We're here to create joyful, life-enhancing experiences for young people in Wales, and enable them to tell their stories and be creative.
Every year we engage with thousands of children and young people, encouraging the next generation to amplify their voices and develop the creative skills essential to their future personal, social and economic wellbeing.
We focus on providing opportunities to those young people most impacted by adverse life experiences and since opening we have reached over 300,000 young people. In 2019-20 we ran 736 sessions, engaging over 20,766 participants.
Fuel curiosity, develop confidence
We develop skills for life through creative experiences focusing on communication, resilience and an enjoyment of learning all encouraged with a positive mindset. By giving young people the tools, space and time to create, we hope to fuel ambition and encourage self-belief.
We do this through running practical skills workshops and training programmes and creating digital learning experiences.
Their story, their way
We encourage young people to stand centre stage and create a future Wales that reflects their aspirations, we therefore design our programmes alongside young people from the start. We give young people agency and responsibility by enabling them to work creatively in physical and digital spaces owned and run by them.
In it together
Our greatest partnership is with young people, creating programmes and content with them, for them. However, as a national organisation we have built partnerships with a number of organisations such as Valleys Kids, Sparc, Youth Arts Network Cymru and National Youth Arts Wales to share knowledge, skills and experiences. For us, collaboration on a national level is key to growing expertise and reaching those who will benefit the most.
Our recent programmes
Radio Platfform: Our youth-led radio station and training programme gives those aged 14-25 years a platform to build their confidence, find their voice and express themselves. As well as our Cardiff station, we now have a sister station at The Factory in Porth.
"Radio Platfform has never just been about radio; it’s about developing young people and providing them with opportunities and skills they would struggle to find elsewhere."
Ben, Radio Platfform Intern
The radio stations are operated by and for young people; everything from the producing and presenting of live shows to the marketing and social media. The bilingual, six-week, accredited course is delivered in partnership with Promo Cymru.
Together Stronger: With the very generous support of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, this programme has been able to nurture young people throughout the Rhondda with activities, events and taster sessions; from radio broadcast training to theatre workshops. We’ve been working with Rhondda-based charity Valleys Kids to deliver this over a number of years.
Throughout Festival of Voice 2021, a series of creative interventions exploring the concept of 'power' took over Wales Millennium Centre. The Powerful Interventions project led by artist Bethan Marlow amplified the voices of young people from the Valleys and Cardiff from a range of backgrounds, including disabled, neurodiverse, care-experienced, LGBTQ+ and Black, Asian and ethnically diverse.
Creative Voice: We launched Creative Voice in 2021, running courses in: Creative Writing, Creative Acts, Screen and Film and Radio Production and have now massively expanded our offer to provide a whole host of creative and skills based course for young people. The courses that are regularly on offer at Wales Millennium Centre include: Youth Theatre, Filmmaking and TV and Radio Platfform training and we’ve recently had courses in Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Lets Create, Story Lab: Choose Your Own Adventure, Costume Design, Audition Masterclass. (Please click each course to find out more), We have also offered courses in Graffiti Art, Making A Music Video, and Promoting yourself as an Artist. Take a look at our latest courses.
The courses are delivered by industry professionals from organisation's such as: Red Brick, Screen Alliance Wales, and Promo Cymru.
We have delivered courses for young people from a host of community partners such as Princes Trust, YMCA Swansea and Llamau.
Participants from our Creative Voice courses have gone on to showcase their work at LLAIS, taken part in Career Insight Days (including with the Lion King Production) and engaged in other WMC Creative Learning events including Life Hack and Dros Nos.
Technical apprenticeships: Due to the scale of our commercial programme, we’re able to give young people the chance to learn technical production skills and prepare them for their first job in the theatre or live events industry. Graduates receive a Level 3 apprenticeship accredited by Cardiff and the Vale College and a Bronze Award from the Association of British Theatre Technicians.
Sing Proud Cymru: A joyous collaboration with Voices From Care Cymru that aims to give children, young people and families from the care-experienced community an opportunity to express themselves through song. This inter-generational choir brings together young people and those who support them, including support workers, foster families and care leavers.
Our learning and engagement work is supported by Garfield Weston Foundation, Moondance Foundation, Mary Homfray Charitable Trust, Simon Gibson Charitable Trust, John Thaw Foundation, and the Arts Council of Wales.
