ABOUT US
Young Norfolk Arts is a charitable organisation that provides opportunities for children and young people to create and engage with creativity and culture across Norfolk. What started as the Young Norfolk Arts Partnership between local organisations committed to providing creative opportunities to young people has developed into the charitable organisation the Young Norfolk Arts Trust. The Trust champions the rich cultural and artistic heritage of Norfolk and works to ensure that local young people are presented with a multitude of ways to explore it in a way that enriches education and enhances aspirations.
Every July, we hold the Young Norfolk Arts Festival (YNAF) – a celebration of creativity and performance by and for young people in Norfolk. The first YNAF was in 2013 and the Festival has grown and evolved each year.
The YNA Collective engages and provides support to young people aged 16 – 25 years old. Through regular meetings, training sessions, practical hands on workshops and collaborative sessions with our partners, the Collective develop skills to enable them to produce, promote and evaluate events and exhibitions with Young Norfolk Arts.
Young Norfolk Arts also hosts a year-round programme of activities, including a
Literary Roadshow in partnership with the National Centre for Writing. We also enjoy
collaborating with Partners and organisations in all sectors to help them encourage
youth voice and creativity within their sphere of activity.
In 2023 we were proud to partner with the LCEP, Norwich Arts Centre, The National
Centre for Writing, The Forum Trust, UEA and NUA to launch and deliver the
inaugural Young Norwich Creative Awards. We are looking forward to working with
all the entrants to that Competition as the year unfolds and to building on this year’s
success in 2024.
Contact Us
YNA Festival
Find out more here
YNA Collective
Find out more here
Our Latest Report
Find out more here
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SUPPORT US
Young Norfolk Arts Trust is a charity which uses all its income to provide life changing opportunities for young people across Norfolk. Every project and activity is offered to children and young people for free, including our yearly festival programme. Support us by donating what you can…
MEET THE TEAM
Lucy Farrant | YNA Director
Lucy put together the inaugural YNAF programme in 2013 and became Director in 2014. Her hard work and determination has expanded Young Norfolk Arts from a small project to an incorporated charitable trust, running year-round activities. Lucy is also an independent creative producer, working on theatre projects across the UK, as well as coordinating True Stories Live and Balloon debates.
Joseph Connolly | YNA Collective Coordinator
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
If you would like to contact a member of the YNAT Board please click here
Steffan Griffiths | Chair
Steffan Griffiths joined Norwich School in September 2011 and has since introduced initiatives such as the Young Norfolk Arts Festival and Young Norfolk Sports Academy. After reading Classics at University College, Oxford, he taught at Tonbridge School (1995-1999) and Eton College (1999-2006). In 2006, he was appointed to the role of Usher (principal deputy head) at Magdalen College School, Oxford. Steffan also holds a first-class honours English Literature degree from the Open University. During his school years at Whitgift School, he acted with the National Theatre, both on the South Bank and in European tours. He maintains an active interest and involvement in drama.
Naomi Palmer | Trustee
Robbie Maloney | Young Trustee
Robbie is the Communications Manager at First Light Festival Community Interest Company (CIC), which runs a free multi-arts beach festival in Lowestoft, as well as the newly opened East Point Pavilion on the town’s seafront. He moved to East Anglia in early 2019 to take up a traineeship with Norfolk & Norwich Festival, and has subsequently worked at National Centre for Writing, SPILL Festival, and on the Collaboration: Place: Change project as part of Arts Council England’s Transforming Leadership Programme.
Robbie has a master’s degree in Sexual Dissidence/Queer Theory from University of Sussex, and prior to living in Norwich, worked for a marketing start-up in Hong Kong. Both of these ventures have, in very different ways, informed his approach to arts marketing.
Nina Nannar | Trustee
Nina is the Arts Editor of ITV News which she joined in 2002 from the BBC. The job involves specialist arts and media coverage for ITV, including covering the Oscars every year and interviewing the biggest names in film, music and TV. She is also a regular contributor to ITV programmes on entertainment, and popular culture.
Nina started out at the BBC as a trainee, then working on regional and national television and radio, including presenting Asian Perspective for 3 years, a live news and current affairs programme on BBC Radio Five Live. In 2007 Nina was awarded an Honorary doctorate for Services to the Media.
She is an Ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, chairing events for the charity, and for the British Asian Trust. and is a Governor of Norwich University of the Arts. Nina is also a Trustee of the National Centre for Writing, and patron of the domestic abuse charity Leeway.
Rachel Quick | Trustee
Alanna Mound | Trustee
Alanna is a Financial Reporting Manager at Aviva Plc. She has previously held the roles of Finance Manager and Professional Services Staff Representative at Norwich University of the Arts. She trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) in the Norwich office of Grant Thornton UK LLP, where she spent 7 years working closely with many of Norfolk’s leading businesses and charities.
Alanna is passionate about the role which the arts play in society and their importance to the local and national economies.
Ellie Reeves | Young Trustee
Ellie Reeves is a poet, arts practitioner and YNA collective alumni based in Norwich. She is currently the Programme Assistant at National Centre for Writing where she managers commercial mentoring and supports writer development. After co-founding the arts & culture website rrramble in 2020, she has taken on the role of Head of Creative Development and Partnerships. rrramble is a unique platform designed to diversify the creative and critical voices in the arts.
Her poetry has been long listed for the Streetcake Experimental Writing Prize and she has headlined Toast Poetry. Ellie’s work casts a sometimes comical, sometimes cynical eye on queer dynamics and the body in place. She has a longstanding love of performance; as well as encouraging others to take the stage, she recently performed in Wasp at Camden Fringe and Maddermarket Theatre.