Our History
SASA School of Performing Arts, formally St Albans School of Acting, was established by Phoebe Shergold-Willis in 2015, at the age of just 18. Phoebe trained in the industry since the age of three, following the footsteps of a performance family whose members have been performing in the West End and beyond since the 1950s. Her original intent was to create a performance-based organisation run by young people with a more holistic approach. Phoebe believes strongly in the powers of creativity in building resilience, confidence, open-mindedness and a sense of self awareness in young people. She soon became a mentor to many students that she taught, providing wider support and coaching.
Phoebe has a strong sense of social purpose, and as SASA grew, she was struck by the barriers that vulnerable or under privileged children were facing. High fees can be cost prohibitive for some families, whilst others may not have the opportunity to get involved for a variety of reasons.
Therefore in 2018 she decided to establish a bursary scheme, originally funded by donations and ‘Friends of SASA’ This provided up to four places per year completely free of charge to struggling families, so enabling four young people each year, who may not have had the prior opportunity to create, perform and develop valuable life skills.
But this was not enough, Phoebe’s ambition is to provide ALL young people with the opportunity to get involved in the transformative experience creativity and performance can provide. Therefore in 2021, she finally created SASA’s Youth Programme CIC, with the intention of creating outreach projects in schools and the local community to help vulnerable and/or disadvantaged young people get access to the arts. Click here for more information and how you can get involved.
