Honoring Bill Kenwright

The RYTC team was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and patron Bill Kenwright CBE. 

Bill was a partner, father, grandfather, great friend and patron. He will be missed by many and this is testament to his giving nature and impact on the theatre and creative arts space. The team wanted to honour his legacy and influence with this memorial page.

The RYTC’s Artistic Director started her career in Bill Kenwright’s work family. Bill told her to go and open her own youth theatre, because ‘being creative is so important for our kids!’ His mantra… “go and do it”!! And if “it” is right – then you can’t fail.”

To name only a fraction of the awards and achievements Bill received are the notable honour of a CBE in 2002, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Theatrical Management Association in 2008, and an honourary BBC Radio 2 special episode of Friday Night in 2017 broadcast from the London Palladium itself. Bill was nominated for a London Theatre Critics’ Award for West Side Story and a Tony Award for Blood Brothers.

This multi-award winning career saw Bill’s West End productions constantly in notable venues such as the RSC, Dominion, Palladium, Apollo and many others. Ensuring his legacy as one of the UK’s most successful theatre producers.

Bill embodied the spirit of empowering young people through creative opportunities. His legacy will be felt and continued through the many groups and communities he supported with the mission of providing opportunities to local young people. Bill made his community and generations of people richer through experiences such as finding like minds, getting creative and fostering confidence in young people.

The RYTC in memory of Bill will continue to “go and do it” as his legacy will continue to empower our team, kids and encourage everyone to be creative.

Our thoughts are with Bill’s family at this difficult time and also with the many people we know he impacted for the better.

Journaling is a transformative tool and it goes beyond being a hobby or a fad; in fact, it’s something that can change teenagers’ lives. As adolescents go through the confusing phase of teenage years, journaling provides them with an opportunity to understand their emotions, dreams as well as challenges they face on daily basis. In this blog post, I will explore what blogging means and why teens should keep journals pointing out how this enhances emotional growth, inner strength and personal development.

Why Teens Should Keep Journals

1. Emotional Expression And Release

  • Teens can let their feelings out into a journal without having to worry about external criticism which is very beneficial
  • When teens regularly write about their experiences, they are able to understand their emotions better and thus become emotionally mature and stable

2. Boosts Mental Health

  • According to research journaling has been found to decrease stress levels in people suffering from anxiety issues. Writing about stressful events helps teenagers think through their problems leading to calming down
  • It also improves cognition, memory and problem-solving skills which contributes to better mental health outcomes

3. Self-awareness and growth are nurtured

  • Journaling gives teenagers an opportunity to ponder over their past, the decisions they made, how they feel about those actions and as well, discover more about themselves
  • This self-searching helps teens find out who they really are and thus grow up with a positive attitude towards life and a better understanding of themselves.

4. It improves communication skills

By expressing their thoughts on paper in understandable terms, adolescents’ writings in their journals will see that what goes onto paper becomes real.
This practice can help them form healthier relationships with people and also increase self-assurance

5. A spot for personal expression is provided

  • They have permission to incorporate visual images and varied writing styles besides having free reign when penning personal or fictional narratives.
  • Such artistic license helps break monotony while being therapeutic in its own way because it provides refuge from everyday concerns.

6. Setting aims and making plans is urged

  • Teenagers write down aspirations, desires that become like dreams come true when put on paper. They start finding ways of turning such dreams into reality.
  • Recording one’s thoughts in a journal helps clarify intentions, map out strategies against obstacles as well as goals for oneself all aimed at creating discipline and determination.

Journaling is a tool that enables teenagers to maneuver through their demanding adolescence period smarter and with better foresight; in summary. By creating an area where emotional feelings can be expressed, developing mental well-being, encouraging self-observation, increasing communication proficiency, providing an avenue for creativity as well as promoting goal setting, young people are offered a new beginning that they can turn to for support and guidance.