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Wac Arts Launches Youth Voices Project

Youth Voice

Join Wac Arts Youth VoiceWe are delighted to be launching our new Youth Voices Project, funded by Arts Council England, forming the beginning of our journey towards authentic youth governance. This programme will be giving our students the opportunity to have their say about our existing classes and upcoming events. We want our students to have a forum to express their views and to feel they are being listened to, and the Youth Forum we are creating as part of this project will provide the perfect platform for these conversations to take place.

Research and Development

The launch of the project follows a Research and Development phase where we have been looking to other organisations with similar programmes to learn best practice in this field. We are now looking for young people from across our programmes to join the Youth Forum at our first meeting on Wednesday 6th March.

As part of the Research and Development phase of the project, three young members of Wac Arts attended the Real Talk debate in the Council Chambers at Camden Council earlier this month. This is an annual event to give young people living, studying and working in Camden an opportunity to express their views on a theme and to help shape support for Camden’s young people. We were joined by young people from youth clubs and youth provisions across the borough for a discussion on the theme of identity. Our young people were commended by the event organisers on how they conducted themselves and on the valuable contributions they made to discussions.

Next Steps

The Youth Voices Project will provide a platform for our young people to have their say about our programmes and events, including the chance to get involved as a Young Producer. It will grow their confidence, expose them to different settings, introduce them to new contacts and give them the chance to develop their creative leadership. The longer term aim of this project is that the Youth Forum will support a young member of the Board of Trustees by 2020.

If you are a Wac Arts student aged 12+ and are interested in joining the Youth Voices Project, contact our Youth and Community Engagement Manager Hannah Newman by email at Hannah.Newman@WacArts.co.uk.