Young people pedal 250 miles to hit Fringe festival with child poverty campaign

PRESS
RELEASE

Young people pedal 250 miles to hit festival with child poverty
campaign

Young
people from Bradford Council's Youth Service have launched a year-long
fundraising campaign to combat child poverty - starting with a 250-mile cycle to
Edinburgh where they will perform two hard-hitting plays.

A group of
young people set off today (28 July) from Grattan Stadium, home of the Bradford
Bulls Rugby League Club, to cycle 250 miles to Edinburgh to raise funds for Save
the Children and their ongoing work to combat child poverty.

Their five
day trek will take them to Princes Park, Edinburgh, where they will be met by a
further 20 young people and staff from Bradford Council's Services for Children
and Young People. This group will then perform two powerful plays - 'Out of the
Shoebox' which puts child poverty, gang culture and knife crime under the
microscope and 'The Ripple Effect,' a dramatic portrayal of life on
Bradford's Buttershaw estate, 25-years on from the brash comedy 'Rita, Sue
and Bob Too' written by the late Andrea Dunbar. This new play has been written
by Richard Dunbar, Andrea's nephew.

Snippets of
both plays will be performed as the cyclists arrive in the
park.

The
campaign has had the full backing of Save the Children. Development officer
Imogen Gregg said: "It is fantastic to see so many young people from Bradford
doing something positive, whether it is through drama, cycling or fundraising.
These young people are raising money and awareness to combat the scandal that is
child poverty in the UK."

Richard
Dunbar, a Bradford Council Youth Service Worker, who co-wrote both plays, said:
"Taking these plays to Edinburgh is a wonderful opportunity for these young
people to showcase the issues that affect them. We're planning to make a great
impact in Edinburgh and put Bradford well and truly on the
map."

Amanda
Garoes-Hill, who acts in both plays, said: "We want to highlight some of the
problems faced by those living in poverty. We are dealing with a lot of
controversial issues such as knife crime and gang violence but we need to face
the reality of the issues facing us as young people in order to move
forward."

'Out of the Shoebox' will be
performed at The Vault on Merchant Street, Edinburgh from 4-10 August at 3.15pm
each day. Tickets are £5 standard and £4 with concessions.

'The Ripple Effect' will be
performed at The Vault on the same days as above at 4.35pm each day with ticket
prices as above.

Tickets can
be bought on the door on the night or in advance via the Fringe website -
www.edfringe.com.   All proceeds from ticket sales will go to Save the
Children for their work to combat child poverty.

For more information,
please contact Carys Bose on (01274) 435096.