Community Group of the Year nomination – Mitchell Arts Centre

Community Group of the Year nomination – Mitchell Arts Centre

Nearly 70 years after it opened as a tribute to the designer of the Spitfire, The Mitchell Arts Centre continues to be a hub of the community and to support and entertain thousands of people.

The Stoke-on-Trent city centre venue is home to a theatre auditorium, dance studio and café plus various spaces it offers for corporate hire.

Education and community outreach play a key role. MAC Education was launched in September 2022 and in its first year supported 528 families with accessible arts and committed 1,270 hours to education.

In 2023 the centre partnered with the Hubb Foundation to provide 240 free workshops across the year for children receiving free school meals.

Other key programmes have included the cultural project You Are Here and the creation of a Youth Board.

In 2024 MAC Education is doubling its public workshops in half term and working hard behind the scenes applying for funding to provide more opportunities for the community.

The Mitchell Arts Centre has been nominated as a Community Group of the Year in the Your Heroes Awards.

Caroline Sherratt, Education Officer for the Mitchell Arts Centre said: “Through the Hubb Foundation collaboration we give children the full musical experience. We give them food, get their costumes, give them full production with rehearsals so that they can experience the theatre to the fullest.”

MAC education also created the Youth Board, a collaboration with St Margeret Ward Catholic Academy, where input from children can positively impact how the arts centre is run.

“It’s really important to have the input from our young people, this means we can better the centre in the future,” Caroline said.

The centre also hosts a bi-weekly screening of films which are audio descripted and captioned, enabling even more people to enjoy the venue.

Caroline added: “I’s amazing that we’ve been nominated for a Your Heroes Award. We want to be bold and ambitious for the community and to champion those who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to have access to the arts. We make it our mission that through us, the centre is accessible for all to enjoy.

“It feels like we are creating magic for the area and that magic makes coming into work so special. The team is a community within itself and we all really want to make a difference.”