Bamboozle secures Arts Council funding!

This morning, Bamboozle were delighted to be announced as one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio of companies to receive national funding.

Peter Knott, Area Director for Arts Council England said: “By producing and touring multi-sensory theatrical experiences for learning disabled children and young people, Bamboozle Theatre Company makes great art and culture available to a wider audience. We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in them to continue their work touring nationally and internationally to schools, theatres and festivals over the next three years.”

Bamboozle has been working with Leicester/shire families and schools since 1994 and has toured shows to theatres, schools and festivals throughout the UK and internationally to five continents.

Co-founder and Artistic Director Christopher Davies said: “We are delighted to receive support from Arts Council to help our work continue. This grant gives us a welcome measure of security which we can build on and raise funds locally to enable us to continue to provide opportunities for Leicester and Leicestershire families. It is so important that the audience we serve gets access to the arts. It raises self-esteem and gives young people a sense of worth and enjoyment. At Bamboozle we are very lucky to work with a remarkable team: talented freelance actors and facilitators, a hard-working office team and a committed board of Trustees all of whom enable the highest standard of work to be made for our audience. The importance of the work is frequently brought home to us when parents tell us the impact it has on their disabled child and the whole family who often feel isolated.”

During the Covid restrictions Bamboozle created socially distanced outdoor activities so that they could maintain contact with families. Musicians performed in people’s front gardens, Firebird an open-air show with a 5m wingspan puppet toured schools and the Timber Festival and Backyard was created for children on the autism spectrum.

Kayleigh Rodgers who brought her son to Backyard this summer said:

“Imagine there was a place you could go without the fear of being judged and no disapproving glares. Where children can truly be themselves, not worrying what anyone else thinks. It sounds magical doesn’t it! Well that’s what Bamboozle Backyard is, absolutely magical.”