Category: Performers

Mental Health Awareness Week with NRTF

NRTF Staff and Board Members
Away Day March 2023

As employers, NRTF has a responsibility to ensure that our staff are well looked after, and their well-being & mental health is taken care of. This means creating an environment where people can feel safe, secure, and valued.

We are currently exploring the Conscious Leadership approach to employment. This approach encourages employers to be more mindful of their staff’s emotional needs and create a culture of trust and respect in the workplace.

Here’s what the team had to say:

“I try to make sure I leave the house for a short walk or a run everyday, working from home can easily fall into a pattern of never going outside, but I find I am so much more focused and energised if I am able to do this. It’s also brilliant that NRTF supports and encourages this.”

Hattie Thomas – NRTF Membership Manager

“I make sure I turn off all notifications on my phone and I don’t have work emails on it. I try to get to an exercise class at least 3 times a week and I get up and move around between meetings. I also try to keep external meetings to 30 minutes so I don’t get overwhelmed with Zoom fatigue.”

Holly Lombardo, NRTF Director

At NRTF we all work remotely so it is important we have the means and strategies to stay connected and to replicate the in-person experience as much as possible. We are building our systems with this as an aim. We promote a space of balance including regular group check-ins, one-2-ones, workload assessments and encouraging the team to feel confident and able to take time out in the day for rest, exercise or a mindful activity.

By taking steps to ensure that our employees are taken care of, we create a healthier work environment for everyone. We help the team reach their full potential, be productive and proud of their role outputs.

Supporting Mental Health at the NRTF Conference

Part of our commitment to making the Conference as accessible as possible, includes adopting a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere to help everyone feel safe and comfortable. We will have chill out spaces available, and attendees will be welcome to step out and take a moment whenever they need to. If you have any worries about attending the conference, please do get in touch and we will do our best to help put you at ease, you can contact our Project Manager Jess on project@nrtf.org.uk

Mental Health Support Lines

Below are a list of organisations you can contact for support if you are struggling with your mental health. Our friends at Rural Arts have also produced a comprehensive resource page which you can find here.

Samaritans 

To talk about anything that is upsetting you, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email jo@samaritans.org or visit some branches in person. You can also call the Samaritans Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day). 

SOS Silence of Suicide – for everyone 

Call 0300 1020 505 – 4pm to midnight every day Email support@sossilenceofsuicide.org 

SOBS – Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide 

Support for people who are bereaved  suicide – www.uksobs.org 0300 111 5065 

SANEline. 

If you’re experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else, you can call SANEline on 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm–10.30pm every day). 

National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK. 

Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (open 24/7). 

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). 

You can call the CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) if you are struggling and need to talk. Or if you prefer not to speak on the phone, you could try the CALM webchat service. 

Shout. 

If you would prefer not to talk but want some mental health support, you could text SHOUT to 85258. Shout offers a confidential 24/7 text service providing support if you are in crisis and need immediate help. 

Griefchat 

Free, live instant chat service for people experiencing a bereavement. ttps://griefchat.co.uk/ 

Nicola Pollard – On Tour with Up The Road Theatre

One of our brilliant trustees, Nicola Pollard, is currently on tour with her theatre company. We asked her to tell us how it’s going…

It’s been four years since Up The Road Theatre were last on tour. Creating and developing a touring production is always a mammoth undertaking, especially if you’re project funded. Now, if I’m honest, it feels even tougher than before. The threat of Covid looms over everyone, audiences and performers alike; the cost of living crisis makes you wonder if people will want to turn out, if the halls will be able to pay their bills. And then, on the day of your dress rehearsal, it snows so heavily you’re nearly snowed into your digs and your rehearsal space has a power cut!

However, all the planning and preparation is starting to pay off. Beneath the Banner opened on Saturday March 11th, with Highlights Rural Touring in Middleton-in-Teesdale. A full house, and, despite the snow outside, a warm reception. Our production explores the vast array of experiences and perspectives from coal mining communities: the men underground, the workers on the surface and those in the community. I realised it’s been two and a half years since I received ACE funding to begin our R&D, which was followed by a second grant last summer for the rehearsals and tour. In between that time there have been a great many Zoom calls with potential project partners and creative team members; programming emails; submissions to Rural Touring scheme menus and (finally!) in-person meetings. Plus research for the show, encompassing interviews with former miners and their families; reading anything I could find and visits to the National Coal Mining Museum and other sites. Then the writing process: drafting, developing and re-drafting. At times it all seems unwieldy and impossible to navigate, but come the start of this year we had our tour, including twelve dates with Rural Touring schemes, a finished script and a cast.

