Shekeila's Story

"I started my journey with Immediate Theatre 13 years ago, joining as a participant in 2008. I had disengaged from education and after-school activities and my mum thought it would be good for me to do something where I could learn about self-confidence and self-worth, so I came along to a session with my best friend and from there I never looked back. I later joined and became Chair of the Youth Board, before joining as a Trustee in 2018 when I was 18.”

My greatest memory with Immediate has to be when we went to the National Theatre to see a play called "Home". It was one of my first experiences of going to a theatre, and especially somewhere like the National that you hear about on the news - it's not somewhere you necessarily think a young Black girl from Hackney will be able to visit. At the time, I was facing homelessness and was experiencing some of the issues they were discussing in the performance, so it really resonated with me. It's something I will never forget, to see people actually perform on stage for the first time and portray such raw emotions."

I always give Immediate the credit for me becoming the person I am now, because had they not come into my life when they did, my life could be very different now. I hadn't been in education for 8 weeks and I wasn't involved in anything social as I'd lost connection with friends. I was basically written off by education, I was put in gang prevention programmes, I was referred to the Youth Offending Team and that was a very daunting and overwhelming process at the age of 13. Had Immediate not been there to catch me at such a vulnerable time then life would be very different. So many doors were opened and I realised there was a life outside of my neighbourhood.

Although acting isn't something I do now, it has definitely shaped the person I am today in terms of just learning different skills and having different experiences, which were really helpful for me in deciding who I want to be in this world. Growing up in Hackney, it had always been a case of 'you can't do this, you can't do that' and I guess I've beaten the odds and shown people that you shouldn't allow anyone to tell you that you can't do something, because you very much can.

To me, Immediate Theatre is home - it has always been there for as long as I can remember. Home is somewhere you feel safe and you feel comfortable, it's somewhere consistent - Immediate Theatre has been that for me. It's an incredible honour to be named as the new Chair of Trustees. To get to this position is a dream come true, and something my younger self never thought possible. My journey is a true testament to the work that Immediate Theatre does and the impact that it has on the lives of young people in Hackney."