PROPEL is our paid work placement programme for early-career creatives working in live events producing, production and programming.
PROPEL has connected emerging talent with top festivals, theatres, and performance companies across the North for over two years. For 2025, we’ve partnered with some exciting new hosts in Bradford and West Yorkshire, offering five hands-on paid placements in production, producing, and programming.
We’re excited to have partnered with Spin Arts to offer a unique opportunity for an early-career Bradford content creator to undertake a 24-day paid placement working as a Digital Content & Social Media Creator. You will liaise with artists and participants to create high-quality photo and video content for the Spin Arts project, RIDE – a rap, dance and music show celebrating BD4 and Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Through this placement, you will:
We warmly welcome applications from all backgrounds and are particularly keen to hear from individuals living in BD4 or members of the Gypsy and Traveller community, as part of our commitment to inclusive representation.
Scratch My Progress is the Oh Yeah Music Centre’s flagship annual talent development programme.
It is supported by PRS Foundation, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council.
Each year we recruit 4-5 emerging artists from Northern Ireland onto a structured and dedicated scheme of work that supports the creation, performance and promotion of their work. The programme is guided by our dedicated talent development specialist, Charlene Hegarty and builds a system of ‘real world’ experience and support around artists at pivotal stages of their career development.
The support offered includes mentoring, one to one meetings with industry experts, and workshops on everything from vocal coaching, songwriting, funding and festival applications, copyright & IP management and developing skills in managing finances.
As part of the 9-month programme each act will gain free rehearsal space, recording time, PR and marketing support and training, a professional photoshoot and a biography writing session as we prepare for an official release as part of the programme.
We hope the Studio will be a home for playwrights of all levels of experience, helping us to connect and making a range of opportunities accessible in a joined-up, sustained writing package.
If you become a member of the Studio (it’s completely free!) you can access:
These pathways are tailored for emerging Directors, Choreographers, Musical Directors, Designers, Lighting Designers, Stage Managers, Wardrobe Assistants and Technicians aged 16 to 23 who are in training or recently graduated from Higher Education.
Applications are open for 2025. There is £25 application fee which gives access to preparatory online sessions, offering skill building and group mentorship. Following these sessions you will have the opportunity to apply for a specific role on a production.
We care fiercely about Artists and Creative Freelancers working in this sector and in supporting and advocating for the very best conditions for brilliant art to be created.
Our Artist Support work is central to the organisation and is what makes us unique.
- We provide expert, artist-led support that enables people to develop distinctive ideas and thriving careers.
- We support independence and resilience by cultivating peer support, connections, and networks.
- We working with and listening to organisations across the sector locally and nationally to understand and recognise challenges they are facing.
- We advocate and lobby on behalf of artists and freelancers in sector wide strategic conversations and ensure they are at the table too.
Support for refugees and asylum seekers...
In 2014, West Yorkshire Playhouse became the first ever Theatre of Sanctuary, a public statement and recognition of our commitment to being a place of safety, hospitality and support for refugees and people seeking asylum.
We work closely with refugee organisations and with volunteers from the refugee and asylum seeker community in Leeds to offer a range of creative and practical projects, and we extend a warm welcome to the Playhouse community.
We have a dedicated programme of work during Refugee Week consisting of seminars, performances and workshops and throughout the year we offer a number of tailored and bespoke projects.
We provide creative programmes and one-to-one support to help participants develop their skills & explore potential career opportunities. We offer a range of support options for those still in education through to the long-term unemployed.
Our Model:
Since our establishment, Immediate Theatre has been committed to providing first-time employment opportunities and support for young people who would otherwise face significant barriers to employment.
Our programmes offer regular 1-2-1 support as well as group workshops, which aim to develop key employability skills through creative activities.
Our music therapy sessions use sound to create a safe environment where students can explore their feelings and memories at their own pace. The therapy is tailored to them and their specific needs, and students can access it through one-to-one sessions or as part of a group.
Our specialist music therapist works closely with our occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy teams and with education facilitators to provide the best learning environment. Sessions take place at one of our three different sensory rooms, or at a number of other locations across the campus. The therapist and student, through improvisation, will create and develop a musical language of their own. The music therapist is a full member of BAMT and is registered with the HCPC.
A typical music therapy session:
May begin with a welcome song, which may develop into an improvisation
Focuses on pre-composed music or an improvised piece, and this is directed by the student’s choice of instrument and playing style
Ends with a closing song to signal the end of the session
Dramatherapy is a creative psychological therapy which uses drama to stimulate creativity, imagination, insight and growth in students. These sessions focus on the individual strengths of the student, and do not rely on their verbal or cognitive ability.
Through multi-sensory activities facilitated by our dramatherapist, dramatherapy uses dramatic techniques such as storytelling, improvisation, role-play, mime, play texts, puppetry and masks to allow students to explore themselves and the world around them. It gives them space to build self-confidence, increase resilience and improve self-esteem through voice, body and creativity, which can lead to greater autonomy for self-advocacy. In addition, students learn to develop their social and interaction skills, which enables them to build trusting, healthy relationships with others.
Dramatherapy sessions can be run on an individual or group basis, and are student led. A typical session will bring creative and therapeutic approaches together to explore and develop an expression of the student’s thoughts and feelings. Our dramatherapist is a full member of BADth and is registered with the HCPC.
Audition Doctor provides bespoke acting classes that are tailored to your individual needs; helping build confidence for your next audition in TV, Film or Theatre.
We provide a service that is unparalleled with a proven success rate for getting actors back into the professional workplace and offer a variety of acting classes, from 121’s, groups and workshops.