My journey with Rural Touring began in 2015, with Up The Road’s first show. I didn’t even know Rural Touring existed until I was introduced to Spot On and Cheshire Rural Touring. Our 12 dates in 2023 haven’t happened overnight, they’re a result of eight years of collaborating and producing good shows that speak to audiences. This is our third touring production, which has given us plenty of opportunity for learning as we go.

As I write, on a train heading south, we’re three shows into this tour. We’ve played two of our three shows with Highlights, at the end of the week we’re with Arts Out West, followed by Rural Arts, Spot On Lancashire and Applause before our tour finishes in mid-April. We’ve already played to 180 people, and we’ve plenty more audience members to share our show with. Our van has miles to travel, and numerous digs to drop into. If you see a red VW Fox beetling up the M1 this month, give me a wave as I’ll be heading off to a schools workshop or joining the team for a show. If we could just hold off the snow for a few more weeks, that would be great…

Libraries Week

Tell us what you’re up to!

Libraries Week is an annual showcase and celebration of the best that libraries have to offer. Taking  place between the 4th and 10th October, Libraries week 2021 will be celebrating the nation’s much-loved libraries and the central role that libraries play in their community as a driver for inclusion, sustainability, social mobility and community cohesion. 

The Touring Arts In Libraries (TAIL) project is all about boosting the ambition of libraries to deliver a programme of touring work. We know taking arts into these open, friendly, public spaces is both positive and inspiring not just for those communities but also for library staff, and artists. 

We want to promote Rural Touring arts activities in libraries by sharing your events with our project partners, forum members and followers.

So don’t hesitate to email Jess Huffman TAIL project manager on project@nrtf.org.uk with links and details of what you’re up to. Let us help you to shout about it!

What else is the TAIL project doing for Libraries week? 

Our monthly mail out will highlight the latest project news and opportunities for libraries, schemes and artists. Including touring shows, new library specific commissions, Go See Grants, and artists workshops.

On Monday 11th October as part of our Mechanics: Online Rural Touring Workshops for Artists, we’ll be running an interactive session that will include feedback from artists with library touring experience and a chance to pitch your own creative ideas. 

To join us or find out more about the Mechanics Workshops programme go to: https://www.ruraltouring.org/rural-touring-mechanics-october-2021/ 

For more information on Libraries week go to: http://librariesweek.org.uk/ 

Keep up to date by following @librariesweek and share your plans at #LibrariesWeek.

For more information on the NRTF’s Touring Arts in Libraries (TAIL) project go to: https://www.ruraltouring.org/project/touring-arts-in-libraries-tail-project/ 

Why is Rural Touring so Important?

Rural Touring Advocacy

What is National Rural Touring Forum?

National Rural Touring Forum supports rural touring schemes, promoters, artists and communities to bring high quality and professional creative experiences to rural venues and audiences. It does this through advocating on behalf of the sector, creating national projects, networking, showcasing and hosting an annual conference.


What is rural touring and why is it different from urban touring?

Rural touring is where professional performances take place in rural venues. These rural venues usually take the form of a Village Hall or Community Centre, but can also be pubs, libraries and outdoors. They are rarely fully equipped arts venues. Performances are programmed by a rural touring scheme, who will curate a varied season of events. Instead of all the events taking place in a couple of rooms in one building, they take place in lots of venues across a specific geographical area, sometimes whole counties, sometimes even further. Rural touring work is very different from touring to city centres or venues in urban areas. Artists express high regard for rural touring venues and the level of professionalism from the promoters. They often talk about their appreciation of a certain “magic” and warmth of the audiences that happens at rural events which aren’t the same at larger halls or festivals.

