Ashley cooks, cleans, washes, Ashley looks after Mum, goes to school, but at night  Ashley climbs high into the sky! So states the teaser on the poster for Tilbury Tightrope - a production by young people from Thurrock which took place this weekend at the atmospheric and historic London Cruise terminal. But this was more than another youth arts production.

Tilbury Tightrope tells the story of 14 year old Ashley, a young carer and brilliant graffiti artist. Ashley's emotional evolution is very much in evidence from this production that is still work in progress. Whilst it hasn't quite yet captured the urban thriller element of Gillian Cope's book Tightrope on which the new production is based, I agree with what Sue Elkin wrote in her blog in The Stage last week that this is "a timely, modern day parable illustrating the power of art and self-determination to enlighten and unite fragmented communities."

'The power of art and self determination' is a great phrase that for me highlights what the creative organisations currently working in Thurrock (the National Skills Academy, Theatre Is, Royal Opera House Thurrock, South Essex College and others) are trying to plant  here and  grow within the local communities with whom we work.

Self determination Theory  is concerned with supporting our natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways. In areas such as Thurrock where a study out last April showed that only 50% of local people are qualified to NVQ Level 2 (equivalent to five GCSEs A* to C), the theory of motivation and how motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals lies at the heart of what genuine community artists such as Skills Academy members Theatre Is and others are all about.

I was pleased to be able to attend and offer the moral support of the Skills Academy to Tilbury Tightrope this weekend. A fifteen minute version of this piece was presented this summer at South Essex College's Woodview Campus as part of the Thurrock International Celebration of Culture, but it was great to see the piece develop into something more like a full piece. Production standards were high with the design well supported by Royal Opera House freelance designer Bernadette Roberts using designs arising from workshops with local schools - in itself clearly a motivating experience for those participants.

On Saturday evening I saw some highly motivated young people, both those in the production and others taking part in a Slam Night after the show as part of the evening's entertainment. That motivation will get them all far. These were positive young people taking control in a challenging environment.

The Skills Academy building continues to take shape beyond an orchard in the High House Production Park. Reflecting upon the young people I have just seen, and our own Moving East programme, I am reminded of something the great Martin Luther King Jr once said:

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."