We’re currently in New York having just completed a two-week run of ‘Not I’, which was part of Under The Radar Festival. We’ve been brilliantly hosted by BRIC in Brooklyn and together we’ve welcomed incredibly warm, thoughtful, full houses every night.

As the crew pack up around me, I’m writing this post to share some incredibly exciting news.

It’s lucky that I’ve been out of the country because we were asked to keep this news under wraps until today and my tics aren’t good at keeping things secret!

Towards the end of last year we applied to an Arts Council England funding stream called Elevate, and just before Christmas we found out that we’d been successful.

Elevate supports diverse-led organisations to develop plans for the future and to improve their resilience.

Over the next couple of years, this Fund will support Touretteshero to find and equip an accessible office, and appoint new staff to increase our capacity. This will allow us to take on major collaborative projects with national partners.

This is particularly brilliant news as we go into our tenth year: what started as an idea has evolved into a growing arts organisation that has developed in a way I could never have imagined.

Touretteshero is proudly disabled-led and is committed to increasing the diversity of its staff team, partners and associates, at all levels.

At a time of increasing pressure on disabled people, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to grow, develop, and work towards a socially just and inclusive world for everyone. We believe art and creativity are central to this process and we’re looking forward to deepening our practice and capacity with the support of Elevate.

My tics seem to be enjoying the news too:

“Elevators v sheepdogs, the ultimate battle.”
“Lifting your head out of the clouds and into the bright.”
“May your biscuits rise with rebellious pride.”