freedom Moving, which showcases the talent of performers with learning disabilities.
Liberdade Community Development Trust, the disability arts charity who run GCT, was founded as a way to give performers and creatives with learning disabilities the opportunity to work in and run their own physical theatre company. Today, those company members still play an essential role in its governance and future direction.
Over the past 10 years the venue, which is situated three miles north of Newcastle city centre, has welcomed more than 324,000 visitors through its doors - and had over 115,000 attendances to a wide variety of performances.
The venue has delighted audiences with sell-out gigs with international musicians, artists, dancers, comedians, storytellers and other performers over the past decade. In 2025 it was voted Best Museum or Cultural Venue at the North East Culture Awards.
Outside of the performance programme, the unique space has also become a firm favourite for showstopping weddings with an alternative edge, and the venue’s cafe bar has welcomed over 130,000 customers.
Ten years on from its launch, GCT’s in-built commitment to real social change continues to benefit the wider community. The venue has delivered 2,191 dedicated SEND sessions and welcomed 23,739 SEND attendances since 2016, alongside 1,980 community activity sessions attended by more than 54,000 people.
Rob Huggins, founder and CEO of Gosforth Civic Theatre, commented: “It’s fantastic to celebrate 10 years of Gosforth Civic Theatre, and to have maintained this thriving arts venue throughout challenges like the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
“Gosforth Civic Theatre is a truly unique place, with an ethos of community and inclusion fundamentally built into everything we do. Over the past decade we have not only been a cultural cornerstone of the local community - bringing fantastic theatre, music and art to the region - but also a real driver of influence and change, led and shaped by people with learning disabilities.
“Gosforth Civic Theatre is a nationally important model that shows that if you enable people with learning disabilities to provide something of value to the wider community then by association the local community values them more”.
“I can’t wait to see what change the next 10 years will bring, and how we will continue to use GCT as a tool to show how people with learning disabilities contribute to the community and build the world they want to live in.”
