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What’s On Young Creatives (11–30) Visit Our Work Support us Venue hire
What’s On Young Creatives (11–30) Visit Our Work Support us Venue hire
Home Annual Review 21-22
Introduction Our work with young people Artistic programme Income Our team Thank you

Simon Turner smiles at the camera for his headshot whilst wearing a blue suit.

Simon Turner, Chair

We continue to live in challenging times which makes all the work that happens here at the Roundhouse even more important. The UK, especially London, has always been a wonderfully diverse, creative place and we can’t allow the current crisis to let us take steps backwards in terms of who partakes in, or benefits from all that creativity has to offer.

But with your support, particularly over the last few years, we have been able to plan for an ambitious future so that we can expand our work with young people at a time when they need us more than ever. This is alongside delivering a groundbreaking artistic programme that inspires audiences around the world.

Thank you to our supporters, staff and trustees for your ongoing dedication and we look forward to welcoming you to the Roundhouse over the next year.

Marcus Davey stands in front of a brick wall whilst talking to a crowd.

Marcus Davey CBE, CEO and Artistic Director

We learnt a huge amount during the pandemic and something I think it showed us is that creativity is truly London’s superpower. When we harness the wonderfully diverse creativity of London we raise the creative potential of the UK. Throughout these pages you can see some of the incredible work that graced our stages and screens as we made the transition back to live shows, including the return of our flagship festivals The Last Word Festival, Roundhouse Rising and In the Round.

Re-opening the doors of the Roundhouse would not have been possible without the ongoing support of Arts Council England and DCMS, and even though this continued to be an incredibly challenging year, there were many moments of hope. One of those was beginning the building work on Roundhouse Works, our new creative centre for young people, which will provide them with the space and opportunity to turn their creativity into a career. We want young people to know that we are committed to investing in them at a time when many are faced with an uncertain future.

We know we have some big challenges ahead but with the will and skill of our incredible team and the generosity and loyalty of our supporters we feel confident about the future – a huge and heartfelt thank you to you all.

Roundhouse Young Trustees

Beth, Chloe and Oriana have all been involved with the Roundhouse’s young creatives programme and joined as Trustees in 2022. Click on their images below to find out more about their Trusteeship and the importance of young people’s voices in governance.

Beth is wearing a pinstripe suit and standing below chandeliers.
Beth

Beth is a freelance live arts producer supporting award-winning independent artists and companies from the LGBTQIA+ community and is an active advocate for better freelancer rights across the creative industries as well as for youth voice and empowerment.

“I think so often trusteeship is only thought about in relation to the wider context of an organisation, which can feel a bit faceless and large, particularity to freelancers and early career artists.
To me, becoming a Trustee is all about centring your values and striving to put these into practice in everything you do. It’s then you find yourself working alongside inspiring, like-minded others who share your passions for celebrating the kind of creativity you platform, support and facilitate.”
Beth is wearing a pinstripe suit and standing below chandeliers.
Beth
Chloe is looking at the camera with a smile.
Chloe

Chloe is a freelance creative in the TV and Digital industry and works as a Researcher/Assistant Producer on Factual and Digital shows, she is also passionate about raising awareness about diversity and inclusion in the TV industry too.

“I help provide a youth perspective on the Board and I also let the board know about the work the Roundhouse Youth Advisory Board (RYAB) has been up to over the past few months. Because young people are at the heart of the Roundhouse, it makes sense to listen to their voices and allow them to feed into programmes that are designed to directly benefit and support them.

As someone who is self-employed and eventually plans to start their own production company, it’s great to understand how an organisation as vast as the Roundhouse runs, and what’s required for it to run smoothly, and I hope to put into practice what I’m learning into my own business one day.”

 
Chloe is looking at the camera with a smile.
Chloe
Oriana is looking at the camera and wearing a brown top and hoop earrings.
Oriana

Oriana is a freelance visual artist working as a painting assistant for Philip Colbert as well as working on her own practice. She is also the founder of The Medela School, a visual arts platform that provides educational and wellbeing support through art classes and workshops, offering skill based arts classes.

“This is my first board role and it has been exciting so far. I feel that I’m finding my voice in governance and what it looks like to be part of the infrastructure of an organisation that serves both creativity and young people, which I’m super passionate about.
One of the key ways I use my position as a trustee is to connect young creatives in my network to opportunities at the Roundhouse. Whether it’s them being a part of a programme or getting access to the facilities to improve their craft, my goal is that by the end of my tenure I have testimonials of at least 15 – 20 young people who have had the opportunity to further their creative career through something or someone from the Roundhouse.”
Oriana is looking at the camera and wearing a brown top and hoop earrings.
Oriana

Two young people play the drums and guitar in a rehearsal space in the Roundhouse Studios.
The pandemic had a huge impact on young people - from job losses to social isolation. We continued our work with young people online and reopened the Roundhouse Studios as soon as possible to give young people the space to create and connect with others.

3,070 young people engaged with our creative programmes

63% of which were from Camden

Accessing creativity

By November 2021 the Roundhouse Studios were open seven days a week and in-person projects were back up and running, including Intro to Backstage Roles, Writing for Wellness and Animate from Scratch.

We continued to work with local schools and community groups and provided young people with an alternative creative space where they could reconnect with their peers, at a time when young people were still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

We also worked closely with a number of groups that support young refugees and asylum seekers as we work towards becoming a Theatre of Sanctuary – a space where young people seeking sanctuary are not only welcomed but actively included. A group of young refugees who attended one of our projects in the Roundhouse Studios had the chance to meet Little Amal when she celebrated her 10th birthday at the Roundhouse.

87%

Of young people told us that they learnt something new and felt more confident

78%

Said the project helped improve their ability to work with others

Roundhouse X Rainbow Collective: Be Kind

A new animation created on one of our projects by 11-14 year olds and inspired by Little Amal’s journey, who visited the Roundhouse in October 2021.

The voice of young people

Young people’s voices are central to all of our work at the Roundhouse – from young people on our Board of Trustees to profiling young people’s work on our stages and our screens. We want to empower young people to use their voice and creativity to affect the change that they want to see.

Jennie Foot presents ‘Our Summer’, a film produced as part of our Film Fund Programme and the winner of the inaugural Wiggin Emerging Filmmakers Awards.

Transmission Roundhouse

10 young people were provided with at-home equipment, online tutorials and mentoring from the team during the pandemic. Through our partnership with Spotify we were also able to provide individual industry mentoring from members of the Spotify team to prepare everyone for their independent professional journey.

At the British Podcast Awards, the Interconnected Voices series from Cherise Hamilton-Stephenson and produced by Bridey Addison-Child, won Gold in the Creativity Award category and Bronze for Best Current Affairs podcast.

Roundhouse Works

In 2023, we’re opening Roundhouse Works – a new creative centre for 18-30 year-olds that will enable us to work with 15,000 young people a year by 2026.

Whether someone wants to turn their creativity into a career or simply needs a place to experiment, Roundhouse Works will help uncover new, diverse voices and empower young creative entrepreneurs.

Roundhouse Works will contain the Inflexion Workspace for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers, multiple large rehearsal rooms and a podcast studio, alongside mentoring, workshops and professional development programmes.

The first and second floor of the new building take shape with the Roundhouse in the background.
The wooden walls start to take shape along the side road and next to the Roundhouse’s offices which are grey shipping containers.
A close up view of the second floor of the building taking shape.
A view from the front of the Roundhouse where you can see the main building and the new building coming out of the ground to the right of the Roundhouse.
Concrete and wooden structures start to form as the building takes shape.
Inside the first floor of the building which shows concrete pillars - this room will eventually be the workspace.
A view of the first and second floor taken from the ground with the Roundhouse just visible behind.
Young entrepreneurs and freelancers sit around a table in an office space chatting to each other.
In 2021/22 we continued to deliver pilot projects that help us to learn what young creatives want and need from this new space.

