OUR HISTORY
2004
The Habbit Factory had humble beginnings when it was established by Abbs Cross Academy and Susan Wilson.
Meeting once a week at Abbs Cross Academy, Susan ran workshops voluntary supported by a voluntary team which were named “The Blue Tees” by our young people.
2005
We were fortunate to be selected as the Mayor of Havering's Charity, awarding us with £10,000 in funding.
2011
Due to a growing workload and workshop cancellations, Susan handed over the reins to Lee Giles, our current Artistic Director/CEO and a former member and volunteer. Lee brought a fresh perspective, passion, and drive, resulting in regular workshops that attracted more members and volunteers. With a fresh outlook, drive and passion workshops became regular and gained interest from local families where numbers of members and volunteers began to rise.
2013
We collaborated with the community, children, and young people to rebrand as The Habbit Factory and become a registered charity with a new board of trustees and constitution.
Alongside this, we were asked to open another hub at the newly built Myplace Centre, Harold Hill, and Whybridge School in Rainham, to fulfil the need for our work in those different areas.
Following conversations with schools in the area we partnered with two schools in Harold Hill to provide short term engagement educational workshops in schools and after school clubs. Increasing our earned income and creating a sustainable model. This expansion also allowed us to increase our numbers significantly by offering longer term engagement in our community programme.
In this year we co-created our first ever performance, showcased at the Myplace Centre in Harold Hill. All 3 of our Hubs came together for one performance.
2015
Charity status was finally awarded.
With 3 hubs full and membership requests coming from Harold Hill that we couldn’t accommodate, we partnered with the Salvation Army, Harold Hill to open a brand-new hub to accommodate more children & young people.
2016
With a want to provide opportunities for children and young people to perform in a theatre, in January, we sold out two performances at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch. “I never thought someone like me would have the opportunity to do something like this” – Member.
2017
With three members turning 18 in 2017 and growing interest from parents, we opened our adult company.
2018
Following consultation with young people and families around the lack of affordable pantomime ticket options within the local area and the intrigue to see our team play lead role, we decided to trial our annual fundraising pantomime project in collaboration with the Myplace Centre, Harold Hill.
2020
The pandemic forced us to shut down our hubs and workshops, but we continued to engage our community through social media activity.
Our team (all freelance) took leave to save the organisation from financial turmoil but worked tirelessly, reaching out to other organisations for advice and help.
2021
With the support of the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, and other local partners, we secured funding from Arts Council England for organisational development. Workshops fully returned and were back to the same numbers as pre-pandemic.
2022
After successfully raising turnover from £45k to £72k and welcoming a new staff member, we performed two large-scale co-created performances and sold out four productions of our returning pantomime, which starred our staff, volunteers, and children and young people for the first time.
2023
With short-term sustainability achieved over the past two years, resulting in a rising turnover of £130k, we are now embarking on a long-term strategic planning process to ensure our long-term viability.
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2024
We celebrated our 20th Anniversary by telling Our Story in our summer show and Dick Whittington as our Pantomime. Most notably, our work was recognised live on the BBC's Pudsey Programme and we hosted BBC London News Live with members and Blue Tees appearing on the programme reaching a total 21 million people. Our education programme took on a huge overhaul as we continued to grow through bold new partnerships and creative approaches.
2025
2025 was our biggest year yet! Our summer show BLOCK tackled themes of societal norms and pressures whilst keeping our theme of comedy and classic songs to help guide the story along. Sleeping Beauty was a roaring success to 6 sold out audiences, described as “A rare, anti-elitist gem that delivered unmatched joy well beyond its budget.” Members and Blue Tees had the incredible experience of recording vocals for this year's BBC Children In Need official single "Thread of Hope" featuring Tom and Buzz Fletcher. The experience cultivating in footage being shown in the official music video and experiencing the London premiere of the animation. Our education & outreach programme has continued to grow with new partnerships with HAF and Havering Refugee Fund to help more of the community access our services. With our current 3-year plan coming to an end we are now looking ahead at what can be achieved by 2029.
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2026
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