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Team

The Inspire Youth Arts team is a welcoming and friendly group of creative and collaborative professionals. The staff team includes an Operations Officer, Building Officer and Cleaner who support running of The Old Library. The creative team includes a Senior Producer, a team of Creative Producers, a Projects Officer and a Technical Manager who support the ongoing Inspire Youth Arts programme. This is overseen by the Inspire Youth Arts Manager.   

Inspire Youth Arts creative programmes are developed by the producing team alongside partners and stakeholders; and are delivered by freelance practitioners with specialisms in dance, music and digital art. A group of support workers enable us to facilitate our commitment to access and inclusion. We facilitate work experience placements and volunteering roles which are supported through Inspire’s Community Makers offer.  

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Brendon is Inspire Youth Arts' Technical Manager, responsible for technical support for projects and events in The Old Library and across the service. He supports young people to engage in exciting work across multiple projects, and helps colleagues get the best out of their ideas from a technical perspective. 

Brendon supports young people to perform at live events, whether it's by lighting up their dance shows or making their gigs sound great. Since working at Inspire Youth Arts Brendon has recorded hundreds of young people and professional musicians in our on-site recording studio. He has a photography degree too, so is always taking photos of the amazing work we do!

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Ebony is the Youth Arts Project Officer, providing administrative support for the Inspire Youth Arts programme. She assists with the planning, development, delivery, and evaluation of arts and cultural activities for young people. She manages invoices and collates statistics and responds to general enquiries. Ebony also supports events and general teams logistics. 

Ebony joined the team in November 2021 through the Kickstart Government Scheme and began her full-time role in March 2022. Since then, she has made significant contributions to project administration and organised the Hummingbirds visual arts project for young people living with diabetes. Ebony works closely with the Inspire Youth Arts Manager and team and is currently pursuing a Data Analyst course to improve efficiency in her work.

Prior to joining the team, Ebony volunteered with Inspire Youth Arts for 10 years. She holds a Mathematics degree from Oxford University and has a background in performing arts, with experience playing bass guitar, guitar, and drums. Ebony also leads sung worship and supports a youth band at a church in Worksop, furthering her commitment to supporting young people.


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Hayley is a Creative Producer, responsible for leading the Inspire Youth Arts dance programme. She supports young people to engage in brilliant dance workshops, regular termly sessions, and performance opportunities in a range of dance genres. She organises trips to the theatre for young people to see high quality professional dance. Hayley develops opportunities for young people from Nottinghamshire to connect to career progression pathways in dance through mentoring and connections to professional dance artists, partners and organisations. 

Hayley supports young people to perform at live events including opportunities at theatres and festivals across Nottinghamshire and beyond. Since starting her role at Inspire Youth Arts Hayley has managed Unify Dance Festival, which is an inclusive dance event supporting young people with physical and or/learning disabilities, and/or who are neurodivergent; and managed Catapult Dance Festival. 

Hayley’s experience includes working as a professional dance artist who has developed choreography with a broad range of young people, successfully creating choreographed works to progress to local, regional and national events. Hayley was also Co-Artistic Director of Next Door Dance and has performed choreographed works to audiences in different locations nationally as part of their toured works. 

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Jennifer is Senior Producer at Inspire Youth Arts, responsible for leading the team of creative producers and overseeing the delivery of the dance, music and digital arts programmes. Jennifer collaborates with partners, artists, stakeholders, and funders to develop exciting opportunities for young people from across Nottinghamshire. Working in collaboration with Inspire Youth Arts manager, Rebecca Streets, Jennifer reviews the strategic development and service outcomes to ensure that IYA remains relevant and accessible to Nottinghamshire’s young people.

For over a decade, Jennifer was as a professional dance artist, working across the Midlands producing, creating and delivering creative dance experiences in a range of community settings. Jennifer performed extensively with Spiltmilk Dance, touring to village halls and community venues across the country. She was Artistic Director of Next Door Dance, creating live performance work which was performed in theatres, schools, festivals and football pitches! She worked extensively with key partners across the Midlands, including FABRIC, Nottingham Playhouse, Tom Dale Dance and Nonsuch. In 2023, Jennifer achieved a first class Masters degree in Nursing from the University of Nottingham. After a period working in the NHS, Jennifer returned to the arts sector, driven by the knowledge that participatory art forms can have a powerful, positive impact on individual health and community cohesion.

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Megan is a Creative Producer, responsible for leading the Inspire Youth Arts inclusive music and digital programme. She produces music and digital workshops, regular termly sessions, and performance opportunities. 

Megan leads the Able Orchestra (AO) project, which supports young people with a physical and/or learning disability, and/or who are neurodivergent to develop skills and confidence in music and digital art. She develops the programme offer including tasters, ensembles and the young leaders group, known as the AO Pioneers. 

Since starting her role at Inspire Youth Arts, Megan has managed Light Night 2025 at Nottingham Castle. The event included a live electronic and drumming performance and an immersive projection on the castle walls, to an audience of 21,000 people. The work was created by Inspire Youth Arts participants including Proto-Type (a group of young digital leaders), dancers and young musicians in collaboration with Urban Projections, BeatFeet, Kirk Spencer and Ben Trekkah.

Megan’s experience includes arts in healthcare, leading on a range of arts projects for patients, staff and visitors at Nottingham University Hospitals. She also has experience as an instrumental and performing arts teacher, and is a classical flautist.

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Beginning as a singer-songwriter, Nina achieved top 20 album chart placements, performed on major stages such as Splendour Festival and Rock City, and was featured on Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. 

Over time, Nina transitioned into artist development and management, helping emerging talents achieve sell-out shows, secure features in NME magazine and The Guardian, and appear on Leicester Square billboards. 

Currently working as a Creative Producer for Inspire Youth Arts, Nina combines a deep passion for music with a commitment to nurturing the next generation of young artists. Nina leads the eNGine room label work, Industry development days and supports the Inspire Youth Arts music offer delivered in schools. 

In addition, she has extensive experience in event management and infrastructure for events with up to 7,000 capacity. 

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Rebecca is the Inspire Youth Arts Manager. Her role oversees the Inspire Youth Arts (IYA) programme, team management and The Old Library building. Rebecca works with the Inspire Youth Arts team to develop inclusive creative opportunities in music, dance and digital arts for young people across Nottinghamshire. Her role includes building and maintaining positive relationships with artists, partners, stakeholders, and funders. Rebecca is the Inspire Youth Arts Safeguarding lead and the Inspire Inclusion lead, working collaboratively across Inspire. 

Her experience includes work as a dance practitioner across Yorkshire, a Producer at Dance4 (now FABRIC), and as a successful Fundraiser for large scale festivals and events in Nottingham. As Relationship Manager at Arts Council England (ACE), Rebecca supported National Portfolio Organisation (NPO)’s across the Midlands, assessed grant funds and supported ACE’s Let’s Create strategy as part of the Combined Arts team nationally. Rebecca is committed to supporting the development of young people into career pathways in the arts and has supported the career development of others through mentoring.

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Russ is the Building Officer at The Old Library, the home to Inspire Youth Arts. Russ works hard to maintain the grade 2 listed building, ensuring that everything is of high quality, clean, safe and welcoming for those who access the building.

Russ supports the Inspire Youth Arts regular programme, performance events and festivals at the venue, and collaborates with the Inspire Youth Arts team to ensure these are a success. Russ's positive energy and friendly personality is invaluable to the Inspire Youth Arts team.