79% of young people on these projects said their awareness of career opportunities and further training had increased.

88% said they established a support network with peers or industry professionals.

Self-Made Accelerator

This 10 week business development programme was for 8 young entrepreneurs in the creative industries, supporting their business development into a sustainable career. Business owners took part in workshops, received mentoring, pitch practice and peer-to-peer learning, culminating in a pitch event where they showcased their business to experts.

Chen, the winner of the Self-Made Accelerator programme, stands in front of a brick wall wearing jeans, a green top and a dark jacket. There is a purple crescent graphic over the image.

The winning pitch

Chen had the winning pitch with her business Occlon which helps re-invent museums, creating more curious experiences for visitors through technology and design.

“The Accelerator programme pulled me in and spun me out into un-imaginable opportunities. I was excited about how we focused on different topics each week with breathing space in between to develop your business. If you are working by yourself it can be hard to push things along but working as a team really helped me gain momentum.”

One-to-one support

All of our work at the Roundhouse is underpinned by a dedicated youth work team. This unique model of designated pastoral support in a creative and professional setting ensures that we are being reactive to the needs of young people as well as providing a safe space to all.

Case Study

A 15 year old was referred to the Roundhouse Studios through their youth offending team. While they’d been making music since 13, they never had the resources and money to afford recording equipment or studio time. They weren’t attending school and referenced themselves as being “on the fence” with regards to gang affiliations and crime.

By attributing them £40 a month towards studio costs, they were able to come in and use a production room for £4 a week (for 4 hours) and also claim for their travel. They’ve been attending for two months and working on a music project as well as attending our 15-17 music producer drop-in (which is also covered by studio credit) and the drop-in is helping with their social skills. They’re now getting into a more positive routine and cycle and have somewhere safe to focus on their music.

The Last Word Festival

We reopened our doors to audiences in July 2021 with The Last Word Festival. A programme of exciting talent and the boldest stories from some of the most vital voices both on stage and online.

Winner and – for the first time in Roundhouse Poetry Slam history – Audience Favourite, Maureen Onwunali recites her vivid and moving winning poem “Why I Rise: A Poem in Ten Parts.”

Jazz Re:Fest

In August we partnered with Jazz re:freshed to bring you JAZZ RE:FEST Online. A family-friendly, annual festival produced by pioneering movement Jazz re:freshed celebrating jazz and jazz-inspired music and culture with over 50 musicians performing – including Andrew Ashong, Balimaya Project, Cherise Adams Burnett, Colectiva, Denys Baptiste and Johanna Burnheart.

A consideration for Black-led Jazz re:refreshed was how we crew our live performance captures with a diverse cohort of alumni from our Behind The Lens intensive Access to Industry programme. A team from this cohort handled filming duties under the leadership of celebrated music TV director Marcus Viner.

The Walk

We were joined by the Roundhouse’s local MP Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, to welcome Little Amal to celebrate her 10th birthday. Little Amal is a 3.5 metre puppet of a young refugee who embarked on a remarkable journey – an epic voyage that took her across Turkey, across Europe and finally to the UK. To find her mother. To get back to school. To start a new life.

The night embraced all the joy of a tenth birthday whilst considering the sad reality of Amal’s experiences and honouring the diversity of London and the positive impact of global diasporas on our city.

A little girl onstage blows bubbles towards Little Amal, a 3.5 metre high puppet, whilst a ESKA sings on stage. The crowd reaches for the bubbles.
Keir Starmer holds out his hand to Little Amal’s hand.
Little Amal stands in the middle of a crowd of people who are all looking with wonder and reaching out to her.
Little Amal goes to hug Michael Rosen whilst on stage at the Roundhouse.
Anoushka Shankar plays the sitar on stage with her eyes closed sitting against the backdrop of other musical instruments.
Inua Ellams stands in front of a microphone holding out a poem that he is reading to the audience.

