Meet Fred Turns 10: A Birthday Present for Fred
Raising for Hijinx Theatre
Give a tenner (or what you can) to celebrate ten years of Meet Fred and support Hijinx’s future training, employment and performance opportunities for learning disabled and autistic people.
Learning disabled and autistic people are still excluded and underrepresented across the arts and wider society. Too often, they’re underestimated, overlooked, or simply not given the chance to show what they can do.
Hijinx exists to change that. We create bold, high-quality theatre led by learning disabled and autistic artists, and we work to break down barriers, both onstage and off.
This year, one of our most acclaimed productions, Meet Fred, turns 10.
Fred is a puppet in a world that doesn’t always make space for him. Ten years on, his story is still painfully relevant, shining a light on what happens when people (and puppets) are pushed to the margins, denied the support they need, and treated like a problem to be managed.
Since its premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016, Meet Fred has been performed over 300 times, reached almost 30,000 people, and toured to 20 countries across 3 continents.
One of the Hijinx actors at the heart of the show is Lindsay Spellman, who first joined Hijinx in 2015, describing herself as a “meek, shy girl who wouldn’t do anything.”
In 2018, Lindsay was chosen to play Lucille and The Maker in an international tour of Meet Fred. It was her first time on an aeroplane, and her first time travelling without her parents.
Since then, she has performed in more than 20 countries, secured lots of paid acting work, including as Heather in Hijinx and Sherman Theatre’s critically acclaimed co-production Housemates.
Now, Lindsay is preparing to return to Meet Fred for its major 10th anniversary UK tour, celebrating how far she’s come and what inclusive theatre can make possible.
To mark 10 years of Meet Fred, we’re inviting you to make a donation as a 10th birthday present to Fred and the people Hijinx champions every day, like Lindsay.
Your gift will support the next chapter of:
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Professional training through our 5 Hijinx Academies across Wales
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Bold, high-quality theatre that challenges stereotypes of learning disability and autism
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Employment opportunities, supporting actors with learning disabilities and autism into paid roles on stage and screen and as disability awareness trainers
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Community engagement that builds vital confidence, skills and belonging
Thank you for supporting Hijinx, and for helping us celebrate 10 years of Meet Fred by backing what comes next.
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About us
Hijinx Theatre
Charity number: 1078358
We are Hijinx.
We are Wales’ inclusive theatre company — placing learning disabled and autistic artists at the heart of professional theatre, film, training and systemic change.
For over 40 years, we’ve been creating bold, award-winning work that challenges perceptions, shifts power, and redefines who gets to make and lead the arts. Our vision is of a world where learning disabled and autistic people are not just included in culture, but represented, paid and leading it.
In 2012, we launched the first Hijinx Academy — Wales’ only professional performance training for learning disabled and autistic adults. We now run five Academies training 65 across the country, alongside Pawb, our Wales-wide community engagement and outreach programme, which supports over 100 people aged 16–80 each week. Our approach supports confidence, wellbeing and independence through creativity.
We are proud to also operate Hijinx Actors, the UK’s largest casting agency for learning disabled and autistic actors, delivering hundreds of paid creative roles in mainstream TV, film, and theatre each year and supporting actors with specialist training, creative enablers, and employment support.
Our theatre and film productions tour nationally and internationally, reaching over 15,000 people annually, while our award-winning business training helps over 2,500 professionals each year to see inclusion differently — and do it better.
Independent research shows that every £1 invested in Hijinx creates over £5 in social value, through increased confidence, wellbeing, employment, and long-term inclusion.
We are committed to creating opportunities that last — not just for our actors and Pawb members, but for the communities and creative industries they’re transforming.
Join us — and be part of the change.
