Lauren is a multidisciplinary creative, actor and theatre facilitator who is passionate about using storytelling to build connection and confidence.
With a deep commitment to community engagement and collaborative practice. She supports projects that amplify underrepresented voices and foster safe, joyful spaces for expression.
Read MoreSharon has been a Speech Bubble Practitioner since 2024 and has led drama and arts projects for young people for 20 years.
She is also a theatre maker and creative producer, collaborating with different organisations on participation projects.
Sharon is proud to be part of Speech Bubbles and enjoys hearing children's stories and bringing them to life. She also loves seeing children grow in confidence and self-expression throughout the project.
Amie has been a Speech Bubbles Practitioner since 2018, and has worked with young people in drama and theatre for 20 years.
She’s also a writer, theatre maker, and the director of Fun Palaces; a campaign that aims to put arts and culture at the heart of communities across the UK.
She loves working on Speech Bubbles, and getting to spend time each week diving into to an imaginative space, exploring children’s stories and getting to play and be silly.
Read MoreRebecca Burgess is a comic artist and illustrator working in the UK. They have both written and illustrated several award winning YA and children’s books, and are particularly passionate about sharing their own personal experiences of autism in the form of fun and emotional stories. Outside of drawing and cuddling their cat, Rebecca also loves playing RPGs with friends, going on deep dives into history and growing vegetables in their humble Bristol flat.
Rebecca felt drawn to Speech Bubbles due to both their personal experiences with autism, and their professional work around communicating difficult inner feelings through art.
https://www.rebeccaburgess.co.uk/
Read MoreAmelia Bird is a Designer and Director specialising in visual theatre.
Amelia is a freelance artist, previously working with London Bubble Theatre on their programme of socially engaged theatre projects for children. Prior to that she was the Artistic Director of touring theatre company Gomito Productions.
Read MoreLiz Atkin is an artist and educator. She has been a Speech Bubbles practitioner since 2017 teaching in London and Kent and was commissioned to create an artwork for the programme. Her own work reimagines her Compulsive Skin Picking and anxiety into drawings, photographs and performances. Liz is a mental health advocate and raises awareness for the disorder around the world. She has exhibited and taught in the UK, Europe, Australia, USA, Singapore and Japan. Her work is permanently held in the Wellcome Collection, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, Derby Museum, and Bethlem Gallery Collection supported by the Peter Sowerby Foundation and National Lottery Heritage Fund. She is an ambassador for The Big Draw, the world’s largest drawing festival, focusing on the role of creativity for health and wellbeing. Liz received the People’s Choice Award and the Judge’s Favourite Award with the Contemporary Art Academy Award at the inaugural exhibition of Contemporary Kent Artists.
Read MoreFollowing an earlier career in acting and musical theatre, I feel lucky to have found a second love in Speech and Language Therapy. Both careers allowed me to pursue my passion developing communication skills, sharing stories, and making connections with people. My clinical specialism is using a total communication approach that incorporates storytelling and drama techniques. I'm currently Principal SALT, leading on Clinical Excellence and Creative Innovation, for a Multi Disciplinary Team Service working with children in schools across London. I was drawn to supporting Speech Bubbles as we are aligned in our passionate commitment to drama and storytelling as a powerful tool to develop children's speech, language and communication. For young people who struggle in this area, Speech Bubbles programmes has proven outcomes boosting self- esteem and confidence, creative thinking, social participation along with communication skills. I'm very excited to be part of their storytelling journey. Alongside my therapy work, I'm part of a large family who also enjoy music and performing. I love travelling, cooking, and soaking up London’s theatreland.
Read MoreMatt has been a passionate Speech Bubbler for 10 years, as both a practitioner for Peoplescape Theatre in Manchester and now managing North West Drama’s cohort of schools across Salford, Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. He is a firm believer that all children and young people have a right to experience drama that inspires learning and drives forward a creative and humanising curriculum.
He was a primary teacher for 10 years, and now works across the areas of theatre making, performance, drama for learning and producing. He is the Creative Producer of North West Drama alongside his freelance work - and also teaches yoga.
Read MoreStasha Dukic is an actress, theatre maker and drama facilitator. She has been delivering Speech bubbles sessions since 2021 and has been working with Trinity Theatre, Immediate Theatre, Half Moon Theatre and Speech Bubble CIO.
Currently she is a Playground artist with Playground, Kent where she performs for babies in libraries. She is also a facilitator at Little Angel Theatre and Polka Theatre. Stasha has her own theatre company - Jump Rope Theatre where they create work for and with children and young adults.
Read MoreAlison is proud to have been involved in Speech Bubbles since the start many years ago! She has a specialism in creating Speech Bubbles practice in SEND settings and loves being part of inclusive creative spaces where playful interactions can happen. She is also joint Creative Director of Peoplescape Theatre who are a franchise partner for Speech Bubbles in Manchester.