London’s most loved music venue

In Jan 2022 we were voted ‘Most Loved Live Music Venue in London’ by TimeOut readers! 

This year we welcomed incredible artists including The Specials, Caroline Polachek, Rina Sawayama, Frank Turner, Jarv Is… and Ghetts.

Thank you to all the artists, agents and promoters who chose to come to the Roundhouse. By putting on your gig here you’re supporting our ambitious youth programme and the next generation of creatives.

Ghetts performs on stage with a microphone in his hand and looking out to the crowd.
Ghetts performs at the Roundhouse ⓒ Tamiym Cader

Roundhouse Rising Festival

Our new music festival returned in October 2021, championing emerging artists at the early stages of their careers. This year, our partners BBC Music Introducing, Route, Saffron and Daytimers delivered the hottest and most eclectic line ups with artists including Grove, Nayana IZ, Jerkcurb, Lynks and more.

Plus, for 18-25s we ran music masterclasses and panel discussions for anyone interested in a career in the music industry.

An artist performs on stage at Roundhouse Rising Festival and there is a red crescent graphic over the top of the picture.
Roundhouse Rising Festival 2021 ⓒ Young Creators UK

In the Round

We invited audiences to surround themselves in music, as our series of intimate seated shows returned.

Members of The Kingdom Choir singing on stage at the Roundhouse.
The Kingdom Choir, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Two members of the band Goat Girl perform on stage with guitars.
Goat Girl, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Emeli Sande sits at a piano whilst singing to the crowd.
Emeli Sande, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Richard Dawson lifts a guitar and sings to the crowd.
Richard Dawson, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Ballaké Sissoko, one of Mali’s greatest kora players, joins cellist Vincent Ségal on stage.
Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Hak Baker plays the guitar and sings to the crowd.
Hak Baker, In the Round Festival ⓒ John Williams
Luca Manning performs on stage behind a microphone with their eyes closed and playing the ukulele.
This marked the first time I’d performed on the Roundhouse main stage and I felt the magic that is present in that space. Performing my music on a stage that holds so much atmosphere and history was really special. Supporting Richard Dawson gave me the opportunity to reach a new audience and share my music with people who might not have encountered me yet, I’m really grateful for that opportunity and hold the memory very dear!
— Roundhouse Resident Artist Luca Manning supported Richard Dawson at this year’s In the Round Festival.

Your support

This year we spent £2.3m delivering our vital youth programme and £1.6m bringing you our world-class artistic programme. We couldn’t deliver this groundbreaking work without the support of individuals and funders – whether it’s a ticket you buy or money you donate – it all supports our charitable aims.

Despite the effects of the pandemic, in 2021/22 we managed to raise a brilliant £6.1 million, which included £2.9m towards Roundhouse Works, our new creative centre for young people.

Money was raised through our most successful ever Roundhouse Gala as well as the continued support of donors and corporate partners, including Taylor Wessing, among many others.

In April 2021, we received vital funding from Arts Council England and DCMS through the Cultural Recovery Fund, alongside further support from the Government’s furlough scheme. Without which we would not have been able to reopen the Roundhouse and welcome back staff, audiences and young people, and build towards a positive future.

 

 

Roundhouse Gala

Roundhouse Gala returned for our biggest night of fundraising ever and raised a remarkable £1.18 million – the most we’ve ever raised in one night!

The evening was hosted by the incredible Clara Amfo and Trevor Nelson with brilliant performances from Guy Garvey, the Trevor Horn Band, Ronnie Wood, Andrea Corr, Adrian Lester, Teshay Makeda, Chisara Agor, Ruth Awolola and The Kingdom Choir.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, donated money and prizes, and a special thank you to our Gala Committee including Co-Chairs, Sally Wood and Nick Allott, OBE.

