Student and graduate enterprise
Chloe’s community drama workshops take centre stage
Company
Barn Door Theatre
Loughborough graduate
Chloe Hampson
Drama, 2008
Chloe Hampson always dreamt of running her own theatre company. So whilst she immersed herself in the theory and practice of a Drama degree at Loughborough, Chloe honed her idea to deliver community drama workshops for all ages to develop team working and build confidence.
In early summer 2009, less than a year after she graduated, Chloe scooped first prize in the University’s Student Business Plan competition for Barn Door Theatre. The award gave Chloe a cash prize of £1,500 and the opportunity to boost her business acumen and learn how to make her venture sustainable.
Barn Door Theatre soon became integrated into the Find Your Talent initiative, a national pilot funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. As part of this initiative Chloe worked with pupils from 13 schools across Leicestershire, helping them to discover new creative activities, to express themselves, to develop a passion and to make the most of their talent.
Winning the Student Business Plan competition proved a vital catalyst in helping Chloe take an idea and develop it into a viable business in under a year. The Loughborough award also opened doors to more regional graduate enterprise initiatives. Chloe was highly commended in the Enterprise Inc Awards that are supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
Chloe also used funds from a Creative Leicestershire Start Up Bursary to expand her business by working with people with dementia. She successfully collaborated with an organisation in Market Harborough on a project that enabled those with dementia to help remember their past.