"Our work enables people to create new connections and friendships, bonded together through creativity and the joy of music and theatre."
Andy Smith, director at Made by Mortals
Music theatre group Made by Mortals has been awarded £73,000 in funding to work with local communities to help them use their creativity for positive mental health and create stronger connections with each other.
Made by Mortals received £14,990 from Arts Council England; £25,000 from the Robin Estill Community Fund from Action Together and £33,050 from the People’s Health Trust, using money raised by the Health Lottery North West.
The substantial funding will allow social enterprise Made by Mortals to facilitate creative sessions to more than 100 people in Tameside over the next 12 months, from their base at the Guide Bridge Theatre, or online. They will use music, drama, movement, creative writing and song to improve health and wellbeing and bring people together.
Paul Hine, director at Made by Mortals, said, “We’re chuffed to be able to continue our participatory music theatre work. It’s really important to us that we bring together imaginative adults to work with professional musicians and writers to create a really high-quality cultural performance or digital product for our growing local and national audiences.”
Andy Smith, director at Made by Mortals, said: “Many people have experienced loneliness and isolation since Covid-19 and the lock-downs over the past 18 months. Our work enables people to create new connections and friendships, bonded together through creativity and the joy of music and theatre.
“We’d like to thank all our funders – the People’s Health Trust, the Robin Estill Fund and the Arts Council for supporting our organisation’s projects and overall aims.”
One of Made by Mortal’s ongoing projects is an interactive children’s podcast called Armchair Adventures, which was conceived during lockdown in 2020. Series one had 25,000 listens; has been commended by HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and was selected by BBC Radio 4 as a ‘positive podcast for 2021’.
Made by Mortals will work with groups of people in Tameside to create further episodes for series two of Armchair Adventures, which launches in October. The funding also enables research and development into a live show to take out to primary schools in 2022.
To find out more about Made by Mortals, visit: https://www.madebymortals.org/
