For young people 16+
DOAWnews is designed for young people age 16+. The project involves the young people staging an online event using two stories drawn from Heartstone’s photodocumentary and historical story resource. They will in essence be organising and hosting a ‘news features programme’ and in the process, the project will:
(1) build literacy, communication, presentation and social skills as well as confidence and self-esteem;
(2) reduce isolation, build community cohesion and challenge bigotry/prejudice/hate;
(3) raise aspirations and increase contact with potential employers and others who can assist the young people to reach their goals;
This is an innovative project with a strong identity, which is challenging for the young people to undertake and gives a real sense of achievement over a relatively short period of time.
The young people will use high quality photodocumentary, some of which has been gathered with ‘special access’ which provides them with access to a range of speakers and audience they would otherwise not have, thus creating a new network form which opportunities can follow.
Local ownership and building contact
How the project is undertaken is in the hands of the young people. They will organise it from start to finish and it will therefore have their own personal ‘stamp’. It will build their teamwork and organisational skills, understand the importance of working to a tight schedule whilst not compromising on delivering a quality result. It will involve them creatively in producing emailable posters, invitations and marketing materials and connecting with local press/media The process of delivering the exhibition event will put them in touch with a wide range of people, in the local area and beyond, including potential employers.
Through the story content and by bringing different people together, the project also helps to raise understanding through contact, to stop seeing people as ‘the other’ , challenge prejudice/hate and build empathy.
The Project – core requirements
- Group of young people age group 16+
This project reaches young people in a wide range of settings – including youth groups, schools, colleges, programmes for NEETs, care leavers, refugees, the homeless, or higher end achievers including BTec students.
Heartstone works in partnership with a local centre reaching the age group who will be able to supervise and assist the young people participating. A group would comprise around 20 individuals in two cohorts. This is not a new group but an existing group with a leader/teacher/tutor.
- Mobile phone/laptop + internet connection.
Access to photodocumentary images:
Heartstone will select two of its most relevant photodocumentaries and historical images for the project. One will be environmental and one social. The images at the bottom of this page will take you to the flickr galleries of Nick Sidle, Heartstone’s associated photographer, from which the images for this project are drawn.
Special access photodocumentary: many of Heartstone’s photostories are gathered by Nick with ‘special access’ with a range of global partners. This provides interesting background information for the young people – who the partners were, the nature of the special access etc. – which will be used by them in the staging of their event as well as giving them the opportunity to connect with interesting speakers associated with each story, organised by Heartstone.
‘Faces of Kabul +20’ – 20th Anniversary of 9/11:
2021 is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Nick Sidle, was given access to join the ISAF peacekeepers in Afghanistan just after 9/11 to tell a human story of the people of the country and the interaction with ISAF. It was first presented in 2002 and won international acclaim. A new exhibition and book of this photodocumentary has just been funded by Creative Scotland to time with the Anniversary. This is a unique exhibition and will be touring nationally/internationally.
Heartstone has permission to use some of these images and story, in advance of the official opening in the autumn, for DOAWnews. This will be one of the stories offered to the young people participating in this project.
COP26 – Climate Change Conference, Glasgow 2021:
Heartstone is working with the funding support of NatureScot, the environmental arm of the Scottish Government, to produce a new exhibition to be presented alongside COP26, the Climate Change conference taking place in Glasgow at the end of 2021. This will include special access photodocumentary working with national/international environmental partners and stories we are gathering from the world’s indigenous communities, bringing alternative views on the environment and the need to care for and preserve it for future generations.
We have permission to use some of these images and stories, in advance of COP26, for DOAWnews.
The Activity:
The young people will be given the task of setting up and hosting an attractive online event, which has a screensharing facility, running for 1 hour on 2 separate occasions.
As well as access to the online photo galleries for the images, the DOAWnews team will also have a set of display photos and banners for use as part of a VIP reception event they will stage before their online event.
The supervising adult leader will need to attend one 2-3 hour introductory training session to understand all aspects of delivery.
Over a set-up period of 4-6 weeks following the training input, the young people will undertake the following activities:
- Familiarise themselves with the 2 stories identified, including basic background information provided by Heartstone on how the story was gathered and any particular interesting facts;
- Select images from the photostory which they would like to use as the core of their event. These will be added to by the speakers and provide the mechanism to interact with them. The speakers will use the images as the stimulus for their presentation;
- Make contact with potential speakers, identified by Heartstone and connected with each of the selected stories. The speakers will be selected on the basis of their inherent interest and thus ability to draw an audience;
- Organise themselves as a team to host and run the event, including preparation of an opening introduction about themselves;
- Invite a special local guest to open the event;
- Extend invitations to the selected audience, organised by. Heartstone and the local partner to include potential new employers and others who can offer work experience;
- Prepare a press release and undertake a radio interview about their event;
- Undertake a reception event for invited VIP guests prior to the actual staging of their event.
The young people will record their online event to make sure they can prepare a simple report and hand over to the next team of young people.
The aim is to make this event appealing across age groups, cultures and backgrounds, and for a general public audience.
The team will have to create an emailable invitation, advertising and marketing materials and press release. They will also create an opening section about their area and about themselves. They will be encouraged to take part in a radio interview.
Training and support:
Following the initial training session, the programme is run by the leader of the group, with each session designed to build the team’s confidence before they start making contact with speakers and special guests and organising their event.
As with all Heartstone projects, leaders can book additional training sessions delivered via video or phone conference call through the Heartstone office. The ‘ownership’ of the project is with the young people participating, thus emphasis is on providing a clear framework which can be flexibly deployed, allowing scope for the input of the young people to be incorporated.
Feedback comment from a DOAWnews audience member:
‘The talk on Terns and Seals, led by the DOAWnews team was both inspiring and engaging. I truly enjoyed the event, particularly learning more about the presenters and seeing how passionate and confident they were in presenting in front of a group of people. The personal stories that they shared were emotive and powerful. In fact, Catt’s story about the Hippodrome took me straight back to my childhood, seeing the magic of the floor lowering to the ground and water filling the circus! I was impressed to learn that this was their first time hosting, as they seemed extremely at ease. The subject matter was interesting and both speakers were well sourced. A much enjoyed event, I will certainly come to any more you decide to do in the future.’