The idea for a local Drama Group in Leuchars was born from a meeting between the Operations Manager of the Byre Theatre, St Andrews and the Leuchars Primary Stage Fund Committee who were looking at ways of renovating the stage in the school.  It was envisaged that once we had a shiny new stage, we should encourage its widest possible use.  And so began a long period of testing the water in the surrounding communities – no point in starting something that nobody was interested in.  The results were slow but positive and showed that there was a desire for a Drama Group. 

We then needed to finance the project.  Those of us involved were all unpaid volunteers, but none of us had any experience of drama, let alone trying to tutor a lot of eager children.  We were very lucky to obtain the assistance of Fife Council who realised that we were presenting them with a viable proposition and therefore agreed to give us the funding we needed to get off the ground.  This money allowed us to employ a fully qualified drama tutor and cover our running costs.  It was agreed with Fife Council that a nominal attendance fee be charged but that no Membership fee is levied – this was to allow us to generate income which would help with the running costs.

To allow us to look further a field for financial donors in the future, the Management Committee decided to apply to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) for Charity status.  This was granted and the Leuchars Community Drama Group officially opened its doors on Wednesday 3rd October 2007 to 65 children, the evening being split into three, hour long sessions.

This format remains to date and last year before the summer holidays, the groups performed sketches for their family and friends on the school stage (which is still in need of renovating – but that’s another story).  For most of them it was the first time they had performed in small groups and it was truly amazing to see how much they had grown in confidence over such a short time.  This year the group is going to perform as a whole, in a play written by the drama tutor based on her real life experiences in the Gambia.

The Management Committee are once again very grateful to Fife Council for once again supporting the Group financially this year.  We were also very grateful to Awards for All for granting us £2000 which we have used to buy equipment, create an Identity for the Group (our website banner is an enhanced design by some of the children which we have printed on our t-shirts) and indeed set up this website.

We hope that with the support we currently receive from our Sponsors and Members alike, we will have lots more History to record in the future!

2010

This year saw the children undertake two Projects.  They performed 'The jungle Book' which involved some singing for the first time as well as costumes and make up.(many thanks to dawn Anderson and Catherine McGuire).  This lively Production involved all the children and was enjoyed by one and all.  Of particular note was the solo rendition of 'Trust in me', sung by Alex Shields, who was playing the part of Kaa.  The whole audience was in silence as this talented young lady sung to an instrumental backing track.  Given that she was nervous about performing live, she found the confidence and was rightly given a rousing applause afterwards.

The second project involved the children performing a Pantomime which was written by Claire and her dad.  This was different to normal Pantos because it was truly a made up story.  The children were auditioned for character parts and then had to create their own script, based on a scenario given to them.  The results were very funny and proves what a wonderful thing a child's imagination is when given free rein.  Despite the appalling weather, the children performed for their families on stage at the Blyth Hall in Newport, giving them the opportunity to act on a proper stage with lighting, curtains, dressing rooms and scenery.  The show had everything - humour, intrigue, singing and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', gratefully choreographed by Lynne Grieve.

Some of the children took part in a 'Bag-Packing' day at Morrisons supermarket in St Andrews, to help raise funds.  They raised an extraordinary £750, thanks to the generosity of the customers and staff.  This will help to keep the drama Group running for the next year.

2011

This year has seen a marked change within the Group.  Due to the large proportion of children coming from RAF families, the numbers have reduced drastically as families have moved away.  New members have also been arriving, but we remain in a state of flux with the uncertain future of the Base.  On a more positive note, the Group were very grateful to the Freemasons for a donation of £1800 which will be used to purchase audio equipment.  The Byre Theatre thankfully lent us some kit for the Panto, but it will be good to be more self-sufficient in the future.