‘Jobless’ stage role for Melissa (From Bury Times)
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‘Jobless’ stage role for Melissa
9:20am Thursday 10th January 2013 in News
A BRANDLESHOLME girl has starred in a drama to highlight the real-life heartache of being out of work.
Melissa Kilner, aged 19, joined other youngsters in a play staged at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium as part of a youth summit, attended by business leaders and local authority chiefs, to examine solutions to youth unemployment.
Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband was in the audience, and Melissa was joined on stage by 19-year-old Kevin Hardman, a former pupil of Riverside High in Radcliffe. Both are trainees with the Bury-based charity, Rathbone.
The production was staged by the Odd Theatre Company.
Melissa, a former Tottington High School pupil, said: “A social worker recommended I do drama when I was younger and it has helped me.” The would-be child carer has spent years looking for work to help pay her through her studies.
Melissa has since recorded an interview with American news outlet NBC on youth unemployment.
