Weekly Circus classes and Open Training
Free and subsidised Youth Circus
SEND and Neurodivergent
provisions
EOTAS and alternative routes to education
Holiday & Outreach activities
Performance, voluntary, and leadership opportunities
Progression to advanced and pre-professional training.
Artist support, Resources, and Creative Development
Welcome to Cirk Hes
Cornwall's Centre To Learn, Train, Perform,
and
Progress in Aerial and Ground Based Circus
WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
Here at Cirk Hes you can get into the air and learn, train and in time perform (if that is your wish) aerial hoop, aerial silks, aerial sling, corde lisse, static and swinging trapeze, cloudswing, aerial chandelier, aerial cube, and aerial pole. Our rigging points come to ground level for you, and we offer counterweighted aerial oportunities, and lunged dynamic aerial skills, and duo aerial skills learning, training and practice.
On the ground you can trampoline, learn and train and eventually perform parkour, tumbling and acrobatics, we do partner and group acrobatics too, providing our flyers the safety of lunge lines.
The same goes for juggling, hula hooping, handstanding, tightwire walking, clowning, equilibristics, unicycling and stiltwalking!
As well as the opportunities to learn, train and perform circus in Cornwall, we offer accessible, alternative, and conventional routes to:
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Volunteering and Work Experience
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Education, Home Education, Higher Education, SEND Education
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Professional Development, Career Development, Creative Development, Personal and Social Development
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Employment and Self Employment
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Safer working practice, and high quality resources
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'Safe Space' and a supportive, inclusive, warm and friendly environment
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Everything and anything 'Circus' for your event, be that a whole show under a big top, or a single clown for a hospital ward
Our Mission
To make the benefits of circus arts and physical theatre accessible (through the use of high quality industry standard resources, and equally high safety standards), to those who need them most, while supporting creativity, diversity, inclusion, progression, health, wellbeing, resilience and community in Cornwall.
We also nurture grassroots creative and community projects, support emerging artists in their professional development, and contribute to the wider circus industry, the creative sector ecology of Cornwall, and it's cultural landscape, particularly in youth, social and community contexts.
Cirk Hes creates affordable, creative, and physically engaging opportunities for children, young people, adults and artists to learn circus skills, train safely, develop creatively, and perform with confidence.
Via inclusive, trauma-informed, non-competitive circus practice, people build trust, discover their strengths and grow through trying, failing, improving and succeeding.
If people can learn, train and perform in an inclusive and diverse circus community, they are more likely to build the confidence, resilience, skills and relationships they need to thrive, which in turn supports maintaining a thriving, creative, resilient wider community.
With high-quality, industry-standard facilities, and high safety standards, 'Cirk Hes' will continue to strive to grow the charity's activities, and involvement within the community, where the focus is on positive personal, social, health, youth and community development.
As well as striving to better, facilitate, resource and equip, the teaching, training, creation, professional development, performance, and the ecology of circus arts and physical theatre in Cornwall.
Our organisation firmly believes that if we invest our time, energy and resources into a community and it's people, long term, then they will invest in us. This has proven to be true in our experience.
We will continue to strive to celebrate and nurture the culture, and the cultural practices of Cornwall, it's Performing Artists, it's emerging Artists, it's Creative industry, and it's creative and cultural ecology, it's people, communities and environs, because all are of immense value, and worth sustaining, and celebrating.
WHO WE ARE
Formerly 'Cirque du Ciel', 'Cirk Hes' has been around since 2003, and a registered charity serving the Cornish community since 2004, using circus skills-based activities and the creative performing arts. We began as a small stilt walking project in Penzance for young people.
'Cirk Hes' means 'Shoal Circus' in Cornish, here we believe that like a shoal, the group takes care of the individual and the individual takes care of the group. We feel too that the Cornish Community bears similar comparison.
As a Circus we wear 5 different top hats in the course of our work.
Professional Circus - Youth Circus - Social Circus - Community Circus - Accessible Circus
Now we run a wide range of classes, provisions, services and activities, in house 50 weeks of the year to a weekly timetable, and off site all year round too. We offer classes for everyone of all abilities age 4 - 104+ years, Home Ed, After School, SEND, Saturday Morning Circus, Adult Classes, Masterclasses, Open Training, Holiday Circus Clubs, and much more.
Off site we have an excellent track record of providing high quality service in everything from workshops, complete tented big top shows, community events and corporate performers to a clown for a hospital ward.
In 2019 the charity leased and piloted a very unique space, the 'Circus Works Devoran' between Falmouth and Truro.
The same fantastic team then used that experience in 2024, to establish and develop the 'Cirk Hes' Circus Space in Helston, Cornwall, UK.
'Cirk Hes' is Cornwall's only regional 'Centre for Advanced Training' in the Circus Arts, as a partner school in the National CAT Scheme and the National Centre for Circus Arts cohort.
We have a lot of appreciation for all the fantastic community support and funders who have helped us to deliver an amazing body of work since 2003. To everyone that has helped us achieve so much, that has supported us, volunteered for us, funded us (you can see who in our footer), fundraised for us, and that has taken us into their hearts KERNOW MEUR RAS!
You can find out more about our team and our work through our two video channels. Here's the first, and you will find the second on our perform page here, or through our blog WASSON at Cirk Hes?
Cirk Hes Channel 1
The Cirk Hes Theory of Change
Learn • Train • Perform • Progress • Contribute
Using inclusive circus arts and physical theatre to strengthen people, creativity and community in Cornwall.
Our core 'Theory of Change'
If people are given affordable and equitable opportunities to learn, train, create and perform circus within a safe, inclusive and supportive community, they can build the physical skills, confidence, resilience, relationships and sense of belonging they need to thrive. If those opportunities are sustained over time and connected to progression, volunteering, education and professional pathways, individuals are more able to contribute to their communities and creative industries — strengthening Cornwall’s social, cultural and creative ecology in return.
The Cirk Hes “shoal” principle underpins this approach: the group supports the individual, and the individual contributes to the strength of the group.
The Cirk Hes pathway at a glance
LEARN TRAIN PERFORM PROGRESS CONTRIBUTE
Try circus Develop technique, Create, share and Move into leadership, Give back through
Discover strengths confidence and safe perform work; be advanced training and volunteering,
Build foundations. independent practice. seen and celebrated. careers. mentoring,
coaching,
collaboration and
community.
EVALUATING OUR WORK SINCE OUR RELOCATION
Our NextGen Youth Circus - Glastonbury Festival Big Top 2025 snap courtesy of Rosi Jolly
WEEKLY TIMETABLE AND SPECIAL EVENTS
You can book any of our sessions through our Class Calendar or see Memberships and Pricing for more information.
Looking for more specialist training or interested in events we produce? You can find upcoming events on our Events Page, find out more about our work by browsing Past Events. Feel free to contact us, we'll be happy to discuss what we can offer you.
Most sessions continue during the school holidays. Please consult the calendar on our 'What's On and Booking' page for the day you want to book, for any holiday changes. To see, and book all sessions available on any given day click the 'SHOW ALL SESSIONS TODAY' text beneath the calendar.
Old favourites like Wednesday afternoon (4pm) after school SEND kids session 'CIRCO NEURO' have returned. We also have new sessions and workshops popping up here and there, so keep an eye on our Events page, and our calendar, for news of upcoming new sessions, workshops, masterclasses, performances and other exciting opportunities coming soon.
Our new timetable shown here is valid from September 2026 onward.
Our NextGen Youth Circus 3 High at the Great Estate Festival 2025
snap courtesy of Quick Panda Productions
Circus with Professional Tutors
A circus school teaching beginner to expert skills to all ages and abilities from 2 to 102 in Helston, Cornwall.
Concession Scheme: We offer discount classes for people on low incomes during term time and free placements during school holiday programmes. See our bookings page for full details.
Cirk Hes is Cornwall's only regional 'Centre for Advanced Training' in the Circus Arts, as a partner school in the National 'CAT' scheme and the National Centre for Circus Arts cohort.
We are an 'Approved Provider' for young people with an EHCP with an EOTAS package.
We support completing Arts Award coursework, and Duke of Edinburgh Awards challenges.
We offer Work Experience opportunities to young people who are home educated, or still at school or college.
We even have our own in-house certification and training programme, that's flexible, so everyone can achieve at their own pace.
We can also bring the circus to you with our circus acts, shows and workshops and through our Outreach Programme. Get in touch for more details: info.cirkhes@gmail.com
Not sure what you're looking for?
Learning circus skills can be categorised into the five circus disciplines. Learn why and what we teach with social circus here.
One of the best things about the circus arts is that there is something for everyone to enjoy, no matter who you are, or how able you are, or feel yourself to be.
To find out more about our accessible resources, provisions and facilities, visit our page accessibility
A practice and creation space for the community, and for emerging artists to professional companies
Just some of our facilities
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Aerial (including dynamic, static and Swinging Trapeze)
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Counter Weighting, Cloud Swing
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Training safety lines, acrobatic belts and twisting, and rigging harnesses
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Aerial Pole, Silks, Rope, Hoop, Spanish Web, Net, Solo and Duo Trapeze, Chandelier, Aerial Cube, Double Trapeze
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Trampoline
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2 metre high Tightwire
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German Wheel
Open Training
Flexible training times over six days a week for members. See membership and timetable for full details.
Creative and Artistic Residencies
Available for companies to train, rehearse, create or develop new work with unique facilities. Here's a list where you can find out more about some of the incredibly talented folk that we have supported, resourced or enabled, to facilitate creative works and specialist practice.
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Rosie Rainbow Circus CIC
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Charlie Bicknell
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Tyrone Helihy
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Ben Loader
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Jon Udry
Master Classes and Courses
Facilitating high-level training for local artistic students and professionals with open master classes from UK-wide leading tutors. Past visiting tutors have included:
Contact us to find out about upcoming master classes.
Cirk Hes Channel 2
Cirk Hes Channel 2
Our NextGen Youth Circus and Airfish Circus Community Arts Collective collaborate to create 'Mordros'
Act 1 Filth Oli Lambourne Straps @Glasto 2023 for Cirk Hes NextGen Circus
Cirk Hes Community Members talk about the 'Big Top Takeover'
View our second channel to see and hear our participants, our service users, and our community
members talk about Cirk Hes, and see some of our performers in action.
Here at Cirk Hes we produce our own events, premiere new creative works, offer showcases, and support creative 'grassroots' projects. We strive to nurture young performers along the pathway to becoming well-rounded, talented artists, and compassionate, grounded adults.
We offer locally based and touring, creatives and professionals space to R&D, rehearse or 'pilot' creative works, to obtain feedback, assess viability, to support their development and their regular, or their new creative practice.
As a result of all this, we have developed an extensive network of creatives, artists, production specialists and crew, mentors and educators, to support performative opportunities, career development, and employment. Check our social media channels for upcoming events or get in touch to find out how we can help you with your creative work, with venue, resources, production or event needs.
At Cirk Hes you can access...
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Circus training, rehearsal, R&D and performance in Cornwall, UK
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Accessible parking and a wheelchair-friendly building, toilet, and aerial circus equipment
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Marketing and ticketing support
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Free Hot-Desk space and access to Wi-Fi for Creative Industry Freelancers
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Learning circus skills in Cornwall, UK
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Performance, volunteering, work experience and career development opportunities
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Aerial Silks, Trapeze, Hoop, Rope, Wall Running classes in Helston, Cornwall, UK
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Circus Clubs for kids in Helston, Cornwall, UK
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Regular weekly sessions 50 weeks of the year including, home ed; after school; sessions for SEND, and Neurodivergent adults and young people; trampolining; parkour; Saturday morning circus; lunged acrobatics; acro balance; tightwire; equilibristics; spinning; juggling and flow arts; all manner of aerial circus; swinging trapeze; cloud swing and wall running.
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Group and Private Classes for schools, clubs and organisations, young people, and adults, freelance workshops, birthday parties and corporate team builders, in Helston, Cornwall, UK
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Support for your community, or outdoor event
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Family-friendly circus events in Cornwall, UK
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Trampolining, Parkour, Acrobatics and Acro Balance, Juggling, Hula Hooping, Equilibristics, Swinging Trapeze, Cloud Swing, Lunge Lines, Tight Wire and much, much more
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Safe Space
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Cirk Hes is an 'Approved Provider' for Cornwall Council's EOTAS provision, and the Time2Move Holiday Activities and Food Programme
Cirk Hes
Circus Space
Cirk Hes
Unit F8,
Helston Business Park,
Clodgey Lane,
Cornwall,
TR13 8FZ
UK