Thanks to Shared Prosperity Funding, we've been providing Leadership training and 1:1 support to ensure organisations are built to last.
Through one of our Leadership Bootcamps, Somerset Youth Theatre (SYT) founder Selina Keedwell was able to access formal leadership and management training.
Selina grew up in Highbridge. She always felt creative and ambitious, but didn’t see herself as an ‘artist’, or her hometown as a place of opportunity. In 2021, working as a Head of Drama, she wanted young people to grow up seeing opportunity and having a space to develop self-belief.
Understanding that behaviour is communication and talent doesn’t discriminate Selina saw potential in the young people who didn’t fit the system, didn’t feel heard. SYT was created with and for them: s place to tell stories, find belonging, and figure out what came next.
What she didn’t expect was how quickly she’d need to become a leader.
What SYT do
SYT’s work sits quietly between creativity and wellbeing. Regular sessions give young people space to talk openly in a space that feels safe, fun and pressure-free. They get to choose when and how they process difficult emotions through character, story, humour, and movement. It’s a world away from a formal counselling session. But what they build together is real: confidence, resilience, connection.
As Selina puts it: “When your space is safe and fun, all of the stuff comes out.”
Finding her people
Running SYT, a CIC, needs a specific skillset. You need management, strategy, funding, governance, team culture.
As Selina puts it: “You instantly become a manager, and theatre or teaching does not necessarily equip you for that.” She was gut-driven, values-led and committed. But she also felt the weight of every decision, and at times wondered whether she was doing more harm than good.
A natural networker, Selina discovered Spark Somerset through connections at Ark at Egwood and Chard Watch, and with it, a whole voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise world she didn’t know existed. Suddenly there were people who understood the pressures, the passion, and the reality of running a social organisation.
Our Bootcamp was her first-ever formal leadership and management training, and it felt like oxygen. She was allowed to see herself as a leader. Sessions gave current and future CEOs and founders space to be honest, vulnerable, funny, frustrated and hopeful. Selina developed networks with people she met on the course, including Zara Aitkin from Minehead & Coastal Development Trust – two female leaders giving each other space to be real about the challenges and find solutions together, without judgement.
“Theatre or teaching does not necessarily equip you for instantly becoming a manager… We have to refocus how a leader looks.”
Selina Keedwell, Founder, Somerset Youth Theatre
The turning point
What resonated most was the psychology of communication and team dynamics. Understanding how people work (and how she works) helped Selina step out of the “fix everything for everyone” mindset. Leadership isn’t about carrying all the weight. It’s about clarity, shared purpose, and knowing when to lead collaboratively and when to be the decision-maker.
The course also surfaced something deeper – how often women censor themselves in leadership roles, and how much strength sits in a gentle, curious, collaborative approach. Selina found language that affirmed her style, rather than pushing her to imitate something more corporate. As she says: “We have to refocus how a leader looks.”
The ripple effect
SYT has always been built on collaboration and Selina has made sure her whole team benefits from our support. Everyone has an opportunity to attend Lunch & Learns, Funders Forums, one-to-ones, webinars and events with us. That whole-team approach means SYT isn’t reliant on one person’s capacity. It’s becoming a sustainable organisation, not just a brilliant project.
Selina also brings that spirit of generous introduction into her networking. “When I network, I always introduce people” she says. “Introductions are so important. If you can say something authentic and name what someone does, it gives people a real boost. Empowering them to own their success.”
What’s next?
SYT has secured funding from the Innovation Fund (with guidance from Spark Somerset for the bid) and is helping young people design their own futures. With stronger leadership and clearer direction, they’re doing it in a way that feels sustainable and grounded.
The real story
The Shared Prosperity Fund didn’t just fund training. It funded confidence, clarity and connection, helping a founder step fully into her leadership, and empowering a whole team. And in doing so, it strengthened creative, community support for young people across Somerset.
This is what happens when you invest in the people leading change.
Read more about our leadership and skills training in our SPF Impact Report.
Looking for training or peer support opportunities? Visit our training & events page to find out more.
