Facebook, Livity and The Prince’s Trust unite to put young people in charge of new digital campaign

The cohort were chosen for their varied experience and each have different roles for the project. Chosen from over 100 applicants the team members and their roles are:

• Uyi Aghedo (Creative, @veryrxre)
• Martin Berto (Designer, @mmm.works)
• Renée Jackson (Producer, @reneejacks)
• Pippo Khalwa (Researcher, @Peakysaku)
• Destinie Paige (