The Social Agency

The Social Agency The Social Agency - a safe place for Autistic & Learning Disabled adults to come together & create. Based in Stoke-on-Trent. Refreshments are always available!

We meet once every two weeks on a Monday. We run groups in two different parts of North Staffordshire:

Leek
Newcastle-under-Lyme

The purpose of The Social Agency is to help people gain confidence, encourage them to come “out of their shells”, and to help them make new friends. It also gives people a chance to talk about any issues or problems they are experiencing in their lives. The way

we do this is by using different kinds of activity that include games, discussions, drama, and other arts-based processes. In addition to our regular meetings, we will also offer people the opportunity to take part in more intensive arts projects which will happen four times in the coming year. The groups are free to attend but you will need to be able to make your own way there and back. The Social Agency is run by a company called Rideout, a Stoke-on-Trent based arts organisation with many years of using the arts to help people. The project is funded by the People’s Health Trust and the Awards for All programme of the Big Lottery Fund. If you would like to attend a group, and want more information about venues, please contact Saul Hewish using the details below.

Well that was incredible! Thank you so much to everyone who came and watched the show, and for all your lovely comments....
02/06/2026

Well that was incredible!

Thank you so much to everyone who came and watched the show, and for all your lovely comments.

We can’t quite put into words how proud we are of the whole team that worked so hard to put this show together and perform it for you all. We’ve already said this to our group members many many times on the day but you pulled off something a little bit magical there.

A huge thank you goes to for their support with sound.

Saul Hewish Flawed Mandrake Theatre B-Arts .goodwin.creative , Dan Quill and Jane, this show wouldn’t have happened without you. We’ll be forever grateful for you all and everything you did to help us tell the world that everything is possible.

And finally, , our incredible director extraordinaire. From the first spark of an idea to a fully realised show, she’s steered this ship with more care, compassion and brilliance than should be possible for a single human.

We’ll share more of the show in the coming weeks but for now we’d like to thank you all again for supporting us and watching our performance.

Everything really was possible.

That feeling when the sun is shining and your show debuts in 2 days! Come see us at Etruria Canals Festival this weekend...
28/05/2026

That feeling when the sun is shining and your show debuts in 2 days!

Come see us at Etruria Canals Festival this weekend. 12pm & 2pm each day.

Not only are we bringing you puppetry, but we’ve also got a spectacular music team and band who have been writing songs ...
27/05/2026

Not only are we bringing you puppetry, but we’ve also got a spectacular music team and band who have been writing songs and music for the show.

We’re incredibly lucky to have many wonderful musicians in our group who have worked together to create some pretty spectacular songs. A huge thank you goes to Tom Mellor and for their expertise, time and guidance that have made this all happen.

Catch Everything is Possible at Etruria Canals Festival 2026. We’ll be there both days, Saturday 30th May and Sunday 31st May. Our shows are at 12pm and 2pm each day.

Everything is Possible is created and performed by The Social Agency. It has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England and support from B.ARTS.

Huge shout out to the Everything is Possible making team. Over the last few weeks, they’ve made a whole range of props a...
26/05/2026

Huge shout out to the Everything is Possible making team. Over the last few weeks, they’ve made a whole range of props and puppets for the show.

Here are a few photos of what we’ve been up to. What they don’t show is the efficiency of this team. We turn our back for a few minutes, and a new prop has been painted, papier mache’d or otherwise finished.

Katy, Pippa and Jane have been supporting the making team throughout. They've designed, painted, sewn and so much more. Legends!

Catch Everything is Possible at Etruria Canals Festival 2026. We’ll be there both days, Saturday 30th May and Sunday 31st May. Our shows are at 12pm and 2pm each day.

Everything is Possible is created and performed by The Social Agency. It has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England and support from B.ARTS.

Everything is Possible is a world where humans and puppets exist together. Our performance team have spent the last 9 we...
25/05/2026

Everything is Possible is a world where humans and puppets exist together.

Our performance team have spent the last 9 weeks developing their characters and practising their puppetry skills. The wonderful has built us some incredible puppets, devised scenes and shared her expertise with us all. We’re incredibly grateful for her guidance throughout.

We’re keeping our final show puppets under wraps for a bit longer, but here are some photos of us practicing our puppetry fundamentals in the early weeks of this project.

Catch the show at Etruria Canals Festival 2026. We’ll be there both days, Saturday 30th May and Sunday 31st May. Our shows are at 12pm and 2pm each day.

Everything is Possible is created and performed by The Social Agency. It has been made possible with funding from Arts Council England and support from B.ARTS.

It’s been a little quiet on our social media pages recently. We’ve been busy devising and creating a brand-new outdoor p...
21/05/2026

It’s been a little quiet on our social media pages recently. We’ve been busy devising and creating a brand-new outdoor puppet show (with music!), and we’ll be debuting it at Etruria Canals Festival 2026.

We’ve created characters and storylines, made puppets, props and costumes, written songs, and even managed a quick trip to see the space we’ll be performing in. We’ve made something quite special, if we do say so ourselves, and would love if you came to see it.

We’ll be at Etruria Canals Festival on Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st May, and we’ll be performing our show twice each day, at 12pm & 2pm.

We are pleased to announce we have been awarded funding to make a brand new outdoor puppet show (with music), which will...
02/03/2026

We are pleased to announce we have been awarded funding to make a brand new outdoor puppet show (with music), which will be debuted this year using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

We are thrilled to receive this support and cannot wait to see what is created by the group - watch this space!

Arts Council England

Please note there has been a change to our upcoming Biscuits & Banter dates. There will be no Biscuits & Banter sessions...
21/01/2026

Please note there has been a change to our upcoming Biscuits & Banter dates.

There will be no Biscuits & Banter sessions in February they have been postponed.

The next sessions will be on:

Monday 2 March

Monday 16 March

Thanks for your understanding.

Arts Factory 8 Fridays still remain the same.

Arts Factory 8: Puppetry 101 starts next week. First session is Friday 16 January We have a morning session from 10am - ...
09/01/2026

Arts Factory 8: Puppetry 101 starts next week.

First session is Friday 16 January

We have a morning session from 10am - 12pm & and afternoon session from 2pm - 4pm.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining us, please drop us a direct message or email [email protected]

This project is kindly funded by Know Your Neighbourhood program

Address

72 Hartshill Road
Stoke-on-Trent
ST47RB

Telephone

07729694240

Website

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