Kenton celebrates young talent through Community Champion Awards partnership

The Kenton Theatre is proud to continue its partnership with the Henley Herald Community Champion Awards, celebrating the people who make an extraordinary contribution to Henley and helping create new opportunities for the town’s young people.

The Kenton is once again sponsoring the Rising Star Theatre Award, which recognises a young person aged 11 to 18 who is excelling in the performing arts or in an associated theatre role, including lighting, staging and script writing.

And for 2026, the partnership has an important new dimension: the Community Champion Awards Party will raise funds for bursary places for Kenton Youth, in partnership with Henley Youth Festival.

The Awards Party will take place at Henley Rugby Club on Fri 5 Feb 2027, bringing together nominees, supporters, sponsors and members of the community to celebrate some of Henley’s unsung heroes.

Celebrating Henley’s rising stars

The Rising Star Theatre Award provides an opportunity to recognise young people whose creativity, commitment and talent deserve to be celebrated.

Previous winners include Amelie Holden in 2024 and Rose-Anna Nicholson in 2025.

Last year’s award attracted a strong field of young local talent, with Rose-Anna winning 41% of the public vote, ahead of fellow finalists Ruby Ahara Miller and Samira Axinei.

Samira went on to perform at the Henley Youth Festival shows at The Kenton earlier this year, demonstrating the strong links that already exist between the awards, the Youth Festival and opportunities for young people to experience performing on a professional theatre stage.

Creating opportunities through Kenton Youth

This year, the partnership will go beyond celebrating young talent by helping more young people discover theatre for themselves.

Funds raised at the Awards Party will support bursary places for Kenton Youth, The Kenton’s programme for young people.

Kenton Youth has been created to give young people the opportunity to experience theatre in all its forms, develop new skills, build confidence and become part of a creative community.

That opportunity is not limited to being on stage. Young people can also discover the many creative and technical roles involved in making theatre happen, from backstage and production skills to lighting and other areas of theatre-making.

Bursary places are an important part of ensuring that financial circumstances are not a barrier to taking part.

Lottie Pheasant, Theatre Manager at The Kenton Theatre, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to support the Rising Star Theatre Award and to celebrate the talented young people in our community.

“What makes this year even more special is that the Awards Party will help raise funds for Kenton Youth bursaries. We want as many young people as possible to have the opportunity to experience theatre, whether that’s performing on stage, learning technical skills behind the scenes or simply finding somewhere they can build confidence, make friends and feel part of something.

“The Kenton has always been at the heart of the Henley community, and this partnership is a lovely way of celebrating the people who make our town special while helping create opportunities for the next generation.”

A long-standing celebration of Henley’s community

The Henley Herald Community Champion Awards were founded in 2018 to recognise the individuals who give their time, energy and expertise to making Henley a better place to live.

The awards now recognise achievement across a range of areas including charity, education, sport, customer service and community life, with nominees put forward by local people and winners decided by public vote.

The Kenton’s connection with the awards extends beyond its sponsorship of the Rising Star Theatre Award.

Over the years, people connected with the theatre have themselves been recognised for the contribution they make to the community.

Long-standing Kenton volunteer Derek Gilbert was nominated for the Community Champion Award in 2023 after around 20 years of volunteering at the theatre, including eight years as a Trustee and many performances spent supporting Front of House.

More recently, Judith Terry was nominated for Charity Champion in the 2025 awards in recognition of her years of volunteering with The Kenton, including supporting volunteers, recruitment and training and serving as a Trustee.

These nominations reflect something that is at the heart of The Kenton: the theatre is powered not only by the performers audiences see on stage, but by an extraordinary community of people giving their time behind the scenes.

Who will be Henley’s next Rising Star?

The Kenton is now encouraging families, schools, theatre groups, dance schools and the wider community to think about the young people they know who deserve recognition.

The Rising Star Theatre Award is open to young people aged 11 to 18 who are reaching for the stars in performance or associated theatre roles.

That could be an exceptional young actor, singer or dancer, but equally someone developing their talents in writing, lighting, staging or another area of theatre.

Nominations close at 5pm on Fri 30 Oct, with public voting opening on Mon 2 Nov and closing on Mon 30 Nov.

Award winners will be presented with their awards at the Community Champion Awards Party on Fri 5 Feb 2027, where each winner will receive a specially commissioned silver pin badge made by Henley jewellers Studio 35 and a framed certificate.

So, who is the young theatre-maker in Henley that everyone should know about?

Nominate your Rising Star through the Henley Herald Community Champion Awards before Fri 30 Oct.