Support and inspiration from Poetry

We are delighted to announce our partnership with the incredible ethical fashion brand Poetry who are supporting our mission to make creativity and play a part of every child’s life. This partnership between The Herd and Poetry is also one of shared values around the preciousness and importance of materials. 

The financial support from Poetry to The Herd will enable us to deliver around 50 days of play activity or theatre to families in the UK in a year. This partnership will extend our reach, bringing more opportunities for joy, connection, and imagination to families who need it most. This is huge for us at The Herd and

Poetry have always been committed to making clothes with minimal impact on the planet. They use only natural fabrics, which means supporting the use of renewable resources and the growth of millions of plants. They don’t dispose of anything to landfill, and recycle whenever possible. If items have small faults, such as a loose button, repairs are made by in-house seamsters. In 2024 Poetry repaired 2,493 pieces of clothing. In addition to in-house efforts to repair every piece of clothing to be as-new, they also use unsold and waste stock to do some good.

Poetry donated props and fabrics from ex-display items in their London stores to our 2025 project REPLAY for Bradford City of Culture. These materials were repurposed for play in our installation made entirely out of waste and recycled materials. The project keeps going and is currently on in London until 12th April 2026. So far we've have over 14,000 children and their families through the doors, getting joy out of these materials. After the installation, the materials will then feed into our wider play programme of weekly activities in Hull. When things are worn or broken beyond repair for play, they will be recycled.

Poetry have been working in this way since they started over 20 years ago. We're hugely inspired by this. REPLAY has changed everything for The Herd. When making art for children, it's impossible not to think about the future and about the moment when these children become adults. A moment that looks increasingly under threat because of the climate emergency. We don't want to scare, or burden children with a problem they played no part in causing, but we know that so much of children’s play provision - toys, soft play, technology - has no consideration for a world with finite resources. We don't want to be part of that and we want environmental responsibility to be at the heart of what we’re doing.  We now ensure at least 80% of materials we use across all our projects and shows are recycled or from waste.

Are we allowing childhood in Hull? Observations on childhood after 6 days in the Netherlands

By Ruby Thompson, Co-Artistic Director of The Herd

I went on holiday with my 4 year old to the Netherlands. Seeing a country through the eyes of a child is a fascinating experience, and made me reflect on the cultural differences of childhood.  

Space for play 

Every museum we visited had either a playground outside or a play space. As well as the exhibitions being extremely interactive - dried Zebra poo that you could hold, stuffed animals you could touch, space ride simulators. These elements weren’t sectioned off from the ‘serious’ exhibitions, every room had these considerations. Every area was playful. 

There were spaces for risky play too. A play area at the swimming pool included a climbing wall with buttons that sprayed water in your face. (This one tweaked my anxious parent disposition) 

There are playgrounds and skate parks everywhere. On 20min cycle to the beach we past 6. There were also slides and swings on the beach. Not that children need them for play here - but it felt like a symbol of childhood, a welcome. 

Freedom 

We saw lots of Children playing in public playgrounds without adults. Young siblings around 6 and 3, a 5 year old playing solo with a toy car on a skate park. There were schools without gates. Trusting the children to not escape, and the community around them to respect and protect them. 

Young children on bikes - cliché of Northern Europe - but a symbol of freedom. Babies and toddlers  feeling the wind on their faces, and also young children cycling themselves, given the permission by their grown-ups and the patience of the grown-ups they encountered 

Pre-teens cycling with their friends was commonplace. The proximity of different towns meant they were exploring outside of their community. The cycle paths EVERYWHERE meant this was possible and safe. I saw a handful of helmets the entire time. I’m not saying this is the best approach, but again it feels like a symbol. 

Attitude of adults 

It felt like our child was allowed to just, be. She could talk and sing without bristling adults. She had a full blown meltdown in a cafe and I didn’t feel as much of the pressure or judgment. It was still very hard, but I felt calmer than usual after seeing so many other children expressing emotion in public and seeing the public ignoring and allowing it, without comment.

At a playspace in Amsterdam on the last day, I realised I hadn’t seen an adult were not apologise for their children on the entire trip. A 1 year old, came over to talk to us and to knock down the tower we were building, and their mother doesn’t apologise or tell them off. We enjoyed meeting the 1 year old, our daughter understands they’re much younger and not doing anything ‘mean’ in their destruction. This is supported by the fact the grown ups around aren’t punishing the child for their age appropriate responses. 

There are deep social and political contexts to this of course - it’s not as simple as saying everyone in Hull should pop their babies on bikes tomorrow. There is the infrastructure to cycle everywhere, the world-leading health care to deal with risky play, the public funds to keep the parks safe and tidy and the investment in education to enable children to make sensible decisions when operating in the world.

But the experience made me reflect more on raising a child in Hull. What is she gaining (other than a helmet) and what is she losing? What is the culture of childhood surrounding her? And I wonder what it looks like to a visitor? 

Words from The Herd's first ever Work Experience Student

Liv spent a week with us as we prepared to go into rehearsals for Counting Sheeps. Here's some reflections on her experience...

What have you been doing this week?

I have been spending this last week doing work experience with The Herd to get a look into their working life.

I have have such a great time with The Herd and they have allowed me to have some brand new experiences as well as being able to look into this type of theatre industry and the different projects they are doing.

During this time with them I have been in their play shop,  seeing how they interact with customers. I looked into venues where performances could possibly happen. I also got to see behind the scenes of how they bring together their new shows.

Having this opportunity with The Herd has allowed me to see possible ideas for my future as well as learn about new things in this industry.

On Monday I spent the morning with them at Hull University looking into lighting and placement for their upcoming show Counting Sheeps! This allowed me to learn about other job roles in the industry. In the afternoon we went to a forest school as The Herd could possibly do a performance there so they wanted to see the environment and work out what performances they could do there.

On the Wednesday morning I was in The Herd's Play Shop in Princes Quay learning about how they run the shop as well as seeing what activities they do with schools (One Day Play, Theatre experience for Primary Schools) as well as seeing all the feedback the children gave about it.

Later on I went with Ruby and Sam to Apus Productions, ran by artists Liz and Ian to see what props they are making for The Herd's upcoming performances but also seeing what they do as their job in general.

Thursday I spent the day in the shop seeing how children interact with toys that aren't your usual toys such as cardboard poles different fabrics but also seeing how they let there imagination run free! Furthermore I created The Herd's TikTok account and even posted them a video, make sure to check it out @TheHerdUK. This showed me the social media side of the Theatre. [A note from Ruby at The Herd: Liv taught us way more about how to use social media, than we taught her!]

On Friday which was sadly my last day I went with the lovely Ruby to their Herd office in Hull Central Library. I made pompoms for possible props and saw the creation of props for rehearsal coming together and even made my own Herd show ideas called The Lonely Fish and The Blooming Butterfly while also creating another Tiktok for The Herd account!

What was the best part of the experience?

I'm unable to pick a best part as I found it all to be super educational while also being fun as it can help give me ideas for future job roles in the theatre industry when I am older.

Is there anything you wished you'd had a chance to do?

I wish I was able to see a Herd rehearsal and experience what it is like during them.

What would you say to another student thinking of doing their work experience with The Herd, or another theatre company?

I would say I hope you enjoy it! It is a lovely experience led by lovely people and that you should make the most out of it as you only get to do it once and you gain lots of knew knowledge from them!

If you're interested in spending your work experience with The Herd, get in touch hello@theherdtheatre.co.uk