I would never have been an actor without free lessons - The Pact star

A Bafta-winning actress says she would not have made it without free access to the arts due to her working class background.

The Pact star Rakie Ayola, who grew up on a council estate in Ely, Cardiff, said state-funded music and acting opportunities helped to pave the way for her career on stage and screen.

It comes as the Welsh National Opera's co-director Adele Thomas says accessing the arts from a working class background is becoming close to impossible.

Earlier this year, £8m was handed out by Arts Council for Wales in a bid to protect the futures of 40 arts organisations.

Ms Ayola, who has also starred in Doctor Who and Black Mirror, said her time with National Youth Theatre Wales, South Glamorgan Youth Choir and the Royal College of Music and Drama was all "funded by the council".

She said joining a theatre group and learning to play an instrument for free as a child helped her to realise the opportunities that existed in the arts.

"Right now you can join a youth theatre but it'll probably cost you £25, and if you don't have that what are you going to do? Same with ballet and instrument lessons too," said Ms Ayola.

"I don't know how I would have had access to anything I wasn't hearing on the radio if my school hadn't stuck an instrument in my hand which were from the school. They weren't asking my parents for £20 a lesson.

"So I don't know how young people whose parents don't have that spare cash get access to the arts in that way."

The Welsh actress has recently performed for the first time with the Welsh National Opera, which has seen its budget slashed by a quarter since 2022.

The WNO has had to reduce the size of its chorus and it's been forced to cut down on its performances due to funding challenges.

Its bosses also say more funding is needed to secure the future of its wellness and education programmes, which aim to engage people from a range of backgrounds in the arts and opera.

Co-director Ms Thomas said: "Without that investment, what we will see is a drop in the numbers of young people that are able to access the arts.

"The number of people from working class backgrounds will be diminishing year on year.

"What we need to have is more investment not just in the organisations, but the whole ecology needs massively more rigour and investment in order to survive."

Pupils at Gwaunmeisgyn primary school in Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf, are among thousands across Wales and England who have participated in the WNO's educational programmes.

Teacher and the school's expressive arts lead, Bethan Jones, said getting the chance to work with a professional opera singer and to hone performance skills has "really engaged" the children and has helped boost their confidence by bringing the quieter ones "out of their shells".

"It's just about having that opportunity for the children to do something else that they might not have thought about and to explore something they haven't previously had the chance to experience," she said.

"Our Year 6 pupils were also able to spend the day in the Millennium Centre and learn about how the lighting work, how the sound worked and gave them ideas about those jobs as well as the roles on stage."

The Welsh government said it had increased its spend for the culture sector by 8.5% this year, and tripled investment in venues compared to a decade ago.

"Our draft budget for 2026-27 has already been published, with over £33.5m revenue and an increased capital allocation for the arts," it said.

"Our investment goes far beyond this however, and we spend more than £200m on culture and cultural programmes across many other departments including education and the Welsh language, and for youth-related organisations such as the National Music Service, the Urdd, National and Llangollen Eisteddfodau and the summer reading challenge at all libraries in Wales."