“The heart of the reason why it’s different from a town centre art centre is that the audience knows each other. That contributes to the other thing that is distinctive, which is that rural touring events become part of shared memory, part of what builds community. So, for both of those reasons, I think that it is a very distinctive kind of artistic experience.” François Matarasso, March
2019


Green Touring
Touring is inherently greener than venue-based work. Large venues consume vast amounts of energy and expel lots of carbon. People invariably drive to them – or drive to a station to get a train to get to a city where the venue is. Small-scale touring – where one van is on the road for a small cast – has a low carbon footprint in comparison. Rural touring is generally set in villages where many audiences walk to the venue. And if they don’t walk, they live usually within a 10-mile radius, so journeys are short. Previous NRTF annual surveys report that 90% of audiences travel for less than 10 minutes to get to their village hall.

Rural Promoters

Rural touring couldn’t happen without promoters who host the events. They work with the schemes to identify which performance or artist is the most relevant for their audience and do everything from box-office to get-ins, promotion, hosting artists. Many know their audiences on a first name basis.
Volunteering sits at the heart of rural touring; most promoters are volunteers. Venues employing professional staff utilise the help of a network of dedicated helpers. Promoters maintain an engaged audience for shows, know what they like and are aware of the level of risk they are comfortable in taking in their programme.

Performers

All genres of work are represented in rural touring. Creative practitioners and performing companies are selected via recommendations, showcasing, introductions, festivals and seeking out shows independently. They all have a few things in common – flexibility, relevance to the audience, and professional quality work.
“It’s about putting artists in front of audiences and audiences in front of artists. Everything else is fundamentally about getting that moment working Properly. Our job is to make sure that that marriage is right and the right communities, the right shows and the right artists end up in the right place at the right time and that’s very important to us.” Director, rural touring scheme

Health in the Community

Rural touring brings high-quality arts to people who otherwise would not have access to it. This can contribute to reducing the effects of isolation and to developing community cohesion, while also strengthening the capacity of local people to organise and to develop themselves.
Bringing quality, diverse, and challenging arts activity has been shown to be integral to catalysing and supporting community life in rural areas, especially as other village ‘anchors’ such as shops and pubs have diminished. The act of programming touring arts into rural areas generates a range of individual and community benefits, including personal development, improved well-being and supporting community buildings and infrastructures such as pubs, halls and schools. The strengthening of existing community organisations through networking and volunteering and bringing people together positively fosters community cohesion by reducing loneliness, breaking down age barriers and even, enhanced local democracy. 

Rural Touring Stats

1,650 Performing Groups

110,000 Voluntary Hours

332,000 Audience Members

£1,000,000 Box Office Sales

2,500 events

1,000 venues

Benefits and Impact of Rural Touring

  • RT acts as an agent between the local agenda and creative work being made
  • RT sector doesn’t just tour work that is already touring – it commissions and premiers too
  • When the country is becoming more ‘place-based’ RT addresses localism by creating work with national appeal
  • RT is ahead of the curve when it comes to non-traditional touring spaces in comparison to town and city-based touring
  • It supports professional performance into rural areas, engaging residents in cultural experiences
  • Thanks to RT, audiences in rural areas can enjoy the same opportunities to see and appreciate the arts on their doorsteps as urban counterparts
  • RT supports skills development and cohesion
  • RT gives opportunities to address social mobility and people living in deprivation
  • RT contributes to local economic growth
  • RT can change individual and community perceptions of art and culture, increasing confidence and a sense of belonging in people
  • RT helps facilitate a greater understanding of what local provision should be delivered and how this could be achieved
  • RT helps drive improvements in local facilities
  • RT supports the development of strong local networks and volunteering in a range of activities.
  • RT is a driver for promoting a year-round calendar of events and activities
  • RT positively contributes to wellbeing including social and emotional development
  • RT fosters the empowerment of young people
  • RT encourages social inclusion and integration into the wider community
  • RT encourages the arts to be more integrated into the school curriculum
  • RT supports staff training in arts development

What to Expect from the ‘Rural Touring in the UK’ event at Ed Fringe

Monday, July 29, 2019

Every August the NRTF and Rural Touring Schemes heads to Edinburgh Fringe to look for companies hoping to give their show life after the festival – and this year is no different.
Each year we host a ‘Rural Touring in the UK’ event for artists to attend to find out more about how our sector works and meet the key people involved. 
If you’re heading up to the Fringe, you are probably already exhausted thinking about everything you’ll have to do promoting and performing your show. And while your focus should no doubt be on wowing programmers and audiences with your work, it is essential to put aside time to think about what happens next?
Can we suggest you use some of that planning time to attend our event on Saturday 17th August, 3pm at Fringe Central?

