I’m
pleased to finally be able to bring you news of a very interesting writing project
that I formally started today. I’m working as a Changemaker on a 5 month placement
at New Writing North, developing a new, youth-led creative writing project
which seeks to document the opinions, concerns and frustrations of various
young people in Tyneside and Northumberland.
For those
of you who don’t know, Changemakers are a fantastic national youth leadership
charity who happen to have a base in Newcastle. I got involved with them in
September after successfully applying to work with and be trained by them.
Changemakers organise leadership development modules alongside placements at
host organisations, helping young people to gain real-world experience. New
Writing North, who I’ve had involvement with in the past, are one of the hosts this
year. The Changemakers mission is simple: “To create a world in which young
people have the confidence to lead in employment, public life and society at
large, and everyone understands that we need them to.”
So, what
am I actually going to be doing? Well, in a nutshell, I’m hoping to collate a collection
of creative writing by 15-25 year olds that deals, first-hand, with their
experiences of ‘being a young person in uncertain times.’ As a young person who’s
directly been effected by societal change and uncertainties, I think that the
project is incredibly timely and has huge potential to open up a dialogue
for, by and between young people and their peers within their communities and in the wider
world. On the eve of George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, when we expect him to
announce that austerity measures may have to be carried out until 2018, and
with news of arts cuts in Newcastle over the past fortnight, I think this
project has potential to become incredibly pertinent and I hope that it can
bring young people’s concerns on these and other matters to the wide audience
they deserve.
I’ll
blogging as the project develops, but using a separate Tumblr site, which you can
find here: www.uncertaintimesnwn.tumblr.com
