Have you been to Revel Pucks Winter Festival yet in Walthamstow? You might have seen the circus pop up in the town centre for yuletide fun, but did you know our work with Revel Pucks goes beyond entertainment?
We’ve been working with Revel Puck Circus for the past two years on developing employment opportunities for residents through our Future Formed programme. These have included positions developing backstage work, assistant producers, bar, and front of house.
So far, we have supported 50 residents into training and work alongside the company, with pathways being created into the creative industries as well as hospitality and customer services.
This year, we worked on the recruitment of 16 unemployed residents to receive paid training and guaranteed ‘live’ bar and front of house shifts for the company. This approach works on multiple levels; it provides residents with no experience an opportunity to have a credit on their CV, along with a reference from Revel Puck, opening up further opportunities; it provides Revel Puck access to local residents who, statistically, have been found to be more reliable over time at turning up for shift work, and it eases the burden on a small company for which recruitment of this many staff can take up a huge amount of time and resources.
Participants on the programme have used the opportunity as routes into work at Soho Walthamstow Theatre, as well as multiple other bar and front of house roles in the borough and beyond.
Jordan, a participant on the programme in 2023, is now working as a bar manager for Revel Pucks. The work has been invaluable as an income source as he navigates being a young parent.
Janessa, who took part in the programme last year, found the opportunity increased her confidence. She received further support from Future Formed to secure work as an assistant facilitator with Soho Theatre and is also working in a more senior position on this year’s show, she said: “The Revel Puck opportunity was incredibly useful and important because it gave me my first real experience working behind a bar, something that’s rarely offered at an entry level today. It was the perfect space to learn on the job, build confidence, and develop practical skills, and I’m grateful to have been invited back this year after such a positive first experience. I genuinely enjoyed the role, not just because of the atmosphere, but because it opened the door to more work and new creative environments with future formed that I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.”
Iona, Producer of Revel Puck, said: “Working with Future Formed has been incredible. Not only has it allowed us to gain access to a quality local workforce, it’s also meant we have been able to use our resources to train up residents who may have struggled to find work in the past. We love bringing our show to Waltham Forest each year and working with Future Formed has made the time we spend here even more impactful.”
Waltham Forest’s Future Formed programme is also in conversations with local breweries to create further pathways, using the experience gained at Revel Puck as a springboard into more regular work at Waltham Forest’s much-loved breweries.
Aged 16 to 30 and looking for a path into work? Check out the latest opportunities with Waltham Forest’s Future Formed.
You can catch Revel Pucks Winter Festival in Walthamstow until Sunday 4 January 2026.
