Doing theatre differently is exactly what Capall Dorcha is all about, engaging with our local community and giving them a say in what we do makes us completely different from any other theatre organisation, writes Barry Robertson.

It started when I met a friend on the train to Dundee - who is a keen cyclist. I love a cycle along the shore, and as the topic changed to Arran, I suggested that we cycle around the island and in a typical Ayrshire fashion and not realising the mileage, the event was planned, and I was excited to start until I realised it was 60 miles!

So since then, I thought heavily about why I was doing this, like many reading this we all aim to help support good causes when we can. And I could only think of one, that being of the young people in our youth board, volunteering and sharing their amazing ideas on what the social enterprise should accomplish.

One thing stayed in my mind of what a young person said which was they would ‘like to see a proper theatre show, in Glasgow’ and I realised, that not everyone has the opportunity to attend a live performance or the opportunity to take part in a theatre organisation like Capall Dorcha Ensemble in Ardrossan. It was then where I made my decision to raise £500 for the youth board, for the young people to decide what to do with the funding. I believe everyone should have access to the arts, but did you know that just by living in North Ayrshire and Arran we have the lowest participation rates of both youth and adults living in Scotland? I passionately want to change this statistic and help support our local community engagement in the wider arts, so by raising awareness of this massive cycling challenge I hope that we can increase these levels of participation within the wider region.

Setting this target of £500 will allow the spending decision to our youth board on how it is spent providing them with social entrepreneurial skills within our social enterprise. Here is an example of how this funding can make a difference.

If £170 is raised, this will allow a free workshop for up to 60 young people. £240 would buy 20 tickets for young people to attend a show in Glasgow. £1310 will allow 540 young people to ntake part in a theatre workshop in 11 locations in North Ayrshire. And £5,370 lets 40 young people take part in a 30-hour professional development workshop.

Most importantly if 668 people donated £10 each to my campaign 580 young people throughout the region can attend a workshop or week-long professional development workshop with thanks to your support.

To find out more about Capall Dorcha Theatre Company why not come to one of our open days at the Michael Lynch Centre in Ardrossan on Wednesday, May 9 or May 16 at 4.45pm or telephone us for further information on our adult and youth classes on 01294 475648 or visit CapallDorcha.com. To donate to Barry’s 60-mile cycle round Arran, please visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brobetson