We’re absolutely thrilled to share that Cap-a-Pie has won Best Arts and Education Partnership at the North East Culture Awards 2025. After being shortlisted back in October, we headed to The Stockton Globe theatre full of excitement and came away with the award. It’s a huge honour to be recognised for our work with schools and universities across the North East and we’re so grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey.
This award celebrates the partnerships we’ve built with local schools and universities over the past year, where we bring learning to life through creative, participatory theatre projects.
Between September 2024 and September 2025, we worked with eight schools across Newcastle and North Tyneside, including Lemington Riverside, Broadwood, Christ Church CE, Hotspur, Byker, Chillingham Road and Carville Primaries and Sir Charles Parsons School, as well as partnering with Newcastle and Durham Universities.
Together, we delivered 95 workshops to 839 young people, exploring everything from coal mining heritage to marvellous microbes. We’ve seen children’s confidence, teamwork and engagement grow, particularly for students with additional needs, English as an additional language or those facing barriers to learning.
Teachers have told us they’ve adopted drama strategies across subjects and are seeing stronger student participation and critical thinking as a result. That kind of lasting impact is what we’re really proud of.
This recognition belongs to so many people. Thank you to the teachers who welcomed us into their classrooms and to the researchers who helped shape our projects and make sure they were grounded in evidence. Thank you to the young people who brought their ideas and creativity to every workshop. And thank you to our funders, who make all of this work possible.
As Craig Heeley, Headteacher at Lemington Riverside Primary School, said when we were shortlisted: “Working with Cap-a-Pie has had a transformative impact on our children. Their creative approach brings the curriculum to life in a way that is both inspiring and accessible for pupils of all ages.”
That’s exactly what we set out to do and winning this award shows us we’re on the right track. We’re not stopping here! We’ve got more creative adventures planned for 2026 and we can’t wait to keep working with schools, universities and young people across the region.
If you’d like to find out more about our projects or explore how we might work together, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
Thank you again for believing in what arts and education can do together. Here’s to the next chapter!
Want to know more about our work? Read about our recent projects:
