The Chicken Shed Theatre celebrated its 30th birthday last year.

Teacher Mary Ward and musician Jo Collins founded the company in 1974 with the aim of producing original and exciting theatre in an environment where everybody could take part.

At first the fledgling theatre company was restricted to performing in schools and church halls, deriving its name from the barn lent to them for rehearsals by Barnet Council.

An important development came in 1982, when Mary and Jo were joined by council care specialist John Bull and linked up with a home for children with physical and emotional difficulties. After forging this link, the company set out on a journey that has changed the lives of thousands of young people across London and beyond.

They began to stage productions with disabled actors alongside able-bodied performers in groundbreaking shows which attracted the interest of the theatre world.

Jo said: "There are whole sections of society that are denied the opportunity to express themselves creatively. These aren't necessarily people with physical disabilities, they might be under-achievers at school.

"We had the idea of setting up a company which would be open to all these people to everyone."

The Chicken Shed's activities rapidly expanded and through extensive fundraising and donations from individuals, the theatre raised £6million to build its own theatre in Chase Side.

The phenomenal fund-raising feat was also helped by Diana Princess of Wales who became the theatre group's patron in 1990.

Following her death in 1997, the Chicken Shed theatre won national recognition when it released the No1 hit song, I am in Love with the World in aid of the Diana Memorial Fund.

The theatre company now boasts more than 850 members, most of them under 18, and runs outreach programmes dotted across the capital's poorer boroughs.

Nevertheless, the Chicken Shed has come under criticism from some people within the charity sector who are resentful of the high-profile patronage the theatre attracts.

The reality is the Chicken Shed struggles to meet its £2million annual outlay and just two years ago announced a funding crisis that led to a deletion of some of its 100 staff posts and the suspension of productions.

John Bull said: "Because of our high-profile support from celebrities and the look of our beautiful theatre, there is an assumption that we are well off.

"In actual fact, we are the only theatre company in London that does not receive Arts Council funding, so for the past 30 years we have had to survive on our own."

Today, the Chicken Shed continues to open the door to people who have been excluded from traditional theatre.

But with more than 3,000 young people on its waiting lists, many from deprived areas around Enfield and Tottenham, the Chicken Shed needs support.

Visit www.chickenshed.org.uk to find out about upcoming performances, or to donate.