About Pegasus?
Pegasus was formed to work with schools and community organisations to help celebrate diversity, develop communities and allow people to tell THEIR story.
We offer to work with and aim to help give a voice to a wide variety of groups including:
We offer to work with and aim to help give a voice to a wide variety of groups including:
- Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants
- Schools and special schools
- People with special needs and disabilities
- Adults with dementia
- Local communities
About us
Chris East
Chris East worked for over 30 years as a primary teacher in East London, including a period with the Multicultural Support Service, supporting children of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to improve their skills in English while valuing their heritage languages and cultures; and six years as Advisory Teacher for the Traveller Education Service, working with English and Irish Travellers and Eastern European Roma children and their families. Chris taught for 7 years in Botswana, in a Camphill Community, supporting children with a range of physical disabilities and severe learning needs. Chris has looked for creative ways to support learning, including puppetry and storytelling, both in schools and in community activities, and is now the coordinator of Pegasus Puppetry & Arts.
Chris East worked for over 30 years as a primary teacher in East London, including a period with the Multicultural Support Service, supporting children of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to improve their skills in English while valuing their heritage languages and cultures; and six years as Advisory Teacher for the Traveller Education Service, working with English and Irish Travellers and Eastern European Roma children and their families. Chris taught for 7 years in Botswana, in a Camphill Community, supporting children with a range of physical disabilities and severe learning needs. Chris has looked for creative ways to support learning, including puppetry and storytelling, both in schools and in community activities, and is now the coordinator of Pegasus Puppetry & Arts.
Stella East
Stella East worked for over 40 years as an English and drama teacher in East London, 7 years in Botswana and 7 in Brighton. She uses puppets in many ways, especially in helping refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and EAL (English as an Additional Language) children and those with special needs or disabilities to learn English, improve their English, gain confidence, express feelings and ideas and improve their self-esteem. She has also run after school clubs and collaborates with Chris East to run puppet making and animation workshops for children, families and senior citizens.
Stella East worked for over 40 years as an English and drama teacher in East London, 7 years in Botswana and 7 in Brighton. She uses puppets in many ways, especially in helping refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and EAL (English as an Additional Language) children and those with special needs or disabilities to learn English, improve their English, gain confidence, express feelings and ideas and improve their self-esteem. She has also run after school clubs and collaborates with Chris East to run puppet making and animation workshops for children, families and senior citizens.
Helen Ledger
Helen, now retired, was as a professional librarian specialising in working with children and teenagers in a number of public library authorities. Helen developed a love of storytelling as a result of her library work with children. She took the lead role in developing pioneering work for the library service with the Hampshire Traveller community. Alongside her professional career Helen has 30+ years of experience as a youth worker in the voluntary sector, working with primary school aged children. Always enthusiastic about communicating with people, Helen finds being a member of Pegasus is opening up new avenues of work where she can bring her past experience to play and develop new skills for the benefit of the group and the clients Pegasus works with.
Helen, now retired, was as a professional librarian specialising in working with children and teenagers in a number of public library authorities. Helen developed a love of storytelling as a result of her library work with children. She took the lead role in developing pioneering work for the library service with the Hampshire Traveller community. Alongside her professional career Helen has 30+ years of experience as a youth worker in the voluntary sector, working with primary school aged children. Always enthusiastic about communicating with people, Helen finds being a member of Pegasus is opening up new avenues of work where she can bring her past experience to play and develop new skills for the benefit of the group and the clients Pegasus works with.
Karen Hickman
Karen has a background in social care and fine art and her work brings these two strands of her life together. Her degree in fine art led to a passion in exploring the human condition in different mediums, recently puppetry and animation. Whilst gaining an MA in Dramatherapy, she also studied puppetry, storytelling and clowning realising the therapeutic and expressive potential in these. She has worked as a dramatherapist with children, adults with learning disabilities and people with dementia and co facilitated a number of therapeutic theatre pieces. Karen has volunteered as a therapist for the charity Frontline 19, delivering sensory stories, and creative sessions both online and in the community. She believes in the healing and expressive potential of the arts, and the ability to connect through creativity. For her life is not complete without adventures into clowning, painting, puppetry, animation, walks by the sea and moments in her local community garden.
