Southampton bus scheme to give more young people access to theatre

A transport bursary will mean more children can experience the "joy and opportunity" of live theatre, a charity said

Author: Seb CheerPublished 14th Jan 2025

A transport bursary scheme has been introduced in Southampton, so that more young people can see live theatre.

The Mayflower Theatre has partnered with Xelabus, to help alleviate financial pressures faced by schools and community groups when planning trips to performances.

Some teachers had previously said they couldn't accept free theatre tickets, as travel would cost too much, according to the charity.

It's also hoped the partnership will mean extra costs are not passed onto parents.

The Mayflower's Creative Director, Sarah Scott, told Greatest Hits Radio: "Young people can get involved in youth theatre groups, and production arts groups and all of those things, but it all starts with walking through the door and seeing what it is, and then who knows where it could lead?

"Trips are dropping off all over the country. Schools just aren't able to get their young people out to take part in different experiences.

Sarah added that teachers often didn't accept free theatre tickets: "They said, 'we appreciate the offer but actually the coach cost made it impossible for us to come.'

"What we don't want is for those costs to be passed onto parents, and for that to mean some children can't come."

Positive feedback during pilot

Mayflower says a successful pilot of the bursary has taken place, involving 470 young people from nine schools.

Positive feedback was gathered, with comments including:

  • "It was lovely to see children, who are often disengaged at school, be so excited about the whole experience. Their laughter, the smiles on their faces and the questions throughout showed their engagement in the production."
  • "The trip had an amazing impact on a child with additional needs who had never been to the theatre before. She was so excited and in awe through the whole show. Despite her having speech and language difficulties, she was able to talk animatedly about her favourite part of the show the next day which was a great achievement for her."
  • "One of our children who is a young carer, is very shy and they thoroughly enjoyed the show. We have had emails from parents to say thank you and that they could see a big difference in their child's personality when they got home and told their grown-ups about the show!"
  • "We are so grateful to have had this opportunity today, thank you all so much. We have brought 76 children today and 75 of them have never been inside a theatre. All of our school trips we had booked this year have been cancelled due to the cost of coach travel. The transport bursary has enabled us to bring these children today but just imagine if we could bring the whole school!"

Mayflower's Chief Executive, Michael Oakwell said the partnership helped to remove a "barrier."

"Our role, as a charity, is to ensure that as many people in our community as possible are able to experience live theatre and the arts within their local area," he added.

Bosses at Xela Group said they were "delighted" to work with Mayflower, hoping to "attract more theatregoers" with a themed bus seen throughout the area.

"We at Xelabus recognise the importance of educating children and community groups with the opportunity to visit theatres," said commercial manager Phil Blair.

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