v THE HERALD - INDEPENDENT AND PROUD OF IT v 20th February 2025 • The HERALD • Page 61 ASK A PROFESSIONAL • Are new to May ower or have not attended recently. Schools that are interested in applying should email: engage@ may ower.org.uk Mayflower also recognises that many community groups face similar blockers and barriers to accessing live theatre and will also be o ering the Transport Bursary to community groups that they already engage with through their participation department. During a successful pilot of the bursary, Mayflower had 470 engagements of young people across nine di erent schools and the feedback has been positive 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! Michael Ockwell, Chief Executive at May ower, said “Our mission for Mayflower is to offer inspiring experiences to all, and we are delighted that we will now be able to offer our Transport Bursary Scheme in partnership with Xelabus which will help contribute to removing the barrier of transportation costs to schools and community groups. 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.” Partick O’Sullivan, Head of Participation at Mayflower, said “For many schools and community groups, the cost of coach hire prevents them from accessing live theatre. We are delighted to work with Xelabus to remove this barrier, so more children, young people and community groups can access our rich programme across both our venues.” Phil Blair, Commercial Manager of Xela Group, said “We at Xelabus recognise the importance of educating children and community groups with the opportunity to visit theatres and we are delighted to be working with Mayflower to achieve this especially during our 15th year of operation. Mayflower’s themed bus will be seen throughout the area and hopefully attract more theatregoers promoting the diverse range of shows on offer.” e Transport Bursary Scheme will be in partnership with Xelabus, which is one of the longest running independent passenger transport providers within Hampshire, with over 15 years’ experience. Mayflower is proud to announce transport bursary in partnership with Xelabus Mayflower is Proud to Announce Transport Bursary in Partnership with Xelabus Continued from page 60
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