Right Up Our Street (RUOS) is a community-led arts programme funded by Arts Council England. Their mission is to bring brilliant art activities and events to Doncaster, co-created with local communities. From poetry to performance, sculpture to street festivals, RUOS focuses on making art accessible, meaningful, and rooted in the lives of families, young people, and those who are often excluded from cultural opportunities.
Our partnership with RUOS began with a simple conversation in 2019. When we were designing the Year 8 Expedition “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”, we knew RUOS would be the right people to ask for help in finding experts. They immediately connected us with Doncaster Conversation Club, a lifeline for refugees and asylum seekers, which became the foundation of the expedition. They also supported XP with translation services through one of their employees who previously accessed the club themselves, enabling our students to communicate directly with refugees whose first language wasn’t English – making the learning authentic, respectful, and deeply human.
As the Expedition grew into a documentary project, so did our relationship with RUOS. Weekly check-ins turned into a genuine partnership, and RUOS went on to fund the film’s premiere at Cast Theatre Doncaster, framing it as one of their flagship community arts projects. The premiere was a huge success: our students’ work was celebrated in a professional cultural space, with a public audience that included members of the communities their film represented.
Since then, our collaboration has continued to deepen. RUOS has created opportunities for our students to access national-scale projects, including work with the National Gallery through their ‘Art Road Trip’ project, creative workshops, and performances at their Festival of Colour and Festival of Light. These platforms have allowed students to see their work as part of something bigger – a vibrant, inclusive arts culture across Doncaster.
At its core, this partnership works because RUOS and XP share the same values: compassion, courage, and the belief that stories matter. Both organisations are rooted in Doncaster, committed to serving communities facing deprivation, marginalisation, and social isolation. Together, we’ve created spaces where students can connect their learning to real lives, advocate for marginalised groups, and have their voices amplified through powerful public art.
The impact has been transformative. Students who might never have seen themselves as artists or activists have produced beautiful work that matters, shared their stories on public stages, and contributed to community dialogue. For many, these experiences have sparked confidence, empathy, and a lifelong sense of belonging to something larger than themselves.
Looking ahead, the future of our partnership with RUOS knows no bounds. We are among the first to hear about new opportunities and community projects, and our students continue to benefit from free access to arts events and creative pathways. This is more than collaboration – it is Crew, lived out at the level of an entire city.
