The National Youth Agency: Award helps keep the cameras rolling forfilm-making project

The national winners of the Actions Speak Louder competition were announced recently at a special ceremony in London. The 15 winning projects have all been initiated and led by young people, with up to 45,000 of government money available to each. In the latest of our series of winner profiles, we take a look at a youth arts cinema project in Lancaster, sponsored by Lancashire County Council The Youth Arts Cinema group is a partnership between Lancashire County Council's youth and community service and the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster, uniting professional artists and youth workers to support vulnerable young people. Young people who attend hail from diverse backgrounds and some have serious social and personal issues. Some have developed their self-confidence as well as their ability to perform in front of or behind the camera. The project initially had no editing equipment and only one old camera. To help them continue to make films, a group of young people applied for Youth Opportunity Funding to purchase professional camera, sound and editing equipment. They now hope to increase the group's reach by lending equipment to young people in surrounding rural areas.