Saturday Club returns to London Met

The club offers young Londoners the chance to study creative subjects with leading experts for free.

Date: 18 January 2021

London Met is delighted to deliver its Saturday Club for the seventh year running, as part of the National Saturday Club initiative which gives young people aged 13-16 the unique opportunity to study every Saturday morning at their local college or university for free.

The University offers both an Art and Design, and a Writing and Talking Saturday Club. For the former, classes are taught at the School of Art, Architecture and Design and led by two tutors, Jane Roberts (theatre designer) and Chiara Cola (costume designer and visual artist), alongside student ambassadors. The Club explores a range of different disciplines, such as painting, drawing, performance design, model making, creating environments and creatures, mural and scenic painting, costume and character drawing, and digital design.

The latter aims to inspire local young people to explore the craft, the power and the possibility of writing whilst, most importantly, having fun. Sessions include creative prose and poetry writing and performance, screenwriting, theatre and journalistic skills. Club members are taught by Theatre academic Tory Sandars and are able to utilise relevant London Met facilities including hosting a radio show at our radio studio and debating in our mock courtroom.

Club members are also offered the chance to go on a visit to a major cultural institution in London, along with members of all the other clubs nationwide. Last year, this saw a visit to London City Hall and then the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington; and to benefit from masterclasses delivered by professionals from a particular industry. Previous masterclasses have included film making with Adobe, literary criticism with Journalist Mark Valencia and poetry with Michelle Mangal. The Club has also been able to experience numerous operas at the English National Opera and plays at Shakespeare's Globe. 

A final exhibition of the students' work will be arranged at the culmination of the Club’s cycle. Last year’s exhibition can be seen on the Saturday Club’s website. 

Renzo Veschini, Widening Participation Officer at London Met said, "We're delighted to be able to bring the Saturday Club back to London Met, giving young people in our community the opportunity to develop their skills, talents and interests for free. While the pandemic means the Club will take place virtually for the time being, we have a fantastic line up of designers, artists, writers and creative practitioners ready to bring the sessions to life. We can't wait to welcome our next cohort."

Two children making a sculpture out of string

Pictured: students from last year's Saturday club