Blue Apple is nominated in the South Coast Business Awards

Blue Apple has been nominated in the South Coast Business Awards 2022 in the category of Best Use Of Technology Award.

The Best Use of Technology award will be among the trophies awarded at the South Coast Business Awards. The South Coast Business Awards are organised by LOCALiQ, the digital marketing arm of the Daily Echo’s publisher, Newsquest, and bring together the best of businesses across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

They cover businesses both big and small, operating in fields from food to fashion, tourism to technology, employing thousands of people, exporting around the world or helping to attract visitors to our county.

The award is sponsored by Starling Bank, Hampshire Chamber Of Commerce, Utilita, the University Of Southampton and GetSet Solent.

The judges will be looking to announce the three finalists in each category on Thursday, September 29, in the Daily Echo and on dailyecho.co.uk

The winners will be announced at an awards event on Thursday, November 3, at Southampton Football Club’s St Mary’s stadium.

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Jane Jessop receives prestigious award for voluntary service

Blue Apple congratulates Jane Jessop, founder of Blue Apple, on her award of the Badge of the Order of Mercy for distinguished voluntary service that has been conferred on her by The League Of Mercy Foundation. We are immensely proud of Jane whose work has had such a valued impact on local lives in Hampshire and who continues to advocate for the talents, skills and needs of people with learning disabilities. The award was made in a ceremony at Mansion House, a Grade I listed building in the City of London that is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. Jane told us that the event provided a valuable opportunity “to speak to very interesting people, hear their stories and share why the vision of Blue Apple is so important to us all and how lives have been changed.”  Jane originally founded Blue Apple in July 2005 to help facilitate her son Tommy’s love of acting as the nearest theatre company for people with learning disabilities was then in London. She decided to set up an ambitious and inclusive theatre company for people with learning disabilities in Winchester, where every member was equally valued. Today Blue Apple brings highly acclaimed theatrical performances to the south of England and overseas.

Blue Apple’s Tommy Jessop takes new role as a doctor

Tommy Jessop in the role of Prospero in Blue Apple’s 2019 production of The Tempest - Photo by Mike Hall

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on” proclaimed Prospero in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

What prophetic words, spoken by actor Tommy Jessop on stage at The Theatre Royal Winchester in Blue Apple’s 2019 production of The Tempest.

Tommy breathed life into the dreams of many other performers with learning disabilities as he took to the stage at the University of Winchester to receive an honorary doctorate in July 2021.

Tommy is an experienced Shakespearian actor and co-founder of Hampshire based Blue Apple Theatre. The charity seeks to challenge prejudice by creating ambitious opportunities for performers who have learning disabilities and showcasing their talents to the widest possible audience.

Working with Blue Apple, Tommy Jessop became the first actor with Down syndrome to play Hamlet on mainstream stages.  Tommy is now a multi award-winning film and television actor whose first film, Coming Down the Mountain, was BAFTA nominated. He was the first actor with Down syndrome to play the lead in a primetime TV drama, the first professional actor with Down syndrome to play Hamlet and is the first actor with Down syndrome to become a full voting member of BAFTA.

You may recognise Tommy from his dramatic role as Terry Boyle in the recent BBC1 series of Line of Duty where he was nearly drowned.

Blue Apple’s artistic director Richard Conlon said “The whole of Blue Apple Theatre are rightly proud of Tommy for blazing a trail and for opening doors. The company he founded with his mother, Jane, has changed lives by offering up high-quality performance opportunities for people just like Tommy. By telling stories and entertaining audiences locally and further afield, we become part of a bigger, joyful, national conversation about what everyone can do if given the chance.”

Tommy Jessop rehearsing Blue Apple’s 2016 production of Around The World In Eighty Days - Photo by James Yeats-Brown

Tommy receivedan Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Winchester at 8.30pm on 19 July 2021 and made a short memorable speech.

Watch Tommy’s graduation ceremony live here: https://winchester.graduations.live/visitor

Other performers hoping to follow in Tommy’s footsteps and tread the boards can find out more about performance opportunities at Blue Apple by visiting our website www.blueappletheatre.com.

Tel: 01962 827352

Email: admin@blueappletheatre.com