After recieving an overwhelming 40 applications for our Mentoring Programme 2017, we knew we'd have a hard task of whittleing it down to just four companies to join us on the year long programme. It was indeed a hard task and we used this criteria to help us decide:

- Have the company performed a show in a professional context? (useful when referencing or learning the practical challenges for that group)

- Have they had any similar mentoring or associate opportunities in the past? (we want to make sure that this opportunity is the most useful it can be)

- Has the company got a commitment to an ensemble working method or ensemble decision making?

- Is the company looking/needing for what we can offer? (we have't got all the skills so was important for us to know whether we have what you need). 

After much discussion we were delighted to let the following companies know they had been selected:

Ditto Theatre Company Ltd

Seemia Theatre

Broken Chair Theatre Company

and ivo

We are very much looking forward to starting our first workshop with you all on 11th March.

This however is not the end.  The amount of applications we recieved made it even clearer to us the need there is for guidence and learning when you are starting a company and the hunger there is for it.  We would have treasured this kind of workshop when TF started out as it is such an unknown world.  Applications, funding, contracts?  Although we are still learning there is information we have learn't on the way that we want to pass on and we are hoping that we will be able to do this for the companies that contacted us for this programme.  Watch this space!