The Roses Theatre is striving to raise £10,000 as part of The Big Give (19-26 Mar) to continue and expand Infinite Creatives, our creative programme for children with formally diagnosed or undiagnosed special educational needs (SEN).

We're thrilled we've been selected by Big Give’s Arts for Impact fundraising initiative, which promises to match every pound raised, doubling your donation, between 19-26 Mar.

The combined £20,000 will transform access to Infinite Creatives, a two-year creative programme for neurodiverse 10–16-year-olds, from monthly to weekly sessions for 15 participants.

Extracurricular SEN provision is desperately underfunded and under resourced and the Infinite Creatives is a vital project for the local community.

Since 2020, North Gloucestershire has lost all extra-curricular activities outside of school for children with special educational needs. There are currently over 16,000 children in Gloucestershire with special educational needs and nearly 5,000 on a health or care plan. Over 100 children with high special educational needs have no access to specialist education at all.

With such poor provision and access, research has revealed that neurodiverse children have more mental health issues, social isolation and development issues.

Infinite Creatives has been running since September 2022 and helps the children grow their confidence and improve their mental wellbeing through monthly performing art sessions. The sessions involve drama, art and music, and this year, the programme is working towards an annual project. Last year’s annual project theme being bands, where the children created and recorded their own song and music video.

If The Roses meets its £10,000 target, combined with Big Give’s doubling donations, it will have the £20,000 needed to provide 70 sessions for 10–16-year-olds with neurodiversity through a weekly Saturday club, launching September.

Sadly, without this crucial funding, Infinite Creatives is unlikely to continue due to the lack of funding necessary to pay facilitators, staff and equipment.

Jess Brewster, The Roses Director, says, “The Infinite Creatives aims to bring joy through creativity and I consider it to be one of the most important pieces work we do for the community. In similar school activities we have seen a 50% increase in confidence and literacy in children, compared to non-participants, and an overall increase in academic achievement. We aim to engage with over 1,000 isolated and vulnerable children and young people across Gloucestershire to develop creative skills, build social circles and create a supportive environment for care givers. But raising £10,000 in just one week is not an easy task. We greatly need the community’s help so that our charity can continue to keep this vital initiative going and expand it to further its impact.”

Mum, Bethan, says, “Seren is home educated so these sessions where she is working with a group are very important. It's not an opportunity Seren gets often and it's somewhere she feels safe and valued which helps to build her confidence. We need people to donate because these opportunities are hard to come by and this group of children are often excluded from having experiences like this where they wouldn't find fitting in easy. The inclusivity is so important for socialising and mental health. Seeing young people passionate about the subjects covered gives us hope that they can continue to change the way the world sees them for their future. I really hope the funding is found and the group can continue. It really is something very special to be a part of.”

The Roses invites people to help raise money for the Infinite Creatives, whether that be through a fundraising event or donating from 19-26 Mar.

To find out more and donate, visit: https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002SEVDaAAP