Pathways Inspirational Development > Who > Gemma Rogers

Gemma trained in the art of stage management with the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company. This shaped her understanding of the arts and their capacity to promote learning. She discovered that when people are set a creative challenge, the arts become a rich catalyst for social development.

As a performance manager, Gemma has created varied learning experiences for young people. During her degree studies at Bretton Hall she created a drama education group in Iasi, Romania, and directed them in a bilingual production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Since then she became the lead trainer for the Pathways project Community Creativity for Community Development, which operated in Wales, Romania and Lithuania. She has delivered a range of youth arts projects, working with schools, community groups, young offenders and socially excluded young people. The key focus of her work is to encourage participation, inclusion and peer mentoring. It is the process, not the result that really matters.

Gemma is now based with Swansea Youth Offending Team. She is working with young people on a series of documentaries and educational videos to support peer-led programmes, with delivery in schools and in the local community. She is also working with a European mentoring programme, including partner organizations in Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Cyprus.

Due to her fascination with the process of peer mentoring, particularly in relation to preventing youth crime and anti-social behaviour, Gemma is studying the topic for her M.Phil degree at Swansea University.