While he has yet to perfect his double knot-tying skills when it comes to shoelaces – “I still find it difficult!” – Orpheus Centre student Barney is immensely proud of his growing independence.
The 21-year-old from London, who would rather we refer to him by his first name only, is very happy too with the everyday skills he has been learning since he arrived at the specialist college Surrey last year. “I learned how to dress myself independently… I try to do things on my own.”
He loves cooking and is partial to rustling up a fried egg on a bagel: “Making eggs was the best thing. They are good for you… But you’ve got to be careful. If you don’t cook the eggs properly, it can make you ill. I like pasta. But, if I have to pick between eggs or pasta, it is eggs.”
The Orpheus Centre was founded 27 years ago by Richard Stilgoe, known for his work as a lyricist, songwriter and musician with Andrew Lloyd-Webber on such shows as Starlight Express.
The centre, supporting a total of 68 students, provides personalised three-year courses that enable people with learning disabilities aged 18–24 years to develop their artistic abilities. The aim is to get a job after leaving while also developing living skills.
Over the past three decades, the centre has built a reputation for encouraging its students to develop self-confidence through art and performance, including on stage at its impressive on-site 250-seat theatre.
Barney lives in supported accommodation at Orpheus and says that he does miss his family but the centre is lovely. His flat at the centre is “nice” and spacious.
“You can make new friends and get to know each other’s hobbies and interests,” he notes. He starts to work out how many new friends he has made but soon loses count; he’s clearly a sociable young man.
I ask about his creative work. He tells me about a textile-based superhero he named Disco Duck and a monster called Honey Pie. They were made “out of material – you stick it together”.
Barney has also created a large, mixed-media collage poster about his life, combining painting and photos and showing things he likes “you know – like music, Christmas and popcorn”.
He says that it went on sale in a local art gallery but no one bought it “because it was too expensive”.
He describes the centre’s range of arts-based activities, including the annual summer Orphest open day and mini festival. He is not so keen on drama performances or music, but would consider doing some pottery.
What would his message be to any future students? Barney says that “they may have ups and downs for a few months” as he found when he first arrived but, once they are settled in, he is sure “they will definitely like it”.
He looks mildly outraged when I ask him if the staff are nice. “Of course they are nice. They are lovely,” he emphasises, shaking his head at my question. “I really love the sense of humour. I like funny people and they are funny.”
On that note, it is time to meet Orpheus Centre chief executive Andy Willetts, who has been in post since January 2025. Willetts is keen to credit the work of his colleagues and predecessors for what Barney has been telling me about.
He says: “Our vision is clear, which is creating an inclusive world in which disabled young people with a passion for the arts and a desire to work independently can go and achieve their aspirations.”
He says Stilgoe began by helping at a nearby riding club for disabled people. However, he quickly realised that his strengths did not lie with horses so set up a performing arts summer school for five students in his own house.
Eventually, things developed to the point where Stilgoe, who is still president of the Orpheus Centre charity, donated his extensive country home and grounds to the college to use as its base.
The centre plans to raise £25 million to develop and expand the site, increase capacity and become a centre of excellence for specialist education and a teaching college.
Students are funded to attend the Orpheus Centre by their local authorities, with 21 of them living at the college itself, some in supported housing and some nearby in their family homes.
Since it provides both supported housing and education, the Orpheus Centre is inspected by the Care Quality Commission as well as Ofsted. I ask, given perennial public and third-sector concerns about regulatory reforms, if it is a struggle dealing with regulators.
Willetts says it is not. “Whichever inspection body it is, they want exactly the same as we do, which is: are students safe and looked after well? Are they learning and progressing? Have we got the ambition that we should have? And is the organisation well led and managed?” he says.
“Ofsted is just another group of visitors that come in to see the magic and, the last time they came, they saw a bit of magic because we were rated outstanding, which means that we are in the top 5% of specialist further education settings.”
However, Willetts is clear there is more to life than getting good results from regulators.
He loves to see students “get to know themselves, get to be part of a community where they can celebrate all that they are and all that they can achieve, whether that’s through drama, music, art or media. Through the arts, our students can be their best selves.
I’ve seen students who arrived unable or unwilling to talk now on the stage singing
“For me, it’s also the comments we get back from families like, ‘No, I can’t believe that’s little Johnny’.
“The arts unlock something. I’ve seen students in the last 12 months who have arrived in September who are mute, unable or unwilling to talk, now on the stage singing.”
Willetts says that “As students go into year three, we really see their confidence being built, their attitudes towards who they are and what they can do as opposed to what they can’t become really quite obvious.
“We also start preparing life skills. We have got a life-skills kitchen, we do budgeting, we arrange work experience. They get a taster of what exists beyond the doors at the Orpheus Centre.”
Ex-students continue to receive support from the transitions team for a six months. This work is not funded but it is surely one of the reasons why the Orpheus Centre can report in its 2024-25 impact report that 29% of leavers progress into paid employment, compared with a national average of 4.8%. For example, recent former students have found jobs in cafes and backstage in theatres or hotels.
It is little wonder that Stilgoe proudly describes the centre’s “imminent plans” to “grow even more”. As well as a new theatre, sensory room and purpose-built teaching spaces, there are plans for a new cafe – something which should make egg-loving budding chef Barney very happy indeed.
