Learning and Participation Projects

Our regular groups offer young people interested in theatre and the arts a chance to develop their skills and experiences on a weekly basis.

We work in partnership with schools in South Tyneside, delivering projects and standalone workshops. Projects can be themed around an area of interest for the school and can include Arts Award. Find out more.

A festival for emerging artists and arts professionals aged 25yrs and under during the May half-term. Featuring Mean Teens Breakdance Jam, North East Young Filmmakers Awards, Terry Kelly Poetry Prize, a drama residency and much more. To help make The Takeover happen, email Izzy.

We are still recruiting for Takeover Team members, sessions are held at The Customs House on Mondays from 5.00-7.00pm and are free to attend. We are also happy to assist with covering transport costs to and from the venue, get in touch with Izzy to register your interest.

You can follow us on instagram @customshouselp

These fun art sessions for those aged 12 and under (and their adults!) take place during school and bank holidays. Come along to make something new, and explore different materials and techniques together. Find out more.

Ours/Us/We is an LGBTQ+ Arts group for anyone 14-21 years old to come and try new art forms in a safe space.

Pulse is a series of events held across the UK which celebrate the best in youth dance and provide groups with the opportunity to perform in a professional space, be inspired, see each other’s work and acknowledge the talent of young creators and performers. The Pulse events also offer the opportunity for youth dance progression routes; groups of young people aged 11 to 19 (and disabled young people up to the age of 24) can opt to be part of a selection process to represent the North East at the National U.Dance Festival held in different places each summer.

The Customs House is delighted to host the annual community dance platform for North and South Tyneside, in partnership with U.Dance and Dance City. The event takes place in the first quarter of each year with ten groups performing at The Customs House and two groups progressing to perform at Dance City. The next Pulse event will be in 2021, to register interest email Izzy. 

Here at The Customs House we showcase a range of visual art forms that reflect the work we do with our local community. We have a number of spaces where we show visual art:

• The Port of Tyne Gallery
• Upper Fusion Gallery – shows work by emerging and early career artists as well as work from community projects and regional groups and bodies that we have developed relationships with.
• The Stairwell and Lower Fusion Gallery.
• The Step Up Gallery – celebrates the amazing creative talent of children across South Tyneside.

Since September 2017, The Customs House Youth Theatre have ran an after-school youth theatre at Jarrow School giving pupils the chance to develop their theatre and performance skills. It is part of a three-year project which is generously funded by Hays Travel Foundation.