A group of young people from the Future Jobs Fund programme within Peterborough's children's services led the project, with the support of Peterborough City Council staff in the engagement and participation team and the eight to 19 service. Michael, Nathalia, Kerri-Anne and Felicity were our young researchers team.
The impetus for the research came from feedback gathered from previous activities such as Get Involved (a consultation event with young people's representative groups from across the city, including the Youth Council, UKYP and Young Lives) and Sorted (where members of the youth council consulted with young people attending the annual city centre celebration of positive youth activities). Having looked at this feedback the young researchers wanted to find out more about young people's sense of identity within the city.
The young researchers decided to host a series of musical evenings at a local city centre nightclub and to capture the results of their interviews through the production of a short film. The young researchers came up with the name Pass the Mic Nite to reflect both the performance and research elements of these evenings. The evenings would also provide an outlet for talented young people who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to perform to a receptive audience. Additionally, the young researchers set up a Facebook group to promote the events with a link to an online survey.
Initial results point to a positive sense of identity within the city from a diverse range of young people, the results also highlight the need to continue with more city centre-based arts/music events and projects. While young people value the services on offer in their local areas, they also feel that events that bring them together on a city-wide basis in a central location add to their sense of cohesion. This will be one of the important messages that will be presented to relevant strategic bodies within Peterborough City Council in April, when the report is completed.
