Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Arts group happy changing opinions
A youth arts organisation for people with special needs is aiming for big things after winning a royal award, equivalent to an MBE.
Square Pegs, which takes its name from the idiom ‘a square peg in a round hole’, is for young people, aged seven to 25, who don’t fit in with mainstream activities because of learning or communication difficulties.
In November, the group received The Queens Award for Voluntary Service, the only organisation in the county to be presented with the accolade.
What started out as a single drama club 12 years ago with only six members, now holds five weekly drama clubs and monthly singing and film club sessions in Chatham, Maidstone and Canterbury, for around 70 youngsters a week.
The next step for Sqaure Pegs is to create a professional theatre company to build on the high standard it has reached.
Beth James- Richards, 36, director and founder, said: “People come to see our shows and I think they expect to say ‘oh, that’s nice’ in a patronising kind of way, but end up saying ‘oh, actually this is really good’.”
The organisation has also applied for charity status, to be determined in the next few weeks. If successful, it will have more opportunities for funding.
Mrs James-richards says her grandmother was her biggest inspiration to form the club.
“My grandma was really pioneering in using drama with people with special needs many years ago,” she said.
“When I was a child, she used to take me to work with her so I was amongst children with disabilities when I was really young and watched her doing that.”
Many performers have been members of the club for years while Mrs James- Richards has seen them grow up and reach milestones in their lives, giving everyone involved a
sense of family.
Rachel Cheeseman, 22, who has been attending for 11 years, has dyspraxia, a condition affecting her balance, spacial awareness, and speech.
She said: “When I started I really struggled with my confidence – for the first three weeks I sat on the bench with my mum and that was it.
“Now they can’t get me off the stage.”