Karen has a background in social care and fine art and her work brings these two strands of her life together. Her degree in fine art led to a passion in exploring the human condition in different mediums, recently puppetry and animation. Whilst gaining an MA in Dramatherapy, she also studied puppetry, storytelling and clowning realising the therapeutic and expressive potential in these. She has worked as a dramatherapist with children, adults with learning disabilities and people with dementia and co facilitated a number of therapeutic theatre pieces. Karen has volunteered as a therapist for the charity Frontline 19, delivering sensory stories, and creative sessions both online and in the community. She believes in the healing and expressive potential of the arts, and the ability to connect through creativity. For her life is not complete without adventures into clowning, painting, puppetry, animation, walks by the sea and moments in her local community garden.
Howie Rush
Howard grew up in New York City and fell in love with puppetry through Kula, Fran, and Ollie and Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop – children’s TV shows from the 1950s and 60s. He has lived and work in higher education in and around Brighton for nearly fifty years and is currently the Emeritus Professor of Innovation Management at the University of Brighton. His academic research has focused on innovation within the humanitarian relief sector and has worked with various UN and international agencies on research and training programmes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the sector. He has been a volunteer with Pegasus for three years working on programmes for refugees, people with learning difficulties, the elderly, and school kids.
Howard grew up in New York City and fell in love with puppetry through Kula, Fran, and Ollie and Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop – children’s TV shows from the 1950s and 60s. He has lived and work in higher education in and around Brighton for nearly fifty years and is currently the Emeritus Professor of Innovation Management at the University of Brighton. His academic research has focused on innovation within the humanitarian relief sector and has worked with various UN and international agencies on research and training programmes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the sector. He has been a volunteer with Pegasus for three years working on programmes for refugees, people with learning difficulties, the elderly, and school kids.
Isla Munro
Isla Munro has been a member of Pegasus since 2019. She loves anything creative and the joy of working with people. Isla works with a number of different arts groups within the Brighton community learning and sharing creative ideas.
With a back ground in care work and supporting adults with learning disabilities , older people and children and working within prisons Isla brings a breadth of experience to Pegasus.
Her sense of humour and fun are essential to the work Pegasus undertakes
Isla Munro has been a member of Pegasus since 2019. She loves anything creative and the joy of working with people. Isla works with a number of different arts groups within the Brighton community learning and sharing creative ideas.
With a back ground in care work and supporting adults with learning disabilities , older people and children and working within prisons Isla brings a breadth of experience to Pegasus.
Her sense of humour and fun are essential to the work Pegasus undertakes
Hannah Hill
Hannah Hill is a community creative arts and well-being facilitator based in Lewes, East Sussex.
She first became involved with Pegasus in 2017. Following her degree in Illustration, she has worked for over twenty years running workshops and participating in events for people of all ages; including performing at Glastonbury festival as part of a female recycling warrior tribe, to using puppetry and song, as a way to connect with people in the later stages of dementia, leading sensory arts and drawing workshops for people with disabilities and mental health problems and running shadow puppet workshops in schools. She leads The Well-being Tree in Lewes, an organisation for adults with disabilities and significant life challenges and is co-director and facilitator of Shadow Cabinet Puppetry.
Hannah has explored a wide variety of different art forms in her own creative work and enjoys
merging the arts and creativity. Five years ago she became a qualified and accredited teacher of meditation and relaxation techniques for adults and for children. She really enjoys using these to help people to connect with others, to relax and express themselves in their own unique way and combining the creative arts and meditation. She has a particular interest in helping to empower and develop self-esteem and in enabling people to tell their stories through the arts.
Hannah Hill is a community creative arts and well-being facilitator based in Lewes, East Sussex.
She first became involved with Pegasus in 2017. Following her degree in Illustration, she has worked for over twenty years running workshops and participating in events for people of all ages; including performing at Glastonbury festival as part of a female recycling warrior tribe, to using puppetry and song, as a way to connect with people in the later stages of dementia, leading sensory arts and drawing workshops for people with disabilities and mental health problems and running shadow puppet workshops in schools. She leads The Well-being Tree in Lewes, an organisation for adults with disabilities and significant life challenges and is co-director and facilitator of Shadow Cabinet Puppetry.
