For Simon Kerrigan, the Priestley Centre for the Arts was a springboard for a career as a professional actor.

Now Simon, 30, is starring in a major touring production of Lord of the Flies which is coming to Bradford next week.

Eccleshill-born Simon joined the Priestley's Green Room classes when he was 16 years old and learned vital acting skills.

"I'd always wanted to be an actor but had never really trained properly before that," he said.

"The Playhouse, as it was then, was really good grounding. There were two main levels to the Green Room training - we worked on voice and characterisation, and then performance.

"I learned a lot and socially it was great too - I made a lot of friends there.

"It took up an important part of my life when I was in my late teens and early 20s. It's a great shock to hear that it's struggling."

One of the many main stage productions Simon performed at the Priestley in was She Stoops to Conquer, in which he starred alongside Kate McGregor, who now plays Emily Dingle in Emmerdale.

Simon went on to work at Bradford's Theatre in the Mill and has been a professional actor for the past five years, appearing in theatre productions across the country.

He sees one of the Priestley's strengths as what it offers to young people. He urged Bradford schools to support the theatre by taking pupils along.

"Theatre plays an important role in teaching schoolchildren about the texts they are learning," he said.

"I'm in a production of Lord of the Flies, which is on the national schools curriculum.

"When children come to the theatre and see the work they're studying performed on stage it brings it to life. They learn more from it.

"I wish I'd seen more theatre when I was at school - I might have taken more interest in my studies!"

Simon's mother Carol added: "The Priestley was a terrific grounding for Simon and set him on to make his living from acting.

"It's very sad that it faces such an uncertain future today. There are a lot of young people training there who could go on to act professionally like Simon, if they have the chance."

Lord of the Flies runs at the Alhambra from November 6-10.