About us
We work directly in the community, for the community, and believe that everyone, particularly children and young people should have access to the arts. The charity is run by Siou Hannam who has a wealth of experience in participatory arts and wants to bring that to the people of Newhaven.
Meet The Team
Siou Hannam
Artistic Director
Siou is a Drama therapist, Youth Coach and teacher of theatre practice. She originally trained as a dancer then went on to work as a Lecturer in Performing Arts for many years. Probably she is best known in the field of Outdoor Arts, performing and touring small and large scale shows both in the U.K. and world- wide.
Her career began with Emergency Exit Arts working on community arts projects in London. She remained a company member for 30 years,
Siou has since collaborated with artists of diverse backgrounds & art forms. She has directed many arts projects in a variety of settings, from a Storytelling Residency in a prison, to collaborating on a site- specific installation on a beach (commissioned by Brighton Festival).
In 2021 Siou founded Haven Young Creatives together with Bex Milner to give young people in Newhaven an opportunity to access the arts and to share her knowledge.
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Sian Rodd
Drama Tutor
Sian is a Theatre Practitioner and Stage Manager. She trained in Musical Theatre at the University of Chichester and has over ten years’ experience in theatre education and community arts.
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Her career began as a Teaching Assistant in fine arts before going on to work with organisations including Chichester Festival Theatre, Theatre Royal Winchester, Nutshell Theatre, Haven Young Creatives and Micheldever Variety Group as a performing arts practitioner. She has led and supported a wide range of youth and community projects, from summer workshops and drama groups to one-to-one singing lessons and most recently supporting facilitation of theatre sessions for young asylum seekers.
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Alongside facilitation, Sian has developed a career in stage management. Her credits include Shrek the Musical, Spring Awakening, Carrie the Musical, MTM Agent Showcase, Country on the Coast and SHAM Rocks, as well as youth-led and community productions.
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Sian has experience supporting young people and adults with additional needs and is committed to making the arts inclusive and accessible. She continues to expand her practice across teaching, facilitation and stage management, combining creativity with a dedication to community engagement.
Drama Tutor
Sian Rodd
Dave Barnstorm
General Manager
Dave is an experienced producer, change manager, relationship manager, administrator, events and project coordinator having worked in the corporate consultancy and charity sectors, with a history as an organisational lead in the theatrical and arts industry.
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Alongside working for Haven Young Creatives - A Different Light, he is employed as the General Manager and Producer of ThirdSpace Theatre CIC, one of HYC's partner organisations in Brighton.
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Before moving to Brighton, he was a theatre director trained at the King’s Head Theatre on the Resident Directors’ Scheme and is an Olivier-nominated associate director for King’s Head’s La Boheme at Trafalgar Studios in 2016. He has won awards and received critical acclaim for his directing work including The Soul of Wittgenstein and The Yellow Wallpaper and ran his own theatre company, Another Soup for over 7 years.
Our Board of Trustees
Lesley Boniface
Lesley first became involved with HYC when Siou was setting the project up. Living in the same Newhaven street, they regularly met up on dog walks along the riverbank discussing the lack of accessible drama groups for the town’s young people.
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Lesley has been a Newhaven Town Councillor since 2019 and has supported youth projects including the HYC launch workshops during her mayoral year. She recognises the importance of creative projects in young people’s physical and mental development, having watched her own daughter become more confident when studying drama at school and college.
Jane McMorrow
Jane is a versatile, committed, and experienced arts professional with a strong track record in programming, project management, business planning, and fundraising. She has worked across the arts, in both performance and contemporary visual arts, and in the creative industries. She is currently the Interim CEO with Community Arts Charity Same Sky.
As an adviser, she has worked on projects with a range of clients, including Creative Future, Brighton Fringe, The Creative Foundation, Arts Council England, The Legacy Trust UK and the Culture Department at the London Mayor’s Office. She was Head of Brighton Festival for seven years, responsible for programming & production of the 23-day multi art form Festival.
Eileen Reiner
Eileen is a multidisciplinary designer with a special interest in social innovation.
She has worked collaboratively on designing immersive engagement experiences around the future of food systems, culture and climate health, and co-designed health and wellbeing services with an empathic approach to complex social challenges. Alongside this she has been working as a freelance mural artist, with a focus on community arts collaborations and place based projects.
She sees creativity as a catalyst for possibility and after moving to Newhaven in 2022 was delighted to become a Trustee of Haven Young Creatives, where she witnessed firsthand how access to the arts can nurture agency, build confidence, and create a sense of collective belonging.
Scarlett Scardanelli
Scarlet is an artist and filmmaker, and in addition to her own creative practice, she leads a weekly meditation group in Newhaven and works with Newhaven Green Centre.
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Her previous career in Birmingham included roles in industry (design studio management and art director in music video production) and in FE and HE (lecturing photography, media, video production, and entrepreneurship in media enterprise) and with 20 years experience of managing a team in delivery of learning programs.
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Moving to Newhaven in 2016, she explored the local arts scene, and given her management experience, was delighted to accept an invitation in 2022(?) to become a Director of HYC and subsequently, in 2024, to become a Trustee.
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The latter role calls on her, alongside two other Trustees, to fulfil the charitable aims and comply with legal obligations of HYC, with responsibility for overseeing strategic direction, financial oversight, and safeguarding reputation and assets.
Spike Padley
Biog coming soon!