Florence Espeut Nickless is a celebrated writer, actor and community creative whose work bridges theatre, storytelling and local engagement. We are very proud to have her as our first Youth Ambassador.

Growing up in the South West and beginning her performing arts journey at Trowbridge College, Florence has built an impressive career, often focusing on themes of working-class life and community resilience. She is committed to making the arts accessible to people from all backgrounds.

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· Could you tell us a little about yourself and the work you do?

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Hello, I tell stories, mostly on stage in theatres or community settings. Usually I write the scripts, sometimes I perform as well. My journey into a career in the arts was through acting. I got excluded from all of my lessons in Year 10 except for drama, so I thought ok I’ll give this acting thing a go and discovered that it was really fun. Through that I found a love for storytelling and began writing plays.

 

The main motivation to write my own stories was to help represent my community and region. I grew up on a council estate in Chippenham and getting into theatre I couldn’t understand why there weren’t many stories about working class people from the west country, so I decided to tell my own.

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· In what way does your own journey help you connect with the young people you meet today?

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I faced a lot of challenges as a teenager (as I think all teenagers do in different ways), that I’ve channelled into my writing and tried to express. Of course, those challenges will be individual to everyone, but I hope young people (particularly from working class backgrounds) connect on some level with my plays and it helps them feel seen.

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· How did you first come to be involved with Trowbridge Future?

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I think it’s essential for young people to have spaces available to them where they can meet friends, hang out, be creative, talk about things etc. I think particularly now, at a time when

young people are at home more and online more, face to face communication and connection with our peers is really important. It’s a beautiful part of growing up and life in general. It builds community and we all need community to thrive.

Trowbridge Future (and other similar organisations) helps young people build connections and offers them guidance. Everyone needs (and deserves) guidance in life, and ultimately more connection with more people helps build empathy, and empathy is something that really needs nurturing right now.

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· What does it mean to you to be Trowbridge Future’s first Youth Ambassador?

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It’s a huge honour and privilege. And is emotional for me on lots of levels. Trowbridge holds a special place in my heart and always will. I came to college in the town at 16, at a point in my life where I was feeling lost and was struggling. The tutors and my peers believed in me and supported me to push myself and to pursue a career in theatre. That was a massive turning point for me and a big part of why I do this as a job. I’m forever grateful for that.

Therefore, to have the opportunity to come back and work with young people in the town years later and support them with their creative interests and passions is a beautiful full circle moment for me.

Specifically, I think what Trowbridge Future are offering local young people is incredibly inspiring and vital. It was a no brainer when they asked me to become a Youth Ambassador. I think everywhere and every young person needs their version of Trowbridge Future and I feel super proud to be able to support the organisation (and the young people that access it) in whatever way I can.

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· Why do you feel organisations like Trowbridge Future are so important for young people now?

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I think it’s essential for young people to have spaces available to them where they can meet friends, hang out, be creative, talk about things etc. I think particularly now, at a time when

young people are at home more and online more, face to face communication and connection with our peers is really important. It’s a beautiful part of growing up and life in general. It builds community and we all need community to thrive.

Trowbridge Future (and other similar organisations) helps young people build connections and offers them guidance. Everyone needs (and deserves) guidance in life, and ultimately more connection with more people helps build empathy, and empathy is something that really needs nurturing right now.

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· Why does investing in young people feel especially vital at this moment?

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It’s a huge honour and privilege. And is emotional for me on lots of levels. Trowbridge holds a special place in my heart and always will. I came to college in the town at 16, at a point in my life where I was feeling lost and was struggling. The tutors and my peers believed in me and supported me to push myself and to pursue a career in theatre. That was a massive turning point for me and a big part of why I do this as a job. I’m forever grateful for that.

Therefore, to have the opportunity to come back and work with young people in the town years later and support them with their creative interests and passions is a beautiful full circle moment for me.

Specifically, I think what Trowbridge Future are offering local young people is incredibly inspiring and vital. It was a no brainer when they asked me to become a Youth Ambassador. I think everywhere and every young person needs their version of Trowbridge Future and I feel super proud to be able to support the organisation (and the young people that access it) in whatever way I can.

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· If you could share one piece of advice with young people in Trowbridge today, what would it be?

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I think follow what’s in your heart, your passions and dreams, whatever they are. If there’s something burning in you that you want to try or do, don’t let people tell you that you can’t do it. Trust me, you can.

Your passion can become your career. It doesn’t have to be either or in life.

And final thought, wear your hometown with pride…we had a catchphrase, sort of mantra we used to say altogether when we were rehearsing The Odyssey:

“Chests Out Trowbridge!”