If you do, here is what you can expect from the event… 1. A Comprehensive Overview of Rural Touring…
Never heard of Rural Touring before? Heard of it but not sure how it works? This session will give you a strong understanding of what Rural Touring is and how it works. From the types of venues that rural touring works with, how volunteer promoters work, and what the process of programming work is.
2. A Chance to Hear Directly From Scheme Managers and Programmers…
Straight from the horse’s mouth, hear from Scheme managers what they’re looking for when they are programming for rural touring. From technical capacities, marketing materials and the timelines they work to.
3. Upcoming opportunities…
Whether you’re a dance company looking to hear more about the Rural Touring Dance Initiative, an outdoors performer or a spoken word artist. Across the NRTF and the Rural Touring Schemes, there are opportunities beyond regular programming. Commissions, open call-outs and more, this session will be able to point you in the right direction.
4. Find out where you can find out more…
There will be a lot of information to take in during the session, but don’t worry, we don’t expect you to absorb it all at once! The session will point you in the direction of all the information and resources you need to follow up everything you learn!
5. Get your questions answered and introduce yourself… We make time in all our industry sessions for your questions, and after the session, you’ll have time to speak to the members of our panel and the other Rural Touring sector people in the room.

NRTF attends – A Civic Role for Arts Organisations Day

Friday, July 26, 2019

NRTF Director Holly Lombardo was invited to speak at a symposium run by Gulbenkian Foundation (UK) called A Civic Role for Arts Organisations: Relevance, Risks, Rewards. 21st June, London, Wellcome Trust: Cultural Spaces: Temples or Town Halls (1 – 5.30pm)

This London conference at the Wellcome Collection, focused on ‘Cultural Spaces: Temples or Town Halls?’. Popular topics included ways to make cultural spaces more welcoming to all citizens; the need for deep and meaningful engagement; and calls for change in the sector so that staffing and visitors reflected the diverse population of London.



Talking about the Civic role the arts play… The opening perspectives were from Sir Nick Serota, (Chair of Arts Council England) and Delia Barker (Roundhouse).
Speakers included Tristram Hunt (V&A) Tania Wilmer (Future Arts Centres) Matt Peacock (With One Voice) Victoria Pomery and Karen Eslea (Turner Contemporary) Helen Featherstone (Yorkshire Sculpture Park) Ruth Mackenzie (Theatre du Chatelet) Tony Butler (Derby Museums) Ruby Baker and Khadijah Ibrahiim (Poet in the City). – David Tovey – (With One Voice/One Festival of Homeless Arts), Holly Lombardo (National Rural Touring Forum) and David Bryan (XTEND).

We explored – what does it mean to play a civic role? For some arts organisations, it is at the heart of their mission and practice; others think it is not relevant. Communities are questioning whether the public money that arts organisations receive is benefiting local people; there are hard questions to be asked and there are no easy answers.

Following the two-year Inquiry into the Civic Role of Arts Organisations, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) is working with partners across the country to support a series of conferences. They shared experiences, discussed, debated and imagined the significance of a civic role for arts organisations and the relevance they hold within our communities. Speakers share the innovative, sometimes radical, ways in which they are developing their arts organisation’s civic role.

Cultural spaces, whether they are building-based, conceptual, virtual, pop-up or temporary locations outdoors, can play a pivotal role in developing creativity, enriching lives and communities and fostering social cohesion. A majority of cultural spaces are funded with public money, we continue to create new spaces but who is benefiting and how are communities involved in making the decisions? How relevant is the work that is produced to the lives and ambitions of the communities that cultural spaces are located within?

