Loudmouth is a touring theatre in education company, travelling from school to school, college to college, providing informative performances to students on safeguarding topics such as relationships, sex education and health.
As part of their current tour, they visited Telford College to inform our students through a series of sessions in the sports hall. We caught up with them after one of the shows.
“Usually, we go around in pairs to schools and deliver performances, hot seat interviews and small group discussions in aid of their RSHE curriculum and safeguarding young people,” said Kavita Kumar, who has been performing for Loudmouth since July.
She was joined by Josh Maddocks as they performed Loudmouth’s ‘Calling It Out’ programme together for the first time at Telford College.
Josh said: “I think the sessions went really well. It’s very rewarding running the programme and seeing all the students engaged and listening to our performance.”
Kavita said: “These subjects are so important for students to learn about. We chat to staff all around the West Midlands about these types of issues – it’s one of our newest programmes and most popular issues for us to talk about.
“We like visiting all the schools and colleges. It’s nice to hear how much the designated safeguarding leads (DSL) really care about their students and bringing awareness on these issues.
“It’s so important. With everything going on in the world, young people have so much on their shoulders. It’s so nice to offer them a session that is a little bit refreshing and different to what they’re used to. Some students said to us that they’d seen our sessions in the past too, which shows our reach.
“We were recently on a tour of primary schools in London, called Helping Hands. This was like an introduction at an early age to harassment and grooming. Our programmes sensitively raise awareness of safeguarding issues like grooming, exploitation, bullying, mental health, harassment and assault.”
Caroline Welson, BeSafe manager and deputy DSL for Telford College, said: “Loudmouth are a highly respected company who come in and tackle tough topics in a way that younger students can relate to.
“They’re commissioned by Telford and Wrekin Council to talk to students about sexual harassment and violence. It’s all about re-educating and creating a culture that allows everyone to feel safe at the college and create an environment where it’s safe to report.
“Their use of language and music to highlight discussions and scenarios are relatable to students; it’s more engaging and delivered by different people in a different way.”
