My father, Peter Shelton, who has died aged 61, set up two flourishing arts organisations for people with learning difficulties. Action Space London Events, which was established in 1980, provides opportunities for people with learning disabilities to access the arts. In 1988, he moved to Derbyshire and set up First Movement, which produces arts projects for people with learning disabilities across the east Midlands. The charity went from strength to strength, and in 2008 opened an award-winning arts centre, the Level, in Rowsley, in the heart of rural Derbyshire. The centre houses the premises for First Movement, as well as state-of-the-art studio space and meeting rooms for other creative industry organisations.
Peter was born in Leicester to George, a pharmacist, and Joyce, a nurse. At the age of four he composed his first piece of music, which was the beginning of a lifelong dedication to the arts. He attended Wyggeston Boys grammar school, and was taught piano by the outstanding accompanist Frederick Allt. He later dropped out of teacher-training college to pursue a career in the arts, and with a friend set up Flex, a street theatre company in Leamington Spa.
Continue reading...