Ragged Edge Productions is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is governed by a board of trustees.
Previous work includes Artistic Director of Kirkgate Arts & Heritage, programming the Kirkgate Arts & Community Centre in Cockermouth and managing Arts Out West, the rural touring scheme for West Cumbria. Also: Creative Producer for Lancaster LitFest; Director of North West Playwrights (script-writer development agency) for many years; and leading the creation of the Northern Actors’ Centre. He has also worked as an actor, director and radio journalist/producer.
Chris sits on the Board of the National Rural Touring Forum, and is a Town Councillor for Cockermouth.
Gilli spent a decade as a performer in Community Theatre and Rural Touring, in the UK and abroad, where she trained in acrobalance and physical theatre. She taught at Fool Time Circus school in Bristol and led workshops across the South West.
Following the Cockermouth floods, Gilli became the Community Engagement Manager for Kirkgate Arts and Heritage, coordinating a 5 -year Lottery funded programme supporting community resilience through arts activity.
Most recently she worked with the charity Dementia Adventure, coordinating and leading small group holidays for people living with dementia and their family carers.
She was a founding committee member of the Cumberlandia Festival, and currently performs with local group, Tatie Pot, on song and storytelling shows for small venues.
Originally trained as a painter, British artist Celia Burbush became C-Art Cumbrian Artist of the Year in 2017, won her episode in BBC’s inaugural series of ‘Home is Where the Art Is’; and received critical appraisal in Joshua Sofaer’s book Performance, Objects, Participation’ (eds. Mock, R & Paterson, M, 2020, Intellect Live). Most recently, she co-created The Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art’s first remote outdoor art trail and hosted their first online symposium in 2021. She was Director of New Arts North 2009-2019, receiving many funding awards for her community art projects and working with major cultural venues.
Celia is also currently a doctoral researcher with Manchester conducting practice-based research concerning processual elements of community art practice.