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Kyle and Aimee’s People Speak Up Placement Journey

Posted on Apr 11, 2023
Comments (1)

By Peter Wyn Mosey
Peter Wyn Mosey participates in People Speak Up Projects, including Story Care and Share, People Sing Up, and Spoken Word Saturday. 

If you’ve been to any of the recent People Speak Up group sessions and events or have just dropped into Fwrness Fach for a cuppa, you may have noticed a couple of new faces helping out the team and getting involved in facilitating some of the sessions.

For the last few weeks, Kyle and Aimee, two second-year Applied Drama students from The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), have been on a six-week-long placement working with People Speak Up, gaining valuable professional experience. 

I caught up with Kyle and Aimee to get to know them better and learn about their recent experiences working at PSU. Here’s their journey. 

UWTSD Applied Drama and PSU

People Speak Up has always had very strong links with the drama department at UWTSD. PSU director Eleanor Shaw has this to say about the relationship: 

"Working with UWTSD is so important for us at PSU, our full-time facilitator team are made up of Applied Drama graduates, and those particular students receive outstanding training in facilitation, and these are skills we need in the arts and health sector! A big Thank you to Kyle and Aimee, they are applying their learnings into a practical setting, our community are very thankful to them, and we look forward to following them on their Applied drama journey."

Ali Franks leads the BA Applied Drama course at UWTSD. Here are her thoughts on the connection: 

"BA Applied Drama at UWTSD has developed a fantastic relationship with People Speak Up over the last 5 years. Many of our graduates have gone on to work with PSU, and we are hugely grateful for Eleanor's enthusiasm and mentorship for our students, who have had wonderful opportunities to volunteer, assist and lead workshops with PSU. This project with Aimee and Kyle has been especially impactful as they have been situated at PSU for an entire module and therefore immersed in the real work on a day-to-day basis. BA Applied Drama is focused on developing students through real-world situations so that when they graduate, they are ready for the workplace, understand how organisations work, and have the attributes necessary to become successful practitioners. This experience has been amazing for Kyle and Aimee, not only in terms of module learning, but also in terms of personal development and growth.  We look forward to our continued relationship with PSU, especially now that we are developing a Masters programme in Applied Theatre, where our partnership with PSU will develop further in order to go on providing students with such wonderful industry experience. Thank you all at PSU!"

Meet Kyle!

Kyle is a second-year Applied Drama student at UWTSD in Carmarthen. Originally from Essex, Kyle has lived in London and various other areas in England. 

During the first year of his degree, he studied and took an interest in the Theatre of the Oppressed, a movement established by Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal that involves audience interaction and is often used in drama therapy and community theatre. 

Kyle has always had a massive interest in acting. Taking a community theatre module and leading a workshop with disabled participants opened up new possibilities surrounding acting, a motivating factor in moving to Wales to study Applied Drama. 

Kyle leading a warm-up at “People Sing Up”

Before your placement, what did you know about People Speak Up?

In my first year, we met someone volunteering at People Speak Up, and I also met a few international students who had done a module with PSU. But the only thing I knew then was about PSU working with groups with dementia. So originally, I thought that's what People Speak Up was focused on until actually working here myself and realising the diversity of the range of groups they work with. 

What kind of things have you been doing since you’ve been on placement at PSU 

During the first two weeks, we did taster sessions of everything possible. So from Monday to Saturday, we would do the Over-50 group on Monday, we would also do the drop-in sessions where people would just come in, and we serve coffee and creative cwtch sessions where people just come in and were able to draw, write, or do anything creative. 

I've taken part in Tuesday's Coedcae Girls group, and they've been working on a project to create a music video. I also wanted to experience Story Care and Share on Wednesdays. And also Street Play and YPSU. 

I’ve also been involved with People Sing Up on Thursdays. And then I also take part in Elevenses on Friday. So far, the only group I’m yet to experience is Neuro Speak Up which is on every fortnight, but I hope to in the last two weeks. 

After the taster weeks, we chatted about what I’d like to focus on, and I’ve stuck with most of the groups.  

What would you say you've gained from your time with People Speak Up? 

One of the biggest things to me has the message about bringing a voice to people and letting them have their own voice. 

I think a big thing for me is that I’m mixed Jamaican and English, and I'm proud of that diversity. We had a spoken word artist come down for YPSU called Tia, and we had a big discussion about she talked about her identity. I've managed to see one of her shows called “Clean Slate”, which is all about having a mixed identity in Wales. Although I wasn’t born in Wales, hearing that discussion is still interesting.  

I also took part in Poems and Pints on a Monday through people I’ve met at PSU. I met Tara, a spoken word artist who did a piece about identity and grief, and those are two things I’m going through right now, so it just really resonated with me.  

I’ve spoken with Eleanor about wanting to discuss identity with the YPSU group during my final two weeks. So, next week, I'll start that discussion with them. And then, the following week, we’ll do a project around identity.  

