Happy birthday to us!

Today marks 5 years since the YPPT became a registered charity. In that time, we've completed over 50 projects involving over 1600 children and young people in 5 counties, helping them build confidence and resilience as they exceed everyone's expectations of what they can achieve.

We are so grateful to every single one of our supporters who has made this possible - we absolutely could not have done this without you!

If you want to help create another five years of projects, why not consider a regular donation? Just £5/month would give 4 children everything they need to create their own amazing marionette, and memories that will last a lifetime! 

Back in the spring, we received a grant from the FORE to run a script writing competition for secondary school pupils to help them stay creative and give them something meaningful to do in lockdown. We are delighted today to announce the first three winners of this competition and their scripts, which will join our library and be offered to schools from September 2021. Congratulations to all three of them!

Rory McGlade, Edith and the Thief
Oliver MacKinnon, Robbing a Bank: A How-Not-To Guide
Miles Black, The Odyssey​

Here they are in their own words:

Our ten projects in schools are continuing despite the latest lockdown! We've made our set design resources available online for our pupils to have a go at home. Each class has received special resources for their show - inspirational mood boards, tips on scale and perspective, and examples of ideas that work well. We've already had some great ideas and can't wait to start creating them once schools go back!

Last week, the YPPT took part in the Big Give for the first time ever.

£7,500 worth of match funds
£15,000 total target
One week. 

And what a week it was!

Thanks to your generosity, we absolutely smashed our target, raising over £23,000 including Gift Aid! Thank you SO much to all of you who donated - your money is going straight towards more puppet projects in 2021.

What a half term it was! Here's a look back at what the children have achieved so far.

This week and last saw ten new projects start at six primary schools across Hertfordshire and Cambridge. You can find more details about this year's projects here. We are delighted to be supporting children's learning and social development as they navigate the return to school. So far our classes have read through their scripts and chosen characters to make, and the feedback has been great!

Here's the Bewick Bridge Primary video of Oliver Twist, filmed by YPPT project leaders and two bubbles of children in June-July 2020.

At Wolvercote Primary this year, the Year Six class performed and filmed their production of The Mechanical Gardener when they went back to school in June/July. Year Six teacher Mrs Hansen was also the project leader and was able to direct and film the show herself. The school also did the editing, and we're so impressed with the result!

We've been back at Bewick Bridge Primary School this month, filming their show Oliver Twist - at a distance, of course! The children were divided into two social bubbles, and the bubbles took it in turns to film alternate scenes. Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos.