When theatre can provide the chance of a lifetime.

 Who are they?
SCENE & HEARD.

Where are they?
Somers Town, London  

What do they do?
Use theatre to mentor inner city young people.

How big are they?
Just 2.5 FTE – but a huge army of volunteers.

What did they receive?
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional upgrades and Office Professional Plus 2010.

The outcome?
Office completely re-equipped with working software.

 

 Somers Town is a seldom-mentioned slice of London.

On geography alone, it should be a prime location: between Bloomsbury, Camden and Regent’s Park; walking distance from the very centre of town. But the small, densely populated area consisting mainly of council-funded homes has been utterly overlooked by the city’s economic growth, according to Jasmine Rowe.

Jasmine is the Administrator for Scene and Heard, a charity that partners Somers Town’s children with volunteer theatre professionals, to give them an experience of quality one-to-one adult attention and to enable them to write and perform their own plays. This process improves the children's literacy skills and general attitude towards education and learning. It also develops their communication and social skills, and offers them role models from beyond their normal experience. The ensuing performances give the children immediate and public experiences of success, raising their aspirations and boosting their self-esteem.

 

 

 

 

It’s an astonishingly successful operation – the charity’s list of patrons and supporters includes many household names, its performances have received glowing reviews in the national press, and it has just picked up the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Above all, of course, there is the lasting effect that it has on its young beneficiaries. But, of course, it doesn’t come cheap.

 

 

 

 

“We struggle with funding,” says Jasmine. “Each place costs us £1500 and we make it free at all points – including the subsequent performances, so as not to exclude. That’s why it was amazing to get the software we needed to function.”

The software in this instance was Microsoft Windows 7 and Office Professional Plus, donated through CTX to equip new computers provided by sponsors. And as Jasmine reports, this has made a huge difference to the day-to-day running of the charity.

“We use it for everything!” she claims. “All our finance, our budgeting, internals, Excel, Money, an Access database for our volunteers… this has all made our lives so much easier. Our previous equipment was so slow; there were lots of crashes; it was actually stopping us working.”

Jasmine recalls her main issue at the time was working out what the organisation actually needed; after that the process was very straightforward with items very easy to purchase and install. “I’d absolutely recommend CTX to other small charities,” she says. “There’s no hidden agenda; no hidden costs; it’s a no-brainer for the small charity – the place you should go.”