Groundbreaking Gosforth dance company extending opportunities for local SEND performers
Freedom Moving Performance. Credit: Rhiannon Banks Photography
An award-winning North East charity is extending the creative opportunities it offers for local young people with learning disabilities with the help of a regional developer.
Gosforth Civic Theatre is delivering a dance pathways programme for young people with learning disabilities and autistic individuals in Newcastle which helps to demonstrate nationally what these artists can achieve given the right environment.
Its Youth Dance Company provides regular dance activity and public shows, and performed earlier this year on the stage of the prestigious Sadler’s Wells East Theatre in London as part of Making Moves, a nationwide choreography and performance project for schools and youth dance groups across the country.
It was also selected to take part in the U.Dance National Festival 2026 at the renowned Tramway international arts venue in Glasgow.
A £2,000 grant from the Banks Group’s Banks Community Fund is now helping the Charity deliver dance sessions to around 150 young people in SEND schools and colleges and enable participants to perform in its annual events.
Liberdade Community Development Trust which is the charity that created GCT was founded 24 years ago to support and enable a group of young people with learning disabilities to set up and run their own theatre company, a process which eventually led to the opening of Gosforth Civic Theatre ten years ago.
It remains the only theatre of its type in the UK to be founded and guided by people with learning disabilities, and attracts around 60,000 visits every year.
The GCT Youth Company is currently preparing its annual showpiece Freedom Moving performance, which will take place at the Civic Theatre on Friday 27 November, they will also be working with Olivier Award-winning choreographer James Cousins as part of the 2027 Making Moves initiative.
Gosforth Civic Theatre entrance from Everyturn Awards. Credit: Gavin Forster Photography
Rob Huggins, CEO at Liberdade Community Development Trust, says: “Our dance company has reached an exceptional level of achievement and is nationally recognised for the quality and innovation of the performances that it delivers.
“Performing in some of the best-known dance venues in the country challenges our dancers to give their very best and the amazing results they’ve achieved really raises expectations around just how much people with learning disabilities contribute to society.
“The dance pathway gives young people routes from SEND schools and colleges into regular dance activity, public performance and national platforms, and enhances the feelings of inclusion, visibility, contribution and belonging that they earn through their creativity.
“Banks took the time to see and understand the work that we do, the difference we make and the opportunities we deliver, with their support making a direct impact on how we’re able to help our dancers fulfil their creative potential.”
Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “The SEND Youth Company is setting the highest standards on stages around the UK and is a wonderful vehicle for its members’ self-expression.
“It’s inspiring to see how much energy and creativity goes into their performances, and we’re very pleased to be helping Gosforth Civic Theatre extend the impact it can make in North East schools and colleges.”
The Banks Group’s community funds are independently managed by Point North (formerly the County Durham Community Foundation).
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should contact the company via its website enquiry form to find out if their group or project is eligible.
