Talent Works 2021: Supporting Young People
Community engagement programme Talents Works returns for it's 5th year, supporting local groups and organisations with digital skills and engagement. 4 of those organisations involved in this years programme support young people within the local community.
For young people, having access to organisations and charities that provide support and guidance for a range of issues, can be an integral part of their upbringing. However, many families and young people are not aware of, or do have access to, the support available in their local community.
This year, LCC’s local community programme Talent Works, has focused on providing creative consultancy for organisations who address poverty and inequality within the Southwark area, with a particular focus on those effected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bridges for Children CIC, CareTrade Charitable Trust, Elevated Minds CIC and Reach Dem UK support young people in a variety of areas and were all members of this year’s cohort.
Dilanthi Weerasinghe, from Bridges for Children CIC, spoke highly of the experience following the creation of an animation for the charity, "[The students] were very polite, respectful of my time and efficient. They listened to feedback and took on board all amendments/suggestions. I was very impressed with their background research and their warm and friendly approach. A highly professional team!"
Credit: Lucy Crayton, Aleksandra Mucha and Sophia Leung
ELEVATED MINDS CIC
Elevated Minds is a Community Interest Company established in April 2019. As an organisation, they believe in the transformation of young people and adults through the development of emotional intelligence- which affects individuals on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.
Through Talent Works, Elevated Minds were hoping to refine and restructure their overall communications, including social media and digital strategies. For the duration of the project they worked alongside Naomi Keshet, a BA (Hons) Fine Art Photography student, Adeola Ogunsiji-Isaac from BA (Hons) Photography and BA (Hons) Animation student, Marcelina Dopieralaw and were further supported by Sophie Deer, also from BA (Hons) Animation.
By exercising their creative skills, the team worked closely on location and remotely to produce engaging photography assets and social media strategies and content, as well as a highly polished promotional video for the organisation.
Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, from Elevated Mind CIC said, “[The team] knew our brief well and was able to provide examples of what we requested, they listened well and took onboard everything we said - telling us what would work and what wouldn't and the reasons why. It was a great experience!”
REACH DEM UK
Also looking for social media development and a website redesign were Reach Dem UK. As an organisation they exist to ensure that no one is deemed unreachable and address that society sometimes marginalises certain groups. Ream Dem UK support these people and integrates them back into society.
Students from BA (Hons) Media Communications, BA (Hons) Journalism and BA (Hons) UX Design, Samia Ali, Omair Malik and Atiyyah Ntiamoah-Addo worked on the brief over two-weeks of studio sessions and produced a revamped website, social media posts and story templates.
Atiyyah, thoroughly enjoyed the project, she expressed "I've always enjoyed being involved in my local community at home and I had the same mindset with the local community surrounding Elephant & Castle, it's nice to know that myself and my group made a positive impact."
Supported by Trust for London’s Stronger Voices Programme, Talent Works has been able to provide digital support for these community groups and charities to ensure their services reach young people and their message is spread far and wide.
Related Links:
Bridges for Children
CareTrade Charitable Trust
Elevated Minds CIC
Reach Dem UK
Discover more about Talent Works