Seeing Shakespeare performed live offers invaluable educational benefits, significantly increasing young people's engagement with the plays and enhancing their understanding of the text. It's a fun and exciting experience that sparks joy and inspires a lifelong appreciation for theatre.

Despite this immense value, travel costs remain a significant barrier.

Therefore, for this year's Big Give campaign, we're raising £40,000 to help remove the financial barrier to visiting the RSC by paying for the coach costs for schools in our Associate Schools Programme.

Plus, as the Big Give is match funded, for every £1 you donate, we'll receive £2, meaning this week, your donations will have double the impact on young people's futures.

With the money received, we'll be able to:

• Unlock live experiences for students in areas of socio-economic disadvantage to see Shakespeare's work live on the RSC stage, bringing the curriculum and the joy of live theatre to life.
• Directly subsidise coach travel costs for Associate Schools, making visits to Stratford-upon-Avon more affordable.
• Make sure thousands of young people across England can access this transformative educational opportunity.
• Encourage a deeper engagement with Shakespeare, demonstrably boosting literacy and language skills.
• Allow young people to experience Shakespeare in his birthplace, strengthening their curiosity and connection to the plays.

Find out more about our campaign aims.

Our Associate Schools Programme is one of the UK’s largest arts education programmes. Through it, we work with 280 state-maintained schools, serving over 124,000 young people annually. We focus our work on areas of structural disadvantage, measured, for example, by the percentage of students eligible for Free School Meals.

DONATE TODAY TO DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT