Giving Young People the Space to Create

somewhereto_ is a non-profit organisation and we have a purpose – to improve the lives of young people.

We were funded with the support of Big Lottery funding for four years, and in that time we’ve found free space for 20,000 young people including artists, performers, musicians and entrepreneurs. To continue the programme post funding we’ve set up a business that we hope will provide free space for young people, for free, for ever. We now specialise in finding London’s most interesting and inspiring venues for hire. When you book with us a young person gets a space for free, and the chance to bring their idea or vision to life.

We have two main objectives — first, to ensure somewhereto_ continues to enable young people to access space (to pursue their interests) for free, forever. Second, to bring on board the most unique, creative and interesting spaces in London, available to hire by our customers.

Transitioning the business...

We needed to find great, creative spaces throughout London that would appeal to our customer base. We then needed to develop our website to make sure it was as easy and convenient as possible for them to find their perfect space. We’re constantly refining this process to ensure the process is as smooth as it can be for our customers.

We identified interesting and creative spaces we knew would appeal to our customers’ requirements, whether it’s filming, networking, meeting or partying. We also wanted to have a good geographical spread across London.

Once we let them know they would be contributing to a programme that provided free space for young people, it was pretty easy to get spaces to sign up with us.

We’ve set up a business that we hope will provide free space for young people, for free, for ever. We now specialise in finding London’s most interesting and inspiring venues for hire. When you book with us a young person gets a space for free and the chance to bring their idea or vision to life.

Over the last four years we’ve achieved 20,000 space matches with young people. That’s 20,000 projects we’ve supported, throughout the whole of the UK, engaging 300,000 young people on their creative, entrepreneurial journeys. That’s an amazing feeling, knowing we’ve reached that many people across the whole country!

Proudest Moments....

There are so many, it’s difficult to choose! James, now co-owner of Mous Case, an innovation led company that strives to take the humble phone case and make it perfect. After winning a somewhereto_ startup competition, and receiving mentoring from somewhereto_ staff, James and his colleagues have secured funding, produced their first batch of products and are being stocked in Urban Outfitters and Amazon. James told us, ‘It might seem like a fun idea at the time to use your bedroom as an office but if your business is going to be a success you are setting yourself up for problems. A better idea is to call somewhereto_!’.

We’ve also worked with artists and creatives like Abbie, a trained dancer from Scotland. Since accessing free space Abbie has set up her own dance studio, The Grit. The Grit aims to provide young dancers with the skills and experience they need to progress into professional dance careers. Abbie says ‘Holding performances at somewhereto_ venues enabled the project to hold an intimate sharing of work, giving people a chance to grasp their ambitions’.