Realising young people’s potential
I volunteer for a brilliant charity in North London called Prospex. Their mission is to increase and improve the opportunities and experiences of at-risk young people in Islington.
Their work is both diverse and impactful. When they aren't running outreach sessions to engage with teenagers at-risk of gang violence, they’re teaching 8-year-olds how to make nutritious meals.
In the summer of 2021, they asked me to run what was going to be a short project to encourage young people to get involved with their new media centre. With various covid-19 lockdowns, it ended up running till the end of the year. But boy was it worth it! The film you see here was written, filmed, featured, and edited by young people with no previous experience.
Of course, once you start volunteering for a great charity you never leave!
This year, I started helping them with what started out as a poster competition. It ended up being a borough-wide creative project featuring art, photography, films, music, and podcasts produced by young people from four different groups across Islington. It culminated in an exhibition and public viewing at the Letheby Gallery at Central St Martins Art School in King’s Cross, London.
We wanted to show young people who may have been told they are not creative that their creativity is as important as anyone else's.
Here are a few photos from the exhibition launch where young people could see and show their friends and parents their work on the walls of an art gallery that is part of a world-renowned art and design college.
The plan is to make it even bigger in 2024. If you want to find out more about Prospex, here is a link to their website.