Teshay sings on stage whilst Adrian dances in the background. The audience can be seen dancing behind them.
Andrea Corr and Ronnie Wood both sing into the same microphone whilst Ronnie plays the guitar.
Sally Wood and Nick Allott stand next to each other as they get their photo taken in the main auditorium of the Roundhouse.
Trevor Nelson and Clara Amfo stand next to each other, smiling to the camera, as they get their photo taken with the main stage in the background.
Chisara Agor and Ruth Awolola stand next to each other, smiling to the camera, with the main stage in the background.
Sally Wood and Ronnie Wood stand next to each other, smiling to the camera, with the brick wall of the Roundhouse in the background.
Frances Rufelle and Sadie Frost stand with their arms around each other, smiling to the camera, with the brick wall of the Roundhouse in the background.
Guy Garvey sings to the crowd whilst holding a notebook in his hands.
Twelve members of The Kingdom Choir are singing on stage together whilst smiling and looking out to the audience.

Unique events

As a building steeped in incredible cultural history, including some legendary gigs, the Roundhouse is the ideal space for people looking to hire a unique venue.

Coldplay

We’ve had some amazing events over the years and during Covid, when we couldn’t always welcome large audiences, we were often used as a space to film. When Coldplay filmed here they even spoke to Thomas Pesquet on the international space station live from the Roundhouse.

We also continued to host bespoke events, including a number of awards ceremonies such as the Attitude Awards, Music Video Awards and Stand Up To Cancer’s National Comedy Awards.

Roundhouse Team

In 2020 we set out our anti-racism commitments, which included aiming for a staff team that reflects the diversity of London, meaning at least 40% of the team should be from the Global Majority, including 13% Black team members.

As we built back our team, we prioritised our recruitment strategies to draw in the most diverse talent, as well as set out our core values. We published our staff diversity data in December 2021 and we continue to work towards these targets. In our latest staff survey, 97% of the team said they were proud to work at the Roundhouse!

 

Roundhouse Values

  • We drive change
  • We’re accountable
  • We celebrate our differences

Thank you to our supporters

Capital supporters

Principal Supporters

Arts Council England / The Inflexion Foundation / The Norman Trust / Simon Turner

 

Leading Supporters

Alex Graham / Backstage Trust / Buttinghill Foundation / Camden Council Community Infrastructure Levy / Celia and Lara Atkin / CHK Foundation / The Dorfman Foundation / Foyle Foundation / Garfield Weston Foundation / The Gerald and Gail / Ronson Family Foundation / The Gosling Foundation / Julia and Hans Rausing / Patrick Healy and Isabelle Georgeaux / Paul Hamlyn Foundation / Paul and Sara Philips / Teresa and Christopher Satterthwaite CBE / Those that took part in the Antarctic Challenge 2015 / Veronica and Lars Bane Foundation / Erica Wax & Andrew Balls

 

Supporters

Mark and Diane Aedy / Cockayne – Grants for the Arts / Josh and Elizabeth Critchley / Manjit Dale / Peter Dennis / The Duffin Family / Glass Half Full Productions / The Hobson Charity / Nic Humphries / Wol and Kerry Kolade / Brian and Lynne Magnus / Simon and Midge Palley / Sonia and Mattias Westman

Major Supporters

Veronica & Lars Bane / Colin & Helen David / Lord Mervyn Davies CBE / Shaun & Kirsty Foy / Hedley & Fiona Goldberg / Alex Graham & Rosie Millard OBE / Martin & Celestina Hughes / Adam & Elizabeth Knight / Wol & Kerry Kolade / Martin Leuw / Mike Lucy / The Mackintosh Foundation / Brian & Lynne Magnus / Jennifer Nguyen & Edmund Lehmann / Simon & Midge Palley / Paul & Sara Phillips / The Rubin Foundation Charitable Trust / Simon Turner / Erica Wax & Andrew Balls / Jeremy Yap

