Intro Jingle 0:10
You're listening to the Highbridge podcast, celebrating the people, places and history of the Highbridge area in Sedgemoor.

Mell T 0:18
And welcome along to another edition of the Highbridge podcast celebrating the history people and places in the Highbridge Sedgemoor area of Somerset. This season is funded by Seed which is a consortium of community organisations in Sedgemoor comprising of Bridgewater senior citizens forum Bridgewater Town Council, Community Council for Somerset homes in Sedgemoor Somerset film and young Somerset, which is funded and supported by Arts Council England, creative people in places lottery funding and the Arts Council. To start off with, I'd just like to mention some of the events that I'm aware of happening around Highbridge for the Queen's Jubilee during the four days in June, on Thursday of the second of June, at 1:30pm. The town crier will read the proclamation in Highbridge to announce the evening lighting of a beacon at St. John's Church. Also on Thursday. A picnic and performance by Highbridge youth theatre will be held at St. John's Church Hall Church St Highbridge 12.30 until 3pm. And again on Thursday, the lighting of the beacons which will take place at St. John's Church Highbridge with a choir at 9:30pm. Saturday the fourth of June a right Royal Jubilee jam. This will be held at Moorlands Community Hub in Highbridge, this family event will run from 12pm until 5pm with street art a DJ, Punch and Judy a magician and children's Tea Party and also part of the pact Saturday program. A Jubilee Sports Day. Demonstrations from the local sports and recreation groups will be held at 10am until 2pm with coaches versus under 16 football match at 2pm at Highbridge recreation ground next to Southwell house. Also on Saturday, a famous Strawberry Tea which will be held at 3pm until 5pm at Hope Baptist Church in Church St Highbridge also on the Saturday I write royal rave up will feature outdoor live music from seven decades between 5pm and 10pm. In Market Street, and Southwell house worth a mentioned even though it's in Burnham is on Saturday, the fourth of June connected with Highbridge a display of royal memorabilia will be held by Burnham on sea Heritage Group at the town council chambers in Jay Croft road from 10:30am until 4pm. This will include photos of the Queen's visit to Highbridge radio station which was known as radio Portishead, which provided worldwide maritime communications from 1928 until the year 2000. Hear more about this radio station in another future episode from this podcast. Moving on to Sunday on the fifth of June at 10am Jubilee Church service followed by fizz at St. John's Church and Sunday Jubilee craft market with activities for all the family at Market Street and South Hall gardens in Highbridge from 10am until 2pm and finally on Sunday Seniors Jubilee tea party 4pm until 6pm It is advised that you book in advance for this free event which will take place at the Highbridge community hall in Market Street Highbridge. If you want to know any more about the details of any of these events, then please email ourhighbridge@gmail.com That's ourhighbridge@gmail.com. And now on to our featured interview. In this episode, we're talking to Selina Keedwell from Somerset Youth Theatre CIC and find out exactly what they do and why. Do listen to the end of the interview, If you need to find out how to contact them and more details. So Selina Somerset Youth Theatre is a CIC that is trying to get younger people to engage with theatre and and empower them to be who they are. How does that work in an area like this?

Selina 4:35
To be honest with you Mell I do struggle with the word theatre because I think it is instantly elitist and gives us perceptions of a stage Lovie darling. You know, all of this kind of and that's totally not what we're about. It's creativity. It's art. I believe everyone is an artist. I believe that we all have that within us. And so it's about Play and it's about empowering voices. We work with schools, we work with artists, contacts, with the people that we know within the community, we look at events that are already taking place and how we can kind of weave activity into that. So for example, the Queen's Jubilee, were really keen to work with the work of 'Our Highbridge' of King Alfred School of church was going to all of the things that are happening already.

Mell T 5:27
You mentioned about when you were younger, living in Highbridge. And you found it boring, but the youngsters nowadays are making their own way.

Selina 5:37
Yeah, well, I don't think they're bored at you theater at all. Yeah, that definitely. I think it's important that it's accessible.

Mell T 5:46
The way that the youngsters interact with the world now and the way they perceive it compared to how you were when you lived in Highbridge. Obviously, there's a perception about what Highbridge was. And what I'm trying to recapture is, is because your work with young people is how young people see Highbridge compared to perhaps the older generation that see as it was, but don't necessarily see what he has now or don't see that he's changing into something. Have you found that their view of Highbridge is quite quite a lot different to to looking backwards, almost. They're dragging it forward. But feeling as though they're not allowed to if you know what I mean?

