As I enter my sixth decade I can identify a point in every previous one where participation in a cultural project has had a profound effect on me.
School plays made my life more bearable when my family were having a difficult time; running my university touring theatre company set me on a professional path in arts and culture; working on a West End musical that failed taught me much more than previous successes in the theatre; setting up a choir for young people in Northumberland helped me understand rural isolation and how children cope with bullying, and – more recently – being a volunteer myself in a huge outdoor production in York took me right back to the beginning. It gave me confidence and connections in a new place and reconnected me with the exhilaration of creating live performance that affects people both sides of the curtain.
The thread running through my life is access to opportunity and that is why Spirit of 2012 is such a fantastic way to spread the happiness and fulfilment that comes from participation, by evening out the chances in our unequal society. I have benefitted from knowing the importance of eye contact, a smile and an interest in people that flows from personal confidence gained through involvement in the arts. It is the foundation on which I have built an entire career.
The other key factor is the intervention of peers or supporting adults at crucial periods of my life who have guided and shaped my choices. With the benefit of hindsight, one can map how the simple act of “joining in” or “taking part” has had far-reaching effects for all the individuals involved.
That is why I am so pleased to have been appointed a director of Spirit of 2012 this year, because our investments will enable many, many more people to experience the joy of getting involved in projects where there is a level playing field and everyone’s contribution is valued. Access to high quality culture and participatory sport for everyone is not a ‘nice to have’ or the ‘cherry on the top’, it is the basis of a healthy, forward-looking society and I will always fight for its place at the top table.
I think this is one of the most enduring legacies of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – enormous pride in the skills, professionalism and friendliness of our people. Everyone you talk to has a different best moment, from contact with a Games Maker on the Tube to a Paralympic event to a closing or opening ceremony. I kept the Paralympic Closing Ceremony on my TV box for months and watched it again and again.
2012 was also a big year for York, as we put on the biggest Mystery Plays since the Millennium. Hundreds and hundreds of volunteers made costumes, sang, played, performed, danced, raised money, did sterling front of house service in sometimes torrential rain and generally had a ball re-interpreting the bible stories that everyone and no one in York owns. One of the Twelve Disciples was a wheelchair-using community actress – obviously – and it was not of note. This is because the play was created with disabled and non-disabled working together; so everything was possible. It changed people in York and the strong sense of community pride continues with a large-scale participatory project every year since. Why? Because people had fun, made friends, pushed themselves, felt their contribution valued, put something different on the CV. All the reasons why Spirit’s programmes are good news for the UK.