Bedlington charity and Morpeth and Whitley Bay escape rooms give teenagers insight into creative process

Leading Link has partnered with the owners of Pirate Escape Rooms and Northumberland Escape Rooms to teach children on its Future Proof extracurricular activities programme how escape rooms work and get them coming up with new puzzle ideas.

Owners of the Whitley Bay and Morpeth escape room venues Dan and Robert Simms have conducted workshops for the programme, explaining the logistics of operating an escape room business and discussing the creative process behind their themes and ideas.

Karen Goldfinch from Leading Link said: “During our previous residential program our young participants expressed a keen interest in escape rooms. That is when I reached out to Dan.

“We arranged for the ‘young leaders’ to experience all four escape rooms there and also to visit their new, at the time unopened, Northumberland Escape Rooms in Morpeth.

“They got to see how things work behind the scenes and how to create their own escape rooms. Now, they are working closely with Dan to refine and develop their own escape room ideas.

“We are hopeful that their innovative ideas and concepts may find a place in a future escape room."

Dan added: “The young leaders have demonstrated remarkable creativity, coming up with captivating story lines.

“While some of their ideas may present practical challenges in terms of game reset times, we are in awe of the valuable learning experiences they are gaining.

“We believe we have future escape room designers in our midst, and we hope this experience will shape their future careers."

The idea for partnering the 14 to 17-year-olds up with an escape room business stemmed from the charity’s recent residential programme at Broomley Grange, near Stocksfield.

The programme participants took part in team building activities, outdoor cooking classes, and had hands-on experience of event planning during their stay.

Karen said: “We work closely with young leaders from schools in Northumberland and North Tyneside, creating a space for them to bond, collaborate, and learn in a distinctive environment.

“Many of these young minds were uncertain about their future career paths after school or college.

“I am using my network of business contacts to guide them, introducing them to the world of work and providing them with a host of options."