Read MoreKirsty is a Rose-Bruford trained performer and drama facilitator who specialises in working with and for children. She loves to play. Sensory theatre, visual storytelling and puppets make her excited. Kirsty’s drama practice is all about shining a light on unheard voices. She is founder and Associate Performer at Squelch, who was mentored by Speech Bubbles.
Since joining Speech Bubbles in 2021 with her silly, bird puppet, Rainbow, she has relished in igniting the imaginations of her Speech Bubbles groups and helping other Speech Bubbles practitioner’s grow. It has been a privilege to share the Speech Bubbles ethos to education and drama practitioner’s alike in London and beyond.
Jenny Harris is a freelance drama practitioner based in Manchester.
She has worked as part of the Speech Bubbles team since 2017.
She has delivered Speech Bubbles CIO for M6 Theatre Company in Rochdale and now delivers evaluation sessions as well as doing supervisions, which she loves.
She loves Speech Bubbles because it places the child and their stories at the heart of the work. It’s hugely empowering for children with a range of communication needs.
Jenny is proud to be part of the Speech Bubbles family!
Read MoreShermaine is an interdisciplinary artist and educator deeply engaged in participatory practices. Over the past two decades, she has contributed to the cultural and educational sectors, devising and delivering authentic artistic experiences and immersive projects for both Primary and Secondary audiences. Her aim is to empower young individuals to discover their voices, emphasising the presentation and curation of outcomes generated by participants.
Within her practice, she leads workshops and projects in dance, theatre, and visual arts. She delivers teacher training sessions, develops classroom resources and provides guidance on educational initiatives. Her passion lies in recognising the transformative potential of the arts to unite communities and individuals, as well as advocating for the integral role of creativity in education.
She adores being a Speech Bubbles practitioner, where witnessing the transformation in communication through play and drama for young people is remarkable!
@shemyslocs
Read MoreFlo has been delivering Speech Bubbles since 2016 across London. Currently she delivers with Immediate Theatre in Hackney and for Speech Bubbles CIO in Lambeth. She is also a Speech Bubbles associate and has led training and supervision visits. Every year she loves watching children gain confidence, work together and use their imagination in a playful environment. Flo believes Speech Bubbles really does transform the lives of the children and school staff involved in the project, by giving everyone a voice.
Read MoreI am a Junior Social Impact Advisor and champion of creative approaches for learning and development. I am excited to be joining the Board of an organisation so deeply committed to supporting children and so genuinely passionate about amplifying young people’s voices.
Read MoreAdam is a participatory theatre maker, learning his craft as an actor/teacher and youth theatre leader. Since 2000 he has developed as an organisational leader at Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre, Half Moon Theatre and London Bubble. Adam is a member of the Cultural Learning Alliance advisory panel.
Nurturing Speech Bubbles from a local project to a national programme has been the most rewarding thing in Adam’s career. Speech Bubbles uses all the instincts of theatre making to provide children with a joyful creative space where they can develop their own unique communication.
Read MoreLizzie is a visual artist who has been working on projects across different art forms for over 20 years. She has a BA (Hons) in Creative Arts from University of Birmingham, graduating in 2003 and has worked in the arts ever since. She has experience in the charitable sector in project management, event management, support work and business administration. Lizzie is enjoying supporting everyone involved in Speech Bubbles projects in her role as General Manager and is committed to our work to support children to develop their communications skills in a fun and relaxed ways.
Read MoreMy relationship with Speech Bubbles has grown from being a close neighbour - literally just across the road, to now being on the board of trustees.
I have really enjoyed the development of this relationship and it was a very natural step to go along with them on the next part of their adventure, if only to pay them back for allowing me to play the role of a parakeet!
It is incredibly satisfying to be able to apply the various skills I have learnt throughout my career in finance and pension trustee work and find that they are still of use.
Read MoreThere is nothing like watching children tell stories with freedom, imagination and independence. That is what Speech Bubbles help them to do, and that is why I support them!
Read MoreI am a theatre director and creative arts practitioner, and have been delivering Speech Bubbles in Tunbridge Wells for nearly a decade, always accompanied by my trusty mascot, Badger (a lion, of course). In 2022/23, we ran Speech Bubbles in 69 schools, benefiting over 1,200 children each week.
As Creative Director and Deputy CEO of Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, I oversee our youth theatre, participatory activities and the programming of our beautiful building - a converted Decimus Burton church. I am also a trustee and youth theatre director of The Oast Theatre, Tonbridge, the group I was a member of as a teenager.
There, I experienced first-hand the difference the arts can make to children's communication and confidence. Now, I love seeing the positive impact Speech Bubbles and youth theatre has on the children and young people I work with each week.
I am proud to be a trustee of Speech Bubbles and to help support the programme as it reaches even more children.
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