The conference started with key perspectives addressing the topic: Cultural Spaces: Temples or Town Halls?’ within the overarching theme of Relevance, Risks and Rewards, followed by interventions, presentations, and panels: ‘Re-imagining our cultural spaces’ and ‘New space, who will come?’ Opening perspective from Sir Nick Serota, Chair, ACE 

Delegates at the events were treated to a sneak preview of a new publication, ‘What Would Joan Littlewood Say?’. The collection of essays by leaders in the arts and cultural sector argues that arts organisations should do more for and with the communities they are part of. You can read an online version https://civicroleartsinquiry.gulbenkian.org.uk/resources/what-would-joan-littlewood-say

What is Rural Touring and Why is it Important?

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

What is National Rural Touring Forum?

National Rural Touring Forum supports rural touring schemes, promoters, artists and communities to bring high quality and professional creative experiences to rural venues and audiences. It does this through advocating on behalf of the sector, creating national projects, networking, showcasing and hosting an annual conference.


What is rural touring and why is it different to urban touring?

Rural touring is where professional performances take place in rural venues. These rural venues usually take the form of a Village Hall or Community Centre, but can also be pubs, libraries and outdoors. They are rarely fully equipped arts venues. Performances are programmed by a rural touring scheme, who will curate a varied season of events. Instead of all the events taking place in a couple of rooms in one building, they take place in lots of venues across a specific geographical area, sometimes whole counties, sometimes even further. Rural touring work is very different from touring to city centres or venues in urban areas. Artists express high regard for rural touring venues and the level of professionalism from the promoters. They often talk about their appreciation of a certain “magic” and warmth of the audiences that happens at rural events which aren’t the same at larger halls or festivals.


“The heart of the reason why it’s different from a town centre art centre is that the audience knows each other. That contributes to the other thing that is distinctive, which is that rural touring events become part of shared memory, part of what builds community. So, for both of those reasons, I think that it is a very distinctive kind of artistic experience.” François Matarasso, March
2019

Green Touring

Touring is inherently greener than venue-based work. Large venues consume vast amounts of energy and expel lots of carbon. People invariably drive to them – or drive to a station to get a train to get to a city where the venue is. Small-scale touring – where one van is on the road for a small cast – has a low carbon footprint in comparison. Rural touring is generally set in villages where many audiences walk to the venue. And if they don’t walk, they live usually within a 10-mile radius, so journeys are short. Previous NRTF annual surveys report that 90% of audiences travel for less than 10 minutes to get to their village hall.


Rural Promoters

Rural touring couldn’t happen without promoters who host the events. They work with the schemes to identify which performance or artist is the most relevant for their audience and do everything from box-office to get-ins, promotion, hosting artists. Many know their audiences on a first name basis.

Volunteering sits at the heart of rural touring; most promoters are volunteers. Venues employing professional staff utilise the help of a network of dedicated helpers. Promoters maintain an engaged audience for shows, know what they like and are aware of the level of risk they are comfortable in taking in their programme.

Performers

All genres of work are represented in rural touring. Creative practitioners and performing companies are selected via recommendations, showcasing, introductions, festivals and seeking out shows independently. They all have a few things in common – flexibility, relevance to the audience, and professional quality work.

“It’s about putting artists in front of audiences and audiences in front of artists. Everything else is fundamentally about getting that moment working Properly. Our job is to make sure that that marriage is right and the right communities, the right shows and the right artists end up in the right place at the right time and that’s very important to us.” Director, rural touring scheme


Health in the Community



Rural touring brings high-quality arts to people who otherwise would not have access to it. This can contribute to reducing the effects of isolation and to developing community cohesion, while also strengthening the capacity of local people to organise and to develop themselves.
Bringing quality, diverse, and challenging arts activity has been shown to be integral to catalysing and supporting community life in rural areas, especially as other village ‘anchors’ such as shops and pubs have diminished. The act of programming touring arts into rural areas generates a range of individual and community benefits, including personal development, improved well-being and supporting community buildings and infrastructures such as pubs, halls and schools. The strengthening of existing community organisations through networking and volunteering and bringing people together positively fosters community cohesion by reducing loneliness, breaking down age barriers and even, enhanced local democracy. 

NRTF PROJECTS

The Rural Touring Dance Initiative (RTDI) began in 2015. Its aim was to introduce dance, in particular, contemporary dance, into rural areas where there was very little happening. RTDI offers a menu list to schemes and promoters alongside several incentives ranging from financial to marketing support. RTDI runs training labs and ongoing provision to artists who want to develop work in rural areas. The result has been a considerable increase in the number of contemporary dance performances taking place in rural areas as well as the number of creative practitioners developing work suitable for touring to rural venues.

