Freya is an opportunist, and enjoys throwing herself into every opportunity that comes her way - she even boasts about how this has led to her having lunch with Angelina Jolie. Discovering Jack Drum Arts was no exception.

Born in London, Freya spent her early childhood living in Medway, Kent. In January 2018, she moved with her family to Willington to escape the motorways of the South East.

Uprooting in Year 9, Freya left her tight knit group of friends, and shares how this was challenging but that it has shaped her to become the adaptable person she is.

Freya was an active member of her school community in Medway. She recalls the Head Girl saying: “‘do everything that you get the opportunity to, and grasp everything, get involved in as much as possible’, and I literally took those words and ran with it.”

In September 2019, Freya and her brother Rufus joined Jackass Youth Theatre after their Mum Ellie discovered Jack Drum Arts on the internet.

They were both invited to perform in ‘Fairy Park’, an outdoor promenade performance in Hamsterley Forest.

Later in the year, Freya was involved in Crook Winter Light Parade.

During Covid-19, Jack Drum Arts provided a wealth of opportunities for Freya, continuing her involvement in Jackass Youth Theatre online, and then taking part in online Games Night, Dance, and Jack Drum Arts’ Ukulele course for female carers alongside her Mum and Grandma.

She had no school work, as her GCSEs were cancelled, and so “I just basically did everything Jack Drum chucked at me”.

“In a way I’m grateful for lockdown, because it’s what’s got me to the point I am at today […] I know how horrible it was for everybody, but I think I made the most of it.”

Freya now attends the Ukulele Ensemble, Dance and Jackass Youth Theatre in person, and has gone on to perform alongside Rufus, her Mum and her Dad, commenting: “it’s really fun to do stuff with your family.”

Freya’s Future

Through engaging in such a wide range of the programme at Jack Drum Arts, Freya has been guided towards her decision to study Arts and Festivals Management at De Montfort University in Leicester, where her Dad Carl is originally from.

Previously, she was interested in film, but upon attending Jack Drum Arts’ BFI Academy, “it showed me that I wasn’t as passionate about film as I once thought, and maybe to look at other things to do.”

BFI Academy Course Co-ordinator James Shepherd commented that Freya showed an interest in leadership, and that in recognising this skill has redirected her passion away from directing and into producing.

Freya has since completed Global Grooves’ Future Leaders Programme, and has gone on to support Jackass Youth Theatre, and more recently play a key role in the production of B.O.P Fest.

B.O.P Fest

In August 2021, Jack Drum Arts’ Youth Board was launched, which Freya joined alongside 12 young people from across County Durham.

Taking part in a residential at Langdon Beck, Teesdale in January 2022, the Youth Board began to create plans for a festival centred around Climate Change - and Freya’s brother Rufus proposed the name B.O.P Fest; the Building Our Planet Festival.

In the planning of B.O.P Fest, Freya described her role as an “overseer”, which meant “that I could have experience in doing all of the different things”. She was involved in communicating with partners, artists and food vendors, and helped to write the funding application for £5,000 from County Durham’s Community Foundation’s ESB Renewable Energy Fund with Eve Rose with support from Managing Director Helen Ward.

She said:

“It’s great for me to have an insight into the admin side of things, as well as the creative stuff.”

During the festival, Freya was the Second Stage Manager, and describes her experience as:

“It was better than I could ever have imagined.”

“I was smiling all day thinking ‘Oh my gosh, I helped to create this […] it was magical.”

“It went so well and I enjoyed so much of it […] just seeing everyone smiling and having fun and being creative […] it was really cool to see everyone come together and be a community.”

“I’m most proud of the hard work from our volunteers and the younger members of the Youth Board - they did a great job with their roles. […] it came together really well, and I’m just really proud that I was involved in something that was really cool - and that hopefully we can do it in years to come.”

“It will really help me when I go to university to do Arts and Festival Management, so I can already say 'I’ve planned a festival’”.

Freya is excited about beginning university, where she hopes to learn skills that are transferable to potentially producing B.O.P Fest in the future.

She would like to work in events, festivals, workshops and programming, bringing arts into communities, inspired by her own overwhelmingly positive experience of Jack Drum Arts.

Freya said:

“It’s so non judgemental [at Jack Drum Arts], and everybody is valued here […] I can be free to be whoever I want to be - and I don’t feel judged by anyone, and I feel like that’s quite a beautiful thing that they’ve created. It’s such a safe space.”

“Jack Drum is awesome, and I wouldn’t be the person I am without it.”