Selina 6:30
Like the world is so much bigger to them, isn't it they they live in Highbridge and they exist in Highbridge but especially the teenagers, they obviously access stuff online so much more. So maybe they don't feel as connected in the way that we did like that their towns aren't as small as they were when we were kids because they can they can instantly go online and look at something or they can go on tick tock or they can look at a YouTube video. So that stuff is then maybe widening their view of their town because they they apply that to their lives.

Mell T 7:06
So when you're doing the improv the stuff that comes forward, there must be stuff that comes out that they throw out the you either think oh, that was like it was for me or that was never like that when I was when I was their age.

Selina 7:19
Yeah, there's there's a lot of what there's a lot of the same stuff. So there's lots of talk about bullying, there's lots of talk about feeling like they can't be who they want to be in their in their school setting. I think they're incredibly frustrated. In school. Here's what they're kind of communicating in, in the room. So there's, you know, there's universal kind of truths that are still going on in the generations. But they do feel very connected. I mean, they're they're communicating with their friends online a lot more.

Mell T 7:51
What sort of memories have you got when you were younger? And you were in and hanging around? Highbridge? What sort of things did you get them to wear? What did you do that we can talk about? That was either that was fun, or was just looking back was really silly.

Selina 8:06
Absolute lifeline for me Isabel Morgan, if you're listening, and I'm sure everyone knows Mrs. Morgan from King Alfred school, she wasn't absolutely she was very inspirational. Probably cringe if you can hear me saying this. But I always wanted to. I was always incredibly ambitious. I suppose I wanted to be an actor. From as far back as I can remember. I was always told to get a proper job, get a proper job. What are you doing? But I did anyway. But you know, I didn't I didn't. I was I did it in I left home at very young age. I lived in a bedsit. I worked on holiday parks I had a really hard graft actually. I think that I didn't understand how to make things happen. Because I'd grown up in this very small town and I felt like how do I do what I want to do? Because I didn't see that around me because it was such a small coastal town. And I think it's it's hard when you're a kid and a teenager to get perception of what is possible and what's achievable compared to if you live in London, and it's just you know, the it's such a bigger world for you. I think that a lifeline for me was doing school plays, it was it was school plays it was that, you know, the extra curricular kind of stuff that was going on where I found my tribe, my tribe of weirdos. You know, you could wear your flared trousers and your rubbish trainers and it didn't matter. And I think it's really important that young people have that and I suppose that's a lot of what drives the work that we do. And when when I say a safe place is, you know, whatever your quirkiness is, however your brain works, that you're accepted in that space and you don't feel like you have to conform, I've got so much respect for teachers, because they are the people who provide that for young people. And obviously we do in a youth theatre setting. And now I know that there's a lot of brilliant work going on, Create You, for example, with their arts workshops and things that they do. There's lots of people in these towns in Highbridge and Burnham, who gives so much of their time to providing amazing experiences for young people in the community. And it's, it's, you have to have a passion for that, like you have to really want to make change or, you know, positive change, and want to support communities to, you know, ultimately, it's about mental health and well being right, it's about Oh, my God, what, just what we've all been through. It has been insane, completely insane. And the arts, in my opinion that arts, music, you know, visual arts making, doing being out with nature, that's, I feel what's gonna get us through the cultural activity, The commute the bringing the community together through those events. And I don't remember apart from carnival, which is amazing. I don't remember a lot of that when I was a kid. So I think that Highbridge and Burnham have really come along in that respect that maybe it's just because I'm an adult, and I know more about it. But there's a lot for a small town, for small towns, there's a lot going on, that can support people with mental health and well being. And people who feel you know, those barriers that stop you from leaving your house and being a part of it. And it's so much less scary once you're there than it feels when you're at home on your own thinking about it, like being brave, and just go in and try in that knitting group or, you know, go into the book reading or whatever. That's where, like, you will find your tribe, you'll you'll find those people. So, you know, isolation be that for teenagers or adults is just such a huge challenge at the moment, I think, coming out of COVID. And it's what's going to bring us back together and keep us well, in my opinion.

Mell T 12:23
It's it's one of those things, I think, people forget what it's like to be young, and to be so scared of just going into somewhere new. And having the experience of I'll just go and when you're an adult, we'll just go in and say hello.

Selina 12:38
And we have emails from parents, you know who Oh, they're so scared. And honestly, when they come through the door, they might be scared for about 10 minutes, and then they're fine. Oh, my God, they that's what absolutely love about what I do is seeing a young person turn up on that week one, making it through the door, feeling like I'm not good enough, everyone else is better than me. You know, I can't get on stage I can't perform and then seeing them a few weeks down the line. It's just It's what it's all about. Absolutely love that stuff. And within that, I mean, every young person, like there might be kind of perceived barriers, but we work really hard to break those barriers down, be that you know, neurodiversity or physical disability, we work really hard as a CIC, money, finances, whatever that is, we work really hard to make sure that everyone is welcome in that room and is supported and is nurtured and has space to grow. And it's just the most amazing thing when you then see that young person, you know, won't shut up and won't stop performing. And it's like, oh is the time up already. You know, all of that is just brilliant.

Mell T 13:51
So the future what's coming up? What's coming up immediately. I'm where? Where do you see Somerset Youth Theater?

Selina 13:59
Yeah, so we've got loads of activity over the next few months as Somerset youth theatre as a whole because obviously there's the Queen's Jubilee this year. So, in highbridge, we're working with the Princess theatre and Our Highbridge and community groups. The Blue Birds. Jackie clementines, they're both Somerset artists. So we're hatching a master plan which will involve a queen puppet and lots of little Queen puppets. We hope Yeah, so that's, that's for the younger ones. And then as I said, we've got the film with the company, which we're really excited about. We're doing stuff in Taunton outside in Somerset square outside the Brewhouse. We've got a lot of activity with schools in Taunton, with workshops happening with artists over there. Shepton Mallet have an outdoor performance with tall tales theater who facilitate the group over there. We work with the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil, and they're working towards something in the Summer as well. And then over Langport, but most importantly is that we, we look after the young people, and we look after the staff, and we make sure that as the CIC, we retain what we're about. And we understand the county and the communities that we're working with. And that they're leading. They're driving the workforce, and we're kind of managing that.

Mell T 15:28
So if people want to find out more about what you do, or want to become involved or want to offer a support, what's the best way they can get to you guys?

Selina 15:37
Yeah, well, we are websites under development at the moment. So they can email us at Somersetyouththeatre@gmail.com. And we're also on Facebook as Somerset Youth Theatre. You can book through Wassail theatres website, because they we work closely with Wassail theatre, who produce professional work around Somerset. They're brilliant, if you haven't seen any of their performances, check them out. And also Seed, Sedgemoor for Highbridge, we've got a handful of places left at Youth Theatre Group, a new theatre company. So you can contact us in any of those ways to book for those places. And like I say, we the young people who feel they're not good enough, or they're scared, those are the young people we want. We want the young people who don't believe in themselves but secretly would love to do it, parents push them away! Because that's who we want you know, that's we want to make change for young people. We want to support their mental health and well being you know, that there are so we we recognize and understand the position young people are in at the moment because we're working with them on a daily basis. And so we we are very experienced in supporting those young people in the spaces.

Mell T 16:57
One final question do the younger generation know about the history of the place, do they do they have any, are they interested at all or? Or is it something that just go that was them when they're when that's more important?

Selina 17:10
No, I don't think they do know a lot about the history of it. It's it's hard for them to get perspective about wider world issues. So I'll revolting piece, you know, we asked them what they revolted about what you know, you know, the not to get political but party gate, you know, they don't know about it. And so I think their their worlds are quite small. And it's, it's brilliant that we have those discussions as we always have discussions about where we've come from and where we want to go. But no, there's not a lot about knowledge of the history of Highbridge and Burnham and it is something it now our peace with a company that we definitely would like to look at. This is why we're looking for a shop or unused space that we can find either a real history or made up history or a mix of both that will be rich in story.

Mell T 18:05
And well I wish you every success with all the projects and I look forward to hearing and seeing them pop up throughout Highbridge and Somerset area. Thanks, Mell. And thanks there to Selina Keedwell from Somerset Youth Theatre, and we'll be back with another edition of the Highbridge podcast after the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations where as I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, it has a packed programme of events. The Highbridge Podcast available on many popular podcast directories distributed as the Highbridge podcast on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Podcast Google, Amazon music and Tune in.com It can also be found at Sedgemore media.com And is hosted and found at Highbridge podcast.transistor.fm. Also available on your smart speakers. Just say the wake word to the speaker and say clearly, play the Highbridge podcast