Welcome to our Membership Support Portal, which is part of our Membership Development Programme! Our Portal is made up of five Support Zones designed to help run your youth theatre. We’ve pulled together resources, tools and templates that are out there in Scotland to support youth and third sector organisations to run as legal and sustainable businesses. In short, we’ve done the searching for you!
We’ll update the Portal regularly so that members can either visit when they require specific support or information, or if you’re super keen, you can work your way through it all in your own time.
If you are in the process of setting up a youth theatre or restructuring an existing one, the Portal will guide you through the legal documents, policies, procedures, and systems that youth theatres (no matter their size) should have in place to run legally and safely. This Portal is not about the artistic side of running a youth theatre. If you would like guidance in that area, please visit the Resources section of our website.
If you would like to do a full ‘MOT’ of your youth theatre as a starting off point, please download the Membership Support Checklist. It can be used simply as an internal tool for your youth theatre or, once completed, email it to info@ytas.org.uk to start a dialogue for specific support.
Support Zone One: Foundations
This Zone covers everything that a youth theatre should have in order to run legally and be governed well. If you find that you don’t have everything in place or you are a new youth theatre, please don’t panic.
Support Zone Two: Policy and Access
Keeping up with policy can be challenging for youth theatres when under-resourced and pushed for time. This Zone provides guidance on what policies and procedures you should have in place and how to make youth theatre as accessible as possible.
Support Zone Three: Your Team
Youth theatres in Scotland come in all different shapes and sizes but one thing that they all have in common is that they involve people. Whether that is a team of two or twenty-two, in this Zone YTAS has collated guidance for best practice when working with others.
Support Zone Four: Business Development
This Zone covers business planning, managing money, marketing, evaluation, and sustainability. YTAS knows that some of these areas can be the hardest to keep up with when under pressure, and hopes to alleviate some of this pressure through providing guidance and useful tools to support these areas.
Support Zone Five: Fundraising
This Zone is designed to help those who are in the process of setting up a youth theatre or diversifying the income streams of an existing one. It’s a great place to start with the endless task that is fundraising.
Some other things to consider
If you are a registered charity or considering becoming one, SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) has a wealth of guidance covering the above topics which can be adapted for your organisation. If your turnover is less than £100,000 per annum you can join for FREE and receive member benefits. If your turnover is more than £100,000 per annum, there is an annual fee. If you are not a charity, please visit the Choosing a Structure section in Support Zone One for further guidance.
It is worth checking if you are eligible to join Youth Scotland via their website. They are Scotland’s largest youth work network of over 1700 youth groups, providing training and support on a range of youth work topics.
