Family Walk to Support BYMT

We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Ben Masters and his amazing family for supporting our Access To The Arts fundraising campaign this summer. They walked 250 miles plus from their backdoor in Mid Wales to Westminster Bridge in London to raise £858 towards BYMT’s bursary fund so all our participants regardless of their financial circumstances could take part in BYMT’s projects and release their creative energy in 2021.

Ben, 19, from Brecon, Powys, has taken part in 4 BYMT projects starting from our brilliant musical The Midnight Flower Press in 2015 and following by such amazing shows as The Frenzy of Sweeney in Belfast in 2016 and Tess of the d’Urbervilles in Winchester and London in 2017 and 2018.

Ben says of his BYMT expreince: "After doing four productions with BYMT, I can think of the countless moments where I created memories with people who I keep in contact with to this day. The experiences I made both on and off stage were amazing and would love to see other people enjoy similar.

BYMT creates a perfect balance of professionalism, creativity, and development of skills which you never knew you had. The confidence gained in my acting, singing and dancing was amazing, and I would love more people like me to try out musical theatre with others who share the same interests. To be in an environment where everyone is 100% committed and willing to go out of their comfort zone was brilliant and was the reason I returned 3 times.

As I touched on before, I want to do my bit to make sure that more people can get involved in theatre in the future. Especially with the current situation we find ourselves in, it is vital to show support for not just a company, but an industry which has done so much for me and which I have loved exploring. Hence, when deciding to undergo this walk to London, my family saw it as a great opportunity to support BYMT when the industry needs as much help as it can get.”

Ben and his family had been walking for 15 days through beautiful forests and fields and stunning cities, enjoying spectacular views and posting regular updates to draw people’s attention to their important purpose. As Ben’s mum, Liz Bickerton, says:

“Ben did 4 BYMT shows, and I can honestly say that he loved it from the start. We saw him grow in confidence, gain some valuable skills and benefit from top class teaching. We highly recommend BYMT to other parents.

We chose BYMT as our supported charity for our walk because we know what a fantastic opportunity they give young people and because the Arts have been badly hit by COVID-19. We wanted others to benefit from the wonderful experience BYMT provides."

We just would like to say that we are blown away by all the support we have received and continue to receive during these challenging times. We can’t wait to get back to our National Auditions 2021 tour which starts in January and to see you all on stage in our new season of musical theatre.