Meet the Sparc Team
The Sparc team is an integral part of the community development work at Valleys Kids and we work with young people in a variety of settings. Using creative techniques the children and young people explore different areas of their lives and the lives of others in a positive way. All of our staff share a passion for igniting creativity in young people.
Miranda Ballin
I’m Miranda Ballin, the Artistic Director of Sparc I arrived in 1990 when I was working for Theatr Powys as an actor and felt completely at home at Valleys Kids. I decided it was time to put down roots after years of touring theatre in schools and communities as a professional actor and theatre director.
In 1998 the amazing staff at Valleys Kids worked with me to put in a lottery application to set up a youth arts project and Sparc was created.
Young people and students who discovered a passion for the arts working alongside the Sparc team now run the project and I love that! The Valleys is my home I want to support young people from here to discover their potential on their terms. Sparc is completely inclusive and anyone can join in our work. I love to work collaboratively with inspirational people and organisations and I am so proud that our staff and young people have worked internationally with people from different cultures and backgrounds and continued to learn from each other.
Gemma Fraser-Jones
I have been part of Valleys Kids since a child, and after graduating from the University of South Wales I joined the youth arts team in 2009, launching the Flight Wings 16-25 creative programme. I love working with people from all backgrounds and abilities and creating stories through theatre and movement.
Completing my PGCE has allowed me to mentor and support a lot of young people within Valleys Kids and encourage people to enter into further education and training. I love being part of such an inclusive, dynamic and accessible project where everyone is welcome to participate and express themselves in a creative way.
Kiara Sullivan
I’m Kiara Sullivan, I have been involved with Sparc and Valleys Kids since I was 7 years old. I progressed through drama workshop and onto youth theatre and within these projects I had many wonderful experiences and opportunities. I partook in an International Exchange programme where we got the chance to go over to Poland and work with young people from Poland and Georgia.
I also performed at the first arts festival run by young people which was Rawffest and took place in Newport. Within my time of being a participant, I also had the opportunity to volunteer at after school club and summer theatre projects at the other bases of Valleys Kids. I became so inspired by the work of the Youth Art Workers and how they were making these opportunities within my community that it made me want to do the same for the new generation of young people coming through.
I graduated in 2020 from UWTSD with a First-Class Honours Degree in Applied Drama. I am the newest Youth Arts Worker within Sparc. I recently worked for the Wales Millennium Centre as the Powerful Interventions Production Assistant, which was the first ever youth-led commission at WMC. Alongside this, I was collaborating on many exciting projects that will hopefully pave the way for the change that is currently needed in the arts sector. These projects include bringing awareness around Kickstart and being heavily involved with a new, developing emerging artist network in the Rhondda Cynon Taff called Make It. I am delighted to be a part of the Future Generation Leadership Academy. As part of this, I am the representative for the Wales Millennium Centre as part of the Together Stronger partnership with Valleys Kids.My passion will always be supporting young people to have their voices heard and to create the change they want.
Alan Humphreys
I’m Alan Humphreys, I am a Producer in the Creative Learning team at the Wales Millennium Centre. My role is to oversee the strategic partnership between the Wales Millennium Centre and Sparc Valleys Kids, which aims to provide more creative opportunities for young people in the South Wales Valleys. I am in the very lucky position to be able to split my time between the Wales Millennium Centre and Sparc, meaning I get to work with two great teams!
I have a background in theatre having spent much of my twenties as a performer, before moving into producing, first through film and then into the wider arts. I joined the Wales Millennium Centre in 2018 and am passionate about us reaching outside of our home in Cardiff Bay into the Valleys, to actively listen to and learn from the young people in the area and ensure the Centre is as much as their home as it is for the young people in Cardiff.
Hannah Lad
Hannah is a performer, comedian and theatre maker from the Rhondda Valley. She has been a Sparc associate since 2020, she currently delivers weekly sessions with Penygraig Drama Workshop and Flight Wings.
She is also a member of Pencil Breakers writing group and has been involved in a number of exciting additional projects with this group, including: The Eisteddfod, Queertawe.
Sparc has supported Hannah as a Theatre Maker for a number of years including commissioning Hannah as part of the Powerful Interventions Festival where Hannah created a 15 minute performance “Leanne” and performed this on the Glanfa Stage in the WMC.
Most recently Sparc have partnered on an initial R+D of Hannahs upcoming first full length solo show “Full House” that is currently being co- produce by the Sherman Theatre and RCT Theatres.
Yasmin Williams
Yas is a theatre-maker from Port Talbot, living it up in Pontypridd. They are excited by absurd theatre, and creative processes that challenge conventions. She is a co-investigator on a series of interwoven cultural activism projects with Arts Active, and her passion project is a play that revolves around a taxidermy cat called Ralph.
“As someone who relocated to the valleys, Sparc really took me under their wing and allowed me to grow as an artist and as a person. I not only developed as a workshop facilitator through my work with Sparc, but I learned, just by being around the Sparc team, more about my values and the kind of practitioner I want to be. I’ve had the absolute privilege of being cover support in youth theatre sessions, as well as getting to help out with admin and Marketing for Gwyl Fach last year, to celebrate 25 years of Sparc
Bethan Marlow
I'm a writer but my process often involves verbatim interviews and working closely with communities because I'm a firm believer that everyone has a voice and a right to access that creativity. My plays include PIGEON (Theatr Iolo), BREN.CALON.FI (Theatr Cymru), NYRSYS (Theatr Cymru), THE MOLD RIOTS (Theatr Clwyd) and musical FERAL MONSTER (National Theatre Wales). I lead the Pencil Breakers workshops where we come together weekly online to write freely and passionately (and to play my terrible games!).
