On the 20th of January, we ran the first KWMC Youth Council of 2022 with our new cohort of young people. We started with some fun interactive games to get the new cohort thinking about the difference between facts and opinions. We split the main studio at KWMC into two; one side “agree” and one side “disagree”, we then read out a range of varied statements and the young people ran up and down the room making their decisions. They then took it upon themselves to share their own facts and ideas with the group and the game continued with them leading it. Through this active, fun warm-up, the team started to communicate with each other and the group dynamic began to flourish.
The young people went on to think about what the Youth Council was and what it meant to them. They proudly chose their job titles and joined together for a photo as the new ‘KWMC Youth Council Committee’!
ReCREATE Filwood
The young people got stuck in straight away with ‘reCREATE Filwood’; a local project which is currently redesigning the local Filwood high street. As a group, we looked at the map of Knowle West and the young people shared the locations of places that they knew.
‘ReCREATE Filwood’ created interactive maps which we used with the young people. This enabled them to click on locations in the area and write what they liked or disliked about these spaces. This was a great way to get the young people thinking about their community and we went on virtual tours around the neighbourhood using Google street view.
Thinking about Filwood Broadway specifically, the young people thought about the following ideas:
What would make Filwood Broadway a “go-to” place for young people?
Any ideas from other high streets they may have been to…
Any suggestions on street activities/events/…
Arts and culture – linking to public art strategy
How would they like to be involved in improving Filwood Broadway going forward?
The Youth Council fearlessly took complete ownership of the task and came up with a wide range of ideas of how they would like to redesign the area. They carefully thought about the diverse needs of the people living locally and how they could help the community and environment in practical and creative ways.
We recorded all of the young people’s work from the session and fed it back to ‘reCREATE Filwood’ who went on to use the young people’s voices to help develop the design ideas for the Broadway. The Youth Council is eager to get involved and help with future developments and they were really excited to hear that their voices were going to be heard by the wider community.
Looking forward
We understand how important it is that local young people get their voices heard and our new Youth Council committee is willing to use their voice and start making positive change!
Our Youth Council sessions will be running monthly. We want to talk to the community and understand current affairs for the young people to work on together. We are determined to bring together people from all different ages and walks of life and build an even more beautiful Bristol!
If you would like to hear some of the discussion between the Youth Council of 2022, check out a link to our Soundcloud.
To find out more about the Youth Council please contact megan@kwmc.org.uk or jumpstudios@kwmc.org.uk