CONCERTA – has been a national study of the benefits, for local community development, of a relatively under-researched form of creative activity: rural touring arts. In 2016, Arts Council England (ACE) launched the second round of calls for proposals to the Research Grants Programme. The call sought proposals aimed at collaborative research work to develop the evidence base around the impact of arts and culture. The role of the Research Grants Programme is to generate evidence: ■     to better understand the impact of arts and culture; ■     to make the best case for arts and culture in the context of reduced public spending; and ■     to promote greater collaboration and co-operation between the arts and cultural sector and research partners.

Benefits and Impact of Rural Touring

  • RT acts as an agent between the local agenda and creative work being made
  • RT sector doesn’t just tour work that is already touring – it commissions and premiers too
  • When the country is becoming more ‘place-based’ RT addresses localism by creating work with national appeal
  • RT is ahead of the curve when it comes to non-traditional touring spaces in comparison to town and city-based touring
  • It supports professional performance into rural areas, engaging residents in cultural experiences
  • Thanks to RT, audiences in rural areas can enjoy the same opportunities to see and appreciate the arts on their doorsteps as urban counterparts
  • RT supports skills development and cohesion
  • RT gives opportunities to address social mobility and people living in deprivation
  • RT contributes to local economic growth
  • RT can change individual and community perceptions of art and culture, increasing confidence and a sense of belonging in people
  • RT helps facilitate a greater understanding of what local provision should be delivered and how this could be achieved
  • RT helps drive improvements in local facilities
  • RT supports the development of strong local networks and volunteering in a range of activities.
  • RT is a driver for promoting a year-round calendar of events and activities
  • RT positively contributes to wellbeing including social and emotional development
  • RT fosters the empowerment of young people
  • RT encourages social inclusion and integration into the wider community
  • RT encourages the arts to be more integrated into the school curriculum
  • RT supports staff training in arts development

NRTF at Latitude Festival

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

National Rural Touring Forum was invited to attend a professional development day about Rural Touring at Latitude Festival by the touring team at Arts Council England.

Held in the Faraway Forest, ACE host a series of funding and advice workshops from their shed. Artists performing at the festival can attend, book in and meet the Arts Council representatives and guests. We got to be a part of this, along with Natalie from with Creative Arts East.
Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since. 

It isn’t just music, it plays host to many performing arts stages. Latitude is one of the best performing arts festivals in Europe with involvement from the UK’s leading theatre and dance companies. 

Programmed into the Festival are emerging performing companies alongside longer-standing professional groups all with quality touring shows. It was great to meet a mix and range of people.
Thank you to Arts Council for having us along!
 

Rural Touring Awards Nominees Announced for 2019!

Friday, June 14, 2019
Press Release June 2019

Rural Touring Awards are a shining example of the talent being seen by countryside audiences every year

National Rural Touring Forum is delighted to announce the shortlist for NRTF Rural Touring Awards 2019. Hundreds of performing companies, individuals and groups were nominated this year. It is always a difficult decision to shortlist and decide the winners as the competition is so high.
The Awards celebrate the breadth, passion and professionalism prevalent in the rural touring sector. They also recognise the quality of the arts, the promoters, venues and wider industry. They are an opportunity to draw attention to the quality of performance and performing companies as well as to collaborations and the network of individuals who go above and beyond on behalf of the health and cohesion of their local community. The awards reward not just the winners but everyone who has performed, organised and taken part in Rural Arts & Touring.
Winners will be announced at the Hi-VIS: NRTF Conference 2019, being held in Bangor, Wales 2 – 4 July 2019. Hosting the awards is Kate Fox, stand up poet, who will be joined by the nominees and many from the rural touring sector, including schemes, programmers, directors and performers.
Awards were judged by three industry professionals – Jude Henderson, Director – Federation of Scottish Theatres; Ian McMillan – poet, journalist, playwright, and broadcaster; and Kate Green, Deputy Editor – Country Life Magazine.