Tom Stupple
Music was a real lifeline for me when I was younger and the confidence that it helped me find really inspired me to become involved with youth arts. Building on a degree in Music and Arts Education I also developed a real passion for drama - its power to bring people together seemed to be a vital antidote to a world that is increasingly pushing us all apart. Since starting as Youth Arts Development Worker with Valleys Kids 16 years ago I have worked with diverse and challenging groups across Wales.
Running creative projects in schools, prisons, community centers and arts centers. I worked as a Co-Director of Theatr Fforwm Cymru and more recently as a Producer for Wales Millennium Center. In my current role as a freelance Creative Practitioner I run projects for Sparc, WMC, Tanio, NHS, local councils and ACW.
Ian McAndrew
I’m Ian McAndrew, a freelancer working across a myriad of roles within the participation and engagement arts sector. These roles range from youth arts delivery to project management. I’m deeply interested in all art forms and the impact they have on people and their communities.
I am very fortunate to have spent 7 formative years, full-time as part of the Sparc team; where I was able to develop the skills required to create thought-provoking and engaging activities and programmes of work for children and young people. I am currently the Make It! Network Support, alongside workshop delivery support for Rhydyfelin Drama Workshop, as a Sparc Associate.
Kyle Stead
Kyle is a benefit-class actor, producer & creative from the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. He grew up in a single parent household on council estates and started his journey in the creative industry writing poetry exploring the things he was faced with as a youngster in this environment.
He found the arts and fell in love with it because of the sense of escape it gave him from the things he was faced with as a youth, but now he wants to spin that 180° and use it to give a raw representation of his roots. He co-founded Off Ya Trolley Productions to champion the voices of working class artists and communities. He wants to fight the underrepresentation of artists from a lower socio-economic background and make the arts as diverse as possible. Kyle is currently working as the Assistant Creative Producer with RCT Theatres. He is a recipient of the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary 2020-2022. Kyle’s relationship with Sparc and Valleys Kids started when he began attending their Youth Drama Sessions. He was later supported by Valleys Kids and Sparc through a programme of alternative education.
Ryan Stead
Ryan is an Actor and Freelance Creative from the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. Ryan graduated with BA Acting degree in 2019 and later went on to co-found Off Ya Trolley Productions, a local theatre production company set out of the Rhondda, set up to represent and champion working class artists and communities.
Ryan has a long lasting relationship with Valleys Kids and Sparc, recently joining the team as a Sparc Associate, working as a freelance arts facilitator supporting weekly drama sessions.
Bethan Dowsett
When I was very young I loved to sing and act, albeit in the safety of my own bedroom back then! Since getting my degree in Drama and Arts Education I've worked for many years as an arts facilitator with young people and adults. With a focus on using the arts to give people a voice and improve wellbeing. I worked at the Amber project supporting young people who have experience of self harm where we created theatre as a way of raising understanding and awareness. I am lucky enough to be working with Sparc in a wellbeing support role for the Radio Platfform project in Porth.
Ellie-May Jeffries
Hi, I’m Ellie! I joined Sparc in August 2024 as a volunteer and have since become a Sparc Associate. I’m currently in my final year at the University of South Wales in Cardiff, where I’m about to graduate with a degree focused on performance and creative arts.
Sparc has been a big part of my journey—it’s given me the chance to grow as a facilitator, leader, and collaborator. I’ve supported drama and creative sessions for young people aged 7 to 15, helping to create safe, expressive spaces where they can build confidence and have fun. Being a Sparc Associate means being part of a community that values creativity, inclusivity, and making a difference through the arts.
I’m passionate about using theatre and storytelling to empower others, and I’m excited to keep growing and learning with Sparc!
Dylan Thomas Price
Dylan is an actor and poet from Aberdare. He enjoys supporting the Penyrenglyn drama groups alongside Gemma. As he is new to taking workshops, he is thoroughly enjoying learning how to become a better workshop leader, and to find his own methodology for leading. Dylan first got involved with Sparc through scratch nights and sharing his own work. He loves Sparc because it gives everyone a chance to get involved with drama and is enjoying all the brilliant characters that come into the rooms.
Menna Sian Rogers
Menna is a bilingual actor, writer and theatre facilitator from Pontypridd. She has been involved with Sparc over the last few years at various events, predominantly as a part of Pencil Breakers where she performed written pieces at the National Eisteddfod held in Pontypridd and also as a writer and performer at Queertawe Fringe weekend.
“Being involved with Sparc has allowed me to perform professionally in my local area and to give back to the communities that helped shape the writer and actor I am today. It truly is a privilege to be involved with such a excepting, supportive and dedicated organisation.”
Deborah Suzanne Newton-Williams
I am a Welsh playwright, performer and theatre maker, predominantly using comedy as a tool to generate conversation about mental health issues and working-class struggles.
All of what I write is rooted in authenticity, because I genuinely believe that human beings are the most interesting and bizarre things in the world – and telling their stories will never get old for me.
Whilst life has been very generous in giving me lots of stories to tell, it has been less kind in giving me all too much space to tell them in, which is why being a part of Pencil Breakers holds such an importance for me. Through them I have been able to share work at the National Eisteddfod, exercise my creativity and find characters and scenes that have ultimately turned into full length plays.
Meeting online weekly for writing workshops in such a safe, explorative and encouraging environment really breeds creativity, which is something that Sparc has done for me since the very beginning.