Producing Circle

Kate Bingham & Jesse Norman MP / Charlotte Bolland / Gina Edwards & Simon Bowman / Sonita & Jonathan Gale / Chris Georgiou / Stefan Glaenzer & Uta De Veer / Kevin & Deborah Gundle / Alexander & Jerusalen Gunning / Simon & Catherine Karr / Gareth Lake / Ben & Clara Long / Markku & Paivi Lonnqvist / The Mackintosh Foundation / Simon & Kathryn McGeary / Catherine Mount / Tom Payne & Kate Bradshaw / Caroline M Rae and Keith Goddard / Mark & Mandy Salter / Teresa & Christopher Satterthwaite CBE / The Seneca Trust / Gary Spellins / Jeremiah & D’one Wagner / Tom & Mary Ellen Wanty / Michele Warshaw / Nicola Wherity

Legends

Roy Ackerman / Simon Davis / Johanna Ehrnrooth / Tim Hailstone / Nicholas Horwood / Steven Joseph / Michael Kent / Scott Kerson & Jana Harrison / Pierre Micottis / Christopher Pieroni / Martin Poole /Caroline Rae / JP Rangaswami / John & Mary Jane Reed / Ben Rick / John Ruskin / John Samuels / Tania Slowe / Robert Soning / Marcella Sturman / Tony Ward

Trusts & Statutory

Trusts

The Atkin Foundation / Baskin Family Foundation / Esmée Fairbairn Foundation / Ex-Animo Foundation / Fenton Arts Trust / Foyle Foundation / Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation / Holbeck Charitable Trust / Hollick Family Foundation / Jan Michalski Foundation / Joe Strummer Foundation / John Coates Charitable Trust / Julia and Hans Rausing / Noel Coward Foundation / Norman Trust / Portal Trust / PRS for Music Foundation / Prudence Charitable Trust / Rachel Charitable Trust / The Red Hill Trust / Right to Thrive / The Runciman Charitable Trust

 

Statutory

Arts Council England / Camden Council / Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport / Youth Music

Corporate Partners

Bloomberg Philanthropies / Brown Rudnick / Carlsberg / CMS / The Foundation / The Inflexion Foundation / Labtech / Lavazza / Panmure Gordon / Salisbury Group / Showsec / Spotify / Taylor Wessing / Wiggin LLP

Development Board

Ade Adepitan MBE / Jonathan Badyal / Simon Bazalgette / Nadja Bellan-White / Sanjeev Bhaskar / Charlotte Bolland / Charlie Dawson / Pete Dennis / Dom Hodge / Greg Levine / Andrew Priest / Anna Prior / Hugh Robertson / Jonathan Shapiro / Simon Tate / Simon Turner

Gala Committee

Sally Wood, Co-Chair / Nicholas Allott OBE, Co-Chair / Rob Soning, Vice Chair / Nadja Bellan-White / Charlotte Bolland / Suzanne Deller / Johanna Ehrnrooth / Sadie Frost / Trilbey Gordon / Trevor Horn CBE / Medwyn Jones / Mike Lucy / Brian Magnus / Jesse Norman MP / Anda Rowland / Christopher Satterthwaite CBE

Founder and President

Sir Torquil Norman CBE

Vice Presidents

Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE / Wayne McGregor CBE / Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall / Rt Hon Baroness Morris of Yardley / Christopher Satterthwaite CBE

Trustees

Simon Turner (Chair) / Ade Adepitan MBE / Nicholas Allott OBE / Nadja Bellan-White / Ella Bennett / Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE / Chloe Bingham / Lorna Clarke / Marcus Davey CBE / Jackie Freeman / Spider J / Oriana Jemide / Weyland McKenzie / Casper Norman / Molly Schiller / Beth Sitek / Pauline Tambling CBE / Sally Wood / Philip Watkins

Directors

Marcus Davey CBE / Michael Dixon / Michaela Greene / Sam Oldham (until Sep 2022) / Jon Sellins (from Jan 2023) / Charlie Wijeratna