Hannah has explored a wide variety of different art forms in her own creative work and enjoys
merging the arts and creativity. Five years ago she became a qualified and accredited teacher of meditation and relaxation techniques for adults and for children. She really enjoys using these to help people to connect with others, to relax and express themselves in their own unique way and combining the creative arts and meditation. She has a particular interest in helping to empower and develop self-esteem and in enabling people to tell their stories through the arts.
Helen Nelder
Since graduating from Warwick University with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts, Helen trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, a movement-based drama school in Paris. She is also a qualified drama teacher at secondary level. After ten years of teaching, she ran her own theatre company training professionals who worked with people experiencing domestic violence and abuse. Recently graduating from RCSSD in London with an MA in Applied Theatre, Helen is currently pursuing her interest in physical theatre and puppetry and working as a freelance drama facilitator.
Helen is passionate about social inclusion and is keen for the drama and arts to be part of the solution towards injustice. She believes in teaching all young people the language and practices of applied arts so that they articulate their own experience of the world and challenge inequality.
She’d rather be outdoors than in – beach, garden or countryside!
Since graduating from Warwick University with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts, Helen trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, a movement-based drama school in Paris. She is also a qualified drama teacher at secondary level. After ten years of teaching, she ran her own theatre company training professionals who worked with people experiencing domestic violence and abuse. Recently graduating from RCSSD in London with an MA in Applied Theatre, Helen is currently pursuing her interest in physical theatre and puppetry and working as a freelance drama facilitator.
Helen is passionate about social inclusion and is keen for the drama and arts to be part of the solution towards injustice. She believes in teaching all young people the language and practices of applied arts so that they articulate their own experience of the world and challenge inequality.
She’d rather be outdoors than in – beach, garden or countryside!
Pegasus associates
Charlotte Oliver
Charlotte is a puppeteer performing shadow puppet shows and running puppet workshops. www.shadowcabinetpuppetry.com
She runs a ceilidh band, putting on ceilidh and barn dances with live or recorded music. www.ceilidh.co.uk
She can also offer an evening of Victorian entertainment featuring a genuine magic lantern.
www.magiclanterns.co.uk
Charlotte is a puppeteer performing shadow puppet shows and running puppet workshops. www.shadowcabinetpuppetry.com
She runs a ceilidh band, putting on ceilidh and barn dances with live or recorded music. www.ceilidh.co.uk
She can also offer an evening of Victorian entertainment featuring a genuine magic lantern.
www.magiclanterns.co.uk
Philip Alexander Sugg
Philip is an art historian and artist who had a career lecturing in film and audio-visual production at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Richmond Adult College. He now concentrates on puppetry and toy theatre making and performance.
His work can be found at www.puppet-theatres-brighton.com
Philip is an art historian and artist who had a career lecturing in film and audio-visual production at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Richmond Adult College. He now concentrates on puppetry and toy theatre making and performance.
His work can be found at www.puppet-theatres-brighton.com
Megan Prendergast
Megan has been formally involved enthusiastically with Puppetry since 2017. Amongst other courses, she has completed the Brighton Puppetry School summer school program and has created her own short works which have been exhibited at the Marlborough Theatre and Hove Grown theatre festival 2018. She enjoys all aspects of the creation process from making, rehearsing with others and the final sharing of a piece with audiences. Mostly she enjoys the discovery process as a work unfolds and having a laugh in rehearsals. She lives in Hove with a tiny puppet making workshop and too many unfinished projects!
Megan has been formally involved enthusiastically with Puppetry since 2017. Amongst other courses, she has completed the Brighton Puppetry School summer school program and has created her own short works which have been exhibited at the Marlborough Theatre and Hove Grown theatre festival 2018. She enjoys all aspects of the creation process from making, rehearsing with others and the final sharing of a piece with audiences. Mostly she enjoys the discovery process as a work unfolds and having a laugh in rehearsals. She lives in Hove with a tiny puppet making workshop and too many unfinished projects!
