Enable Youth

Finally Back In Action!

Forest — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:28:56 +0000

After a rather long break, it seems that the Social Media Group is back together again and we’re heading straight into building up the website.

The planning and designing is finished and now the site is live, all we’ve got to do is write all the content!

So watch this space for news and updates about what’s happening at Enable Youth, as well as seeing how the Social Media Group get on with the bright and snazzy new site!

Don’t forget that you too can get involved, just head over to the Projects page for more information.

Forest

Speak Out Competition 2011

sian — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:25:29 +0000

This creative competition was done in partnership with Harborough District Council and the Rural Youth Voice project. We asked young people and children aged 10 – 18 to tell us about something that was important to them – and it had to be in a creative way.

In October 2011, Harborough District Council, along with the Rural Youth Voice Project put on an awards night for all the finalists. The evening was brilliant, with young people coming from all over Harborough District to enjoy the event and see each others entries.

Here are some of the finalists…

As you can see, we had loads of poster entries, but we also had a play, a couple of films and 2 powerpoint presentations. The standard of entries was really high, and the subjects you wanted to tell us about covered loads of different things including the environment, self harming, computer games, girls football and racism.

The judges (which included local artists), had to choose which entry put their idea across the best – it wasn’t just about which was the best artist. After a lot of thought, the judges chose this poem by Amy Sharpe:

Keep your eyes open for the Speak Out Competition 2012!

Social Media Project

sian — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:25:50 +0000

As you can see from this all new website, we at Enable Youth have been working hard on creating online spaces for us to say what we want to say and shout about all the great stuff we’re up to.

Our social media project is getting exciting, with the website being only the first bit of the Big Plan. Here’s what we’re planning next:

Facebook – we already use it for different projects, but we want to get our facebook page sorted and getting liked!
Newsletter – starting soon! We want something with articles and stories written by young people from Harborough District about what they’re up to and what they’re interested in
Event – sometime in spring 2012 we want to put on an event to bring together young people who want to find out more about using social media to get heard and make a difference!

But what we really need right now is you!

Enable Youth’s Social Media Project is an awesome opportunity for all budding journalists, photographers, media personalities, web and graphic designers. If you join, you’ll be part of team responsible for maintaining the Enable Youth website, the Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages, and the up-and-coming newsletter. All these tasks require artistic flair and originality, so if you’re a ‘think outside of the box’ sort of person, then this is definitely for you!

We’re bringing together a new group of Enable Youth Members from across Harborough District to make all these plans a reality. If you’re interested in getting involved all you need to do is get in touch with us! Leave a comment here, or use the contact us form and you can be the next member of Enable Youth to Voice. Action. Change.

Learning the ways of the website

sian — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:16:53 +0000

6th December 2011

Well, here I am, sitting next to the radiator in my freezing office, trying to make some sort of sense out of Enable Youth’s fab new website. This isn’t the first time I’ve used wordpress, but this version is slightly different and there seems to be loads more options and things in the back of the site.

When we first set about developing this new online space for Enable Youth, we wanted to create something that Enable Youth members could use to promote the work they’re doing, events they’re organising and to give support, advice and create a kind of network for young people in Harborough District. It also had to be easy for us to get the hang of and change and update as we want to. And that’s what I’m trying to get the hang of now!

As this is my first blog post on here, I am crossing my fingers that it goes to the right place, and that people can find and read it! Once we know that’s all cool, we can blog away to our hearts content, bringing you all the latest updates and info.

Don’t forget though – this is a tool for you to use too – so get involved by commenting, giving us feedback on what you think of the website, and remember that we’re always looking for people to join Enable Youth’s Social Media group and really have an input into how this whole web based stuff progresses.

Siân

Rural Youth Voice Project Worker

Rock on the Rec

nick — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:29:33 +0000

In 2010 & 2011 we helped to put on the amazing Rock on the Rec right here in Market Harborough!

If you haven’t heard of Rock on the Rec before, then here’s a quick guide to what it’s all about.

Rock on the Rec is an amazing experience for teens to join in with, to help bring the community closer together.

This event is run for young people by young people. And performers for the event are from the Market Harborough district.

This years’ Rock on the Rec consisted of; an acoustic tent, a main stage, mixed workshops, food catering and of course some brilliant performers!

LIVE MUSIC

We have 2 stages of live music, a main stage where the bigger and more established bands perform, and a second Acoustic tent, where we have a mixture of booked performers and open mic slots for anyone to have a go. There are only 2 rules for you to be able to play at RoR – 1) you have to be 25 or under 2) you have to live in Harborough District.

We had performers with creativity, individuality, humour, and all were extremely powerful. We had some very strong words written into a poem by the fabulous James Condon, a jumpy beat about bananas from Liam Wade over at the Acoustic Tent and some very arena styled sounds blasting from Burn City Burn later into the night.

On the Main Stage we had; The Retro, Burn City Burn, James Condon, Elizabeth Cornish, Martyn Storey, The Variables, Headstarts and The Dirty Future.

Whilst over in the Acoustic Tent we had; James Condon (making a second appearance of the day), Georgia Price and Jaime Ferguson, Milo Khatchik and Elliott Izzard, We Are Headline, Oliver Dawson, Liam Wade, Red Orange, and Bethia Mitchell.

WORKSHOPS

This year was the first time we’d offered workshops, and they were spectacular. We had loads of different things to get involved in, including digital grafitti by Sonodrome; carnival drumming; Martyn’s Guitar workshop; circus skills, a DJ workshop and a Democracy Competition. These proved so popular that they are sure to become a set feature of the RoR set up.

FEEDBACK

…from Rock on the Rec 2011

Emily, 14 says: “My favourite band that played were Burn City Burn, because they were crazy on the stage by jumping onto the speakers and they came out to the crowd! I thought the area was kept nice and clean even though people were throwing rubbish everywhere! I had a go with most workshops and I also signed up for Enable Youth! It was an amazing day, a definite come back for next year I think!”

Josh, 19 says “I stayed for all of Rock on the Rec and I thought it was pretty awesome, I enjoyed myself, because I love the music that was being played and the atmosphere was amazing, everyone was having a great time it was wicked!”

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

RoR is for young people. This is the only local festival which has 100% young performers, and aimed at a young audience. It is an opportunity for local young talet to perform on stage in public, and get their music out there.

BY YOUNG PEOPLE

RoR is created and developed by young people – Enable Youth members get involved in everything from organising the stage and running the sound to booking workshops and sorting out all the promotion and marketing.

We’re starting to sort out Rock on the Rec 2012 very soon – with meetings starting in January. We need you to make it happen again, so get in touch and get involved whether you’re a performer, an organiser, a creative person or just want something to do!