ADVERTISER ROUNDTABLE: Turning up the volume on town's creativity

From cultivating creative talent to breaking down barriers of affordability and inclusion - The Advertiser's second roundtable saw the theme of arts, culture and community take centre stage.

Chaired by the Advertiser’s senior business partner, Dionne Allen, the get-together at the our Upper Millgate offices in the town centre was attended by Jonny Yerrell from The Reytons, Gemma Kenyon from Rotherham Civic Theatre, Zanib Rasool from Rotherham United Community Trust, Matt Butt from Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance (ROAR), Helen Jones from Flux, and Liam O'Shea from Rotherham Music.

The event followed our inaugural regional round-table debate in September to discuss ways to boost and support the borough with guests including Carrie Sudbury, chief executive officer of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, Deborah Bullivant, chief executive officer and founder of Grimm and Co, and Millers legend and Rotherham Hospice ambassador John Breckin.

This month's focused on arts, culture and community, with the Advertiser's Dionne Allen asking guests their views on areas including cultivating working-class creative talent, youth leadership and legacy, and the town's identity and media representation.

Ms Allen said: “These events are all about getting people together and seeing how we can move Rotherham forward.

“There are a lot of different elements and objectives involved in that so our roundtables are about debate and conversation and asking those open, honest and, sometimes, difficult questions.

“The people around this table are a powerhouse for civic pride and there are so many amazing things happening from the legacy of Children's Capital of Culture 2025 to the current bid for Town of Culture which we made the shortlist of 15 out of more than 300 – that is quite an achievement.”

Opening the event, she said: “The Reytons have shown that a band from a Rotherham estate can reach the top without waiting for traditional gatekeepers.

“How do we turn that DIY spirit into a system that helps the next generation of local talent succeed on its own terms?”

The Reyton's Jonny Yerrell said: “I think it's about opportunity – I don't think it's about spoon-feeding people things.

“There are a lot of deprived areas in Rotherham and especially for us, with our grassroots foundation, we pride ourselves on trying to level the playing field.

“I don't think we live in a day and age now where we have to worry about giving people free music lessons – if you've got access to the internet you can learn to play an instrument.

“The majority of things me and my team do, from video editing to graphic design, the internet can teach you.

“None of us went to college or university – I left school in Year 10 – so everything has just been self-taught.

“But not everyone's got access to instruments or the funding for them.

“So it's less about teaching people how to be creative, it's about giving them the opportunity to BE creative.

“People from the more privileged areas might get a guitar this Christmas and never pick it up, whereas if everyone from the start had access to a guitar or any instrument you'd probably find the ones that would have got overlooked and could be the next Jimi Hendrix.

“But we never found them because of the basic necessity that they couldn't access that instrument in the first place.”

He added: “It's not just about music – it's across all cultural sectors including sport, identifying at primary and junior school level the people that are prospects and championing them and helping them develop but also being realistic.

“Not every kid is going to play football for England or be the next Celine Dion – this is not about killing people's dreams but showing the other areas of these industries.

“You could go out today and ask 50 young people on the street in Rotherham what they want to be and they'll say a rapper.

“We need to make young people aware that, while they're probably not going to all be a rapper or an actor or a singer, there's areas where they could find a job in the creative industry, like being a producer or a promoter or a lighting designer, that are not being highlighted.”

Gemma Kenyon from the Civic said: “It is similar for us at the theatre. There's so much amazing talent performing on the stage but there are so many opportunities elsewhere, too – like front of house, catering, marketing like me.

“It's about encouraging young people, making them aware that there is a theatre on their door step where they can come and try those jobs out rather than thinking they've got to go to Sheffield Lyceum or the Crucible or even further afield.”

Helen Jones from Flux said: “It's not just about young people though.

“In 2022 we had a group of Rotherham poets who came to us with three things – we want space to write and facilitate, we want open mic events and we want to choose who we want to come in and perform alongside us.

“We've now got that operating in four venues across the borough, a 70-strong Rotherham poetry anthology came out of that and they're bringing in poets like Hollie McNish.

“And that's running alongside Rotherham Young Writers – one of the members is Nathan Graham who won the Young Northern Writers' Award 2026.

“These people have proper pride in Rotherham – it's about writing about this place IN this place.”

Zanib Rasool from RUCT said: “At Rotherham United the young people we work with they love football – but they love music as well.

“So for them to have a space where they can play football or an instrument, that is really important.

“For me I want to see more diversity, too.

“I also work with women from refugee communities and they are already really good at sewing, textiles and crafts – we need to stop sending white British or European artists into these groups to show them how to be creative, they already know that!

“They tell me they are never asked what do you know, what skills do you already have?

“I'm really passionate about local artists and storytellers being supported here and working with our own local talent rather than bringing support from outside or down south into the north.”

Matt Butt from ROAR said: “If a young person goes to see The Reytons and gets a spark of inspiration and wants to do that, where do they then go to do that before that spark gets washed away?

“Where are the opportunities, the access to instruments or a recording studio – it needs to be a community resource rather than it being something where you need loads of money to go to and that barrier is already put in place.

“There is that thing about spotting the talent, but there's also providing the opportunity for everybody so that talent can be grown.”

Jonny agreed: “That's what I mean – if you don't provide the opportunity you can't spot the talent.”

Helen Jones said: “It's creating an eco-system – ensuring we are all ships on a rising tide.”

Liam O'Shea from Rotherham Music said: “Children's Capital of Culture has been a good exercise in reclaiming the narrative.

“It's a very powerful way of doing this – I know there was some negativity towards it but I think it has had a fantastic effect and, while that might not be immediate, my gut feeling is that is 'stage one' in terms of building that positive narrative.

“We work a lot with Flux and organisations who are equally embedded across the town and if we use that that investment and energy (from CCoC) we can start to create a narrative out there on the ground.

“Now the work starts in going into communities, telling people's stories, engaging people and ensuring they are really buying in.

“I think that our bid for Town of Culture is another brilliant beacon moment for that positive narrative we're starting to build here.”