Playbox Theatre and the Clean Planet Foundation have joined forces to create a new Wildflower Garden at Playbox’s theatre, The Dream Factory, in Warwick.
The Clean Planet Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation with a mission to educate and take action for the sustainable use of plastics, and reduction of carbon emissions. It is part of the Clean Planet Group.
Playbox Theatre was created in 1986 with a remit to secure a confident, exciting, creative and sustainable future for the company and future generations of Playbox members. The company has always sought to programme artistic work with both ethical and environmental focusses and has performed work with an environmental backbone in both UK and USA.
The Wildflower Garden
This exciting new project sees the development and installation of a Wildflower Garden curated at the rear of The Dream Factory; rewilding a forgotten patch of land, often driven over and churned up. The new project has developed this patch into a space that will become a haven for wildlife and wild plants to thrive for years to come.
The process involved old bio-matter being removed in a non-toxic and sustainable way. To promote the growth of wildflowers in the area, the land was scarified to create a tilth in the soil, and then a suitable wildflower mix was applied with plenty of yellow rattle for the Spring, ready for late flowering that year. The selection of flowers has been made carefully, to ensure their benefit to the quality of air and to attract insects.
Playbox Theatre is proud of the partnership and Emily Quash, Artistic Director, said today
“This is such an exciting development for our two companies, who share a passion for young people and for the world they are growing up in. We’ve always listened to our members, and have tried to reflect their hopes and their expectations, in terms of our theatre building, both inside and outside. There is an increasing desire to maximise the potential of outdoor spaces, and the opportunity to rewild a little area at The Dream Factory it the first of many projects we’re hoping to pursue. Partnering with the wonderful Clean Planet Foundation is a perfect fit for Playbox – and we’re delighted to be hand in hand, creating something really special”.
Katerina Garyfalou of Clean Planet Foundation said,
“We are absolutely thrilled to be supporting Playbox Theatre’s latest project! At the Clean Planet Foundation, we are proud to support their mission of fostering creativity and artistic expression among young people while promoting sustainability and reducing the impact of the climate crisis. We are particularly excited about creating the wildflower garden together as it provides a valuable habitat for local wildlife and supports biodiversity. This project aligns perfectly with our mission at the Clean Planet Foundation to raise awareness, educate, and take action to reduce the impact of the climate crisis”.
The Wildflower Garden reflects the importance of environmental care to many of the young people who attend Playbox Theatre. Taking an active role in creating the future partnership further enables the members to be a part of the action plan. The Dream Factory and its young people demonstrate, yet again, their determination to shape a better future.
Playbox Theatre was created in 1986 by Founding & Executive Director, Mary King. Her vision was to create an artistic environment in which all children and young people could flourish.
Drive by an artistic passion, Playbox would provide a natural home for those that wanted to explore the world they lived in, with imagination and theatre at its heart. From a team of 50 excited and passionate members, little did we know how rapidly Playbox would grow.
In 1999, Playbox Theatre opened the doors to The Dream Factory – the UK’s first custom designed and built theatre exclusively for young people. Playbox now runs a range of creative training on a daily basis, with a large programme of performance taking place on stages at The Dream Factory, and in other spaces. 1,500 young people attend weekly, with over 250,000 young people having been a part of Playbox since 1986.