Participation in Action: Young people relish chance to create a cultural legacy

Across the north east of England tens of thousands of young people have been taking part in a diverse range of cultural activities ranging from filmmaking to parkour.

While on the face of it this may not seem that out of the ordinary, the 15 projects taking in Northumberland, Teesside, the Durham Dales and the North East coastline have all been co-commissioned and co-produced by young people.

With £1.5m from The Legacy Trust, the NE Generation project delivered by the Regional Youth Work Unit of the North East, recruited young people in 2009 to help secure programmes for their peers as part of the Cultural Olympiad, inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Ben Ayrton, programme leader for NE Generation, says: “Young people were put together with key individuals from cultural, strategic and youth work organisations across the north east.

“They did everything, starting with a blank sheet of paper. Once they had the idea they had ?to work out a fair and inclusive system through which young people could apply for funding.”

Simon Keay, now 24, was the eldest member of the original panel, then aged 20. He and his younger peers attended a residential with organisations from the cultural sector.

“We looked at what the money had to be spent on and how we translated that into the projects we would like in our region. We also examined how to make the application process accessible to young people.”

Following two commissioning phases including 25 young people, 15 projects were chosen including a travelling book art museum exhibited in vintage leather suitcases, a derelict police station transformed into an art gallery by young architects and a group of youth circus clubs dubbed the Five Ring Circus.

“We did look closely at what kind of legacy we would leave; would it be a project that stopped after its run, or would it be something young people could take charge of?” Keay adds.

Continuing projects
The process proved successful. Although the funding streams for each programme come to an end at the end of September, 12 of the 15 will be continuing beyond the original lifespans.

However, Keay warns that large-scale projects where young people are put in charge of significant sums of money are less prevalent now. “It is getting more difficult because of the economic situation,” he says.

But the end of the funding streams does not mark the end of the NE Generation project. In fact, the group is now hoping to develop a cultural charter for young people, setting out what needs to change to encourage greater involvement in cultural activities and commissioning.

Ayrton explains: “Ten young people and 10 cultural organisations are to sit on a steering group and embark on a programme of consultation. They will share what we have learned with the sector.”