Light UP: a supportive and innovative youth theatre

• Raised £15,293 from 88 supporters
• +£5,000 Extra funding from Sovereign Employment and Training Fund
• +£5,000 Extra funding from Sovereign Thriving Communities Fund
• To secure the future of Hampshire’s supportive and innovative youth theatre

Light UP Youth Theatre provides a safe, supportive and inclusive setting for self expression and creative collaboration.

Programmed by highly skilled teachers and theatre professionals, their performing arts programme is like none other, offering accessible opportunities and experiences that advance and develop their student’s range of skills and interests. Light UP puts the needs of the student centre stage to encourage them to be whoever they want to be so they can shine, both on stage and off.

It has been a difficult few years for the creative and community industries, and Light Up have been feeling the strain. Their charity weathered unchartered waters, through Covid and various lockdowns, whilst still supporting the children and young people they  work with. They unfortunately had a funding deficit that needed to be filled urgently to ensure there was no disruption to the high quality work and support they provide.

However, they had a robust recovery plan and a clear way forward, and needed to raise £10,000 to build the exciting future they have been working so hard towards for the past 8 years.

They needed funding to:

• Ensure Light UP could continue to exist and thrive with inspiring and knowledgeable teachers, delivering the most innovative and supportive youth theatre in Hampshire.
• Retain their highly skilled and extraordinary team of staff who give everything and more to their roles, the students they support and the charitable aims of the organisation.
• Train the next generation of theatre makers and performers and play an active role in supporting the theatre industry as a whole.
• Continue their collaborative work with 11 community centres and countless creative partners.

To achieve this, they set up a Crowdfunder to secure the future of Light UP!

We spoke to Rosanna and Courtney from the Light UP team, who told us; “In order for us to keep the doors of the charity open, we knew we’d need to do something on a large scale that would reach our community and beyond. We researched a number of different fundraising platforms and felt that Crowdfunder fit our needs best and would provide the greatest assortment of tools to help us achieve our goals.”

The crowd rallied around their project, with one supporter commenting, “Light up has provided so much support for my daughter and boosted her self confidence. She describes her classes as her happy place and spends all her time just waiting for the next class. Thank you so much for everything”

Another said, “I hope you manage to raise enough money to save the charity. We can’t be without ‘drama’ in our lives ❤️”

In the end, the Light UP team smashed their initial target and went on to raise £15,293 from 88 members of the community. This included £5,000 in funding from the Sovereign Employment and Training Fund, and £5,000 from the Sovereign Thriving Communities fund.

We asked the team about the impact the funding will have for their community; “The success of our crowdfunding campaign was pivotal to securing the future of our organisation. To see the outpour from the Light UP community was an incredible testament to what we’ve built through the students and families we’ve engaged with through the years. That coupled with the donations received from the public, some as far reaching as America, was support we couldn’t have imagined receiving and it really reinforced how valued Light UP is.”

“One of the perks that attracted us to Crowdfunder in the first place was the ease of applying for additional funding, so we were absolutely delighted to have Sovereign support our cause. Without this extra funding, we may not have reached our target which would have had a massive impact on the operations of the charity.” 

“Having reached our target thanks to the support of Sovereign and so many others, we have been able to continue delivering high quality sessions across Hampshire. We have many exciting plans on the horizon to continue engaging with young people and our community through performing arts education.”

“The impact of the success of our project can be felt in every element of what we do. From the delivery of our classes, to keeping our team intact to staging performances and to seeing the smiles on our students faces week to week. Without funding, some or all of this may not have been possible and because of this we can look forward to so much more.”

After such a successful experience of crowdfunding, and receiving the +Extra funding from Sovereign Housing, we asked Rosanna and Courtney for their top crowdfunding tips:

“One tool we wish we used sooner was to add rewards. Once we did this, it unlocked a variety of options for us and those that were donating to the cause. It meant we could offer something tangible which gave some supporters more incentive to donate.”

Feeling inspired? Find out if you could receive +Extra funding from Sovereign Housing!