AWARD NOMINATIONS SHORTLIST 2019

Young Person of the Year
Jasmine Lowrie, 20
“I’m surprised by the nomination but honoured to have been nominated and glad to be making a positive impact on rural touring” Jasmin

Sam Pullen, 14
“Sam is clearly an exceptional young person with a bright future in our industry.” Judge

Break Through Performance of the Year
Sophia Hatfield from Stute Theatre
“I am absolutely delighted that the creativity, ambition, passion and hard work of the wonderful team behind Common Lore has been recognised through this nomination”. Sophia

Theatre company Dante or Die “Working with the guest cast members in each location around the country was an absolute pleasure and an inspiration” Dante or Die

Haunted Man by Kindred Theatre  “I enjoyed the description of transforming the space into a theatre, demonstrating that rural touring isn’t always about small, intimate performances.” Judge




Special Award
Karen Jeremiah, Creative Arts East
“I love the idea of her pushing the boundaries of what rural touring can be and do!” Judge

TheatrBara Caws  “I’m excited and moved by the fact that they make shows in Welsh, creating new work in a so-called minority language and challenging the rest of us about our ideas about what art is and what it can be.” Judge

Sian Allen, Arts Alive “I feel honoured and humbled and also a bit thrilled. Rural Touring is such a team effort – I don’t think any one person can ever be assigned particular credit for any aspect of its gloriousness” Sian

Favourite Performance of the Year

I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost – Little Earthquake
“We are very proud rural tourers — the network gives us a unique opportunity to connect with, learn from and, most of all, entertain audiences who live outside the catchment areas of major metropolitan arts venues, up and down the country. Our “Favourite Performance of the Year” nomination has come directly from audience members who have experienced and enjoyed our work” Phil

Excalibow by Bowjangles  “We have been Rural Touring for a decade now and it remains one of our favourite things to do as a group. Of course, none of it would be possible without the dedication of the staff organising the scheme menus, the devotion of the volunteer promoters or the enthusiasm of the audiences who make every show we do an absolute delight. We are truly honoured to have been nominated for this award!”

Brilliance by Farnham Maltings “Hearing that your efforts and ambitions chime with peers from across the country is both humbling and hugely motivating. Knowing that it matters, as we all do, that artists can make contemporary, experimental, playful work in village halls is a truth that needs to universally be understood” Gavin Henderson, Farnham Maltings

Touring Scheme Collaboration of the year

The Northern Consortium  Co-working and Partnerships: Five rural touring schemes in the North: Spot On (Lancashire); Cheshire Rural Touring; Arts Out West (West Cumbria); Highlights (East Cumbria, Northumberland, County Durham) and ArtERY live/liveLincs (East Riding of Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire), along with Arts Alive (Shropshire & Herefordshire), Rural Arts (North Yorkshire), form an un-constituted, informal strategic alliance

Carn toCove and Villages in Action  “We are really excited to be part of the rural touring awards this year, as they are becoming an established part of the NRTF year. We are really honoured to be shortlisted, as we know how much great work goes on in our sector and we are very much looking forward to meeting up with colleagues and friends at the Award Ceremony” Claire, Carn to Cove

The InnCrowd  “This is a fabulous, ground-breaking scheme bringing performance to new spaces and bringing new life and new ideas to those spaces” Judge



Voluntary Promoter or Voluntary Promoting Group of the Year

Gaynor Morgan Rees and Gwyneth Kensler  “They have obviously done an amazing job over 20 years – people like this make the world go around” Judge

David Lane  “Thrilled and surprised to be nominated, not just for me, but also for my wonderful team of helpers. Grateful to our audiences who are prepared to give something new a try; to the brilliant performers who thrill and surprise us; and to the fab Head Office staff who are always there to help us.” David

Yvonne Brown and the committee at The Dog Inn, Belthorn  “We are absolutely amazed to be nominated and short-listed for this award. With the help of Spot-on Lancashire, we have brought new and varied arts performances to Belthorn, and these have been well-received, and we intend to continue to offer these experiences. ” Yvonne


More information on the awards and full explanations can be found on the NRTF website –https://www.ruraltouring.org/work/national-rural-touring-awards-2019
To hear more about rural touring please visit our website –  www.ruraltouring.org and watch our film https://www.ruraltouring.org/work/rural-touring-advocacy-film