“A perfect place to share our Voices, Stories, our Experience and Ideas”

Stage Door apprentice Gobika Utharathasan shares her experience of the Change the Word programme during their Research and Development workshops in Sheffield:

Recently, I joined the Good Chance team as a Stage Door apprentice. They are a very creative and big family where I’ve had the chance to learn more about the charity and their projects. Especially The Walk and Good Chance Socials.

I visited Sheffield to find out about Change the Word run by Emily Webb and Connie Treves. It is a perfect place to share our voices, stories, our experience and ideas. They are a creative and interesting group of people who recently arrived in the UK and people who have lived here all their lives. They are different ages and different countries, but they are all connected by poetry.

They run the workshop at the Theatre Deli which is in Sheffield. It is a very cool place and full of creative decorations around the theatre. When I was there it was the last day of face-to-face workshops, so the team was very busy arranging their unique poem by timeline.

Everyone in this group is so supportive as same as like a family. It inspires me. There, I had the opportunity to do some activities with this amazing group. The coach of this workshop, Connie, taught new skills to them with creative fun activities. She never forgets to ask for feedback and suggestions from her students.

They sat and ate together for lunch and shared food from their countries which helps to connect and share our cultures with each other. I spoke to some people who are involved in the workshop. Some of them said they came from London to Sheffield and stayed a week in a hotel to attend this workshop. I am very impressed, and it shows us their interest and how important this programme is to them. 

One man said, “I would like to show my ideas or thoughts to people. Good Chance gave me this opportunity to publish my ideas into a book and I am very pleased about that.”. I like that their poetry reflects their real-life experiences.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to take part in Change the Word. I get motivation from them and enjoyed spending the day with them. I am so grateful to be part of this amazing project and I am waiting to see their incredible final work.