One of the things that this has also done is give me confidence in other areas that I never thought I'd be comfortable with because we discussed which groups I would really like to work with. I chose People Sing Up as a group I wanted to keep working with. I really enjoyed being part of the choir, but then through leading the warm-up, I'm building more confidence in areas I might never have had skills in before.  

So I think one thing that PSU has done for me is it's given me a voice, but I’ve also shared that voice with others. It's given me an inclusive place to be a part of, as well as being able to include others as well.  

What would you say you’ve brought to PSU? 

I think one of the things is that because I come from an Applied Drama background, I want to bring more of that into PSU. I recently held a session with the Over 50s where we brought in scripts, and people made their own scripts. I brought in some books, and we got everyone to read out monologues and perform and act them out, and then we'd have a twist where I would say, “Okay, read that again, but this time you have to read it like it is if you're a mouse” and then they just started squeaking. We had a really fun moment with those groups, and it showed that they were really able to just jump straight into the arts, and it helped to break the ice for some people because everyone was having a laugh. Even those that didn't take part in it still found joy.  

One thing that I’m hoping to bring is how I feel about identity. I can talk about my perspective of mixed identity, but others can also speak about their identity. 

So there have been so many amazing things, and hopefully, I will get to contribute more. 

So looking to the future, what do you see yourself doing after your degree? 

One of the things I've been very adamant about since coming to university is that I want to work my way up to do a master's degree in Drama Therapy. I’ve learnt so much about drama therapy and things like the Sesame Approach, where you therapeutically use storytelling and poetry with patients. And I would really love to explore that.  

But recently, from People Speak Up, I've met so many spoken word artists, and I've also participated in spoken word events. So at Spoken Word Saturday. I shared my own personal piece, and at Poems and Pints, I shared two pieces, and I’ve felt included as part of a group of poets. So, it’s changing the angle to take in the future, and I’d maybe take a spoken word approach.  

I think drama therapy is still an angle to pursue, but that’s the joy of the Applied Drama degree. I’d like to be a freelancer, but not stuck in one field. So spoken word could be a field to look at along with drama therapy. 

Say Hello to Aimee!

Aimee originates from Scotland. Before lockdowns hit, Aimee planned to study songwriting and composition, but the pandemic changed her plans. She’s always volunteered at church and various community centres using the arts in some way, particularly music. She would write songs and play instruments, but drama was always a big passion. 

Aimee assisting at Elevenses

What are you enjoying about your course?

Well, I'm an interesting one because I started in the second year. I did my first year of university in the Highlands of Scotland and then moved down, and so far, I’ve really enjoyed that it's been hands-on. The experience of studying Applied Drama is quite interesting because it’s very niche, and there are so many avenues you can go into -  I could use drama in a hospital or the social system, I could work with the community, I could work in prisons.  

I love that it's people orientated and that it's to work for people. I love that because I want to make an impact on people's lives by using drama in some way, shape, or form. 

Before coming to People Speak Up, did you know anything about the organisation or have any kind of expectations? 

I had a brief intro at my freshers week, and they explained that the literal ethos is for people to speak up to better their mental health by sharing their stories. I'm discovering they're very true to their word about what they're trying to do, and they're always changing, trying to be the best them that they can be, which I love.  

It is a full-on experience if you're volunteering here. Working here for the first week, I was very overwhelmed, but after settling in and getting my balance and to grips with what I was actually doing here, I started to enjoy and feel encouraged by what was going on. 

What have you particularly enjoyed about your experience here? 

I particularly enjoyed working with a variety of people. So from The youth to the elderly from different walks of life and just supporting them and being there with them and hearing their stories through whatever format they share, be that spoken word or creative arts or just that exploring what they want to do, which is really great.  

And what do you think that you benefited from your time and People Speak Up? 

It's been a very interesting journey discovering my limits and what buttons I have, but I didn't know I had. Which is great because now I know. 

But I need to develop on that. So it's, it's a good start to my personal journey, it encourages me to develop and grow. I've also discovered this is a unique space because anybody can walk in and be welcomed to the best of everyone's ability, cared for, and looked after. They are allowed to express themselves, which is lovely. 

What do feel you've brought to People Speak Up? 

I feel like I brought almost a calm rock. That I am quite a calm person myself. I think I've brought another helping hand, and I'm very much “tell me to do something  - I'll do it”  There's no faff with me, I'll just do it. I’m more of an action person than a word person. So, I feel that I brought an extra supporting hand almost.  

What are your plans for the future and for after your degree?

I've started thinking about it. There are loads of options out there. But I really do want to focus on the mental health aspect, and I'm unsure of which route to take So, I don't know if I'll work independently, if I'll become a freelancer, if I want to work with a company, I'm kind of keeping my options open until the end of this year and then I'll decide hopefully over the holidays.

I'm looking forward to what's ahead of me, but I'm also very aware that I have a decision to make, and I haven't made that yet.

The course that I'm studying allows me to be very flexible. And so is PSU, It lets you kind of explore and decide what to do.