A professional drummer, and an actor who has taught at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, are determined to help social enterprise Upturn unearth working class artists - after branding the current creative industries "elitist."
With music lessons costing around £40 an hour, learning an instrument has become a pipe dream for many, said Adam Jenkins, a drummer and multi-instrumentalist.
With London living so expensive, theatre schools such as RADA and Italia Conti are totally out of reach. No wonder Britain's top actors Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston went to Eton and Harrow, said actor Pete Gibson.
"Just seven percent of those employed in the creative arts are from working class backgrounds. We also have a North-South divide meaning we have reached the bizarre point where plays about life in boroughs like Oldham and staged in Greater Manchester theatres are cast in London."
Jenkins hopes to change that, so he has set up a Just Giving page to buy pre-loved instruments for young people to use in sessions at Upturn's town centre space, The Hive.
Jenkins said: "On the page, I relay the story of a 13-year-old who hated school. Then one day, they picked up a guitar. A few months on and they were attending school regularly, making plans for their future and performing music they had written themselves.
“The guitar didn't change their life, the opportunity did. Across Oldham and Rochdale, there are vulnerable young people facing challenges most adults would struggle to carry. Our project aims to give them that chance to display what they are good at."
Upturn will provide both the teaching and the space for the sessions. Though it is situated in the busy Spindles Shopping Centre, the environment there is adaptable, and has been used for everything from high-level meetings to events for business networks such as CROWN.
Other charitable organisations have taught young people life skills courses, and there are breakout rooms available for students.
Organisers hope guest experts will help to teach and students will receive accredited Arts qualifications. The culmination of the sessions will be a showcase event attended by industry professionals.
As an actor who has appeared in around a dozen horror films, Gibson has engaged with all sorts of students before, from isolated older people to teenagers in youth offending institutions.
"People are quite surprised when I tell them how much inmates enjoyed drama" he said. "One project actually had them reenacting their crime and playing the victim.
“Drama gets them into the minds of other people and gives young people a voice. There are actors who have used quite traumatic life experiences to become great artists and established names. Sadly, they are few and far between these days."
Gibson also wants to smash what he believes is a comfort zone, where Northwest actors are pigeonholed into certain roles.
"Basically, too many casting agents think we should only do Coronation Street because we're northern. I see our students as potentially playing Shakespearean roles," he said.
Jenkins added: "Being a working-class musician means that everything comes out of your own pocket. That is not just buying an instrument, you have to learn to play it, pay for rehearsal space and then market your band. Plus, there is the small matter of supporting yourself when wages at the beginning of your career are so poor."
Visit Adam's page:
If you think you can help the project, contact info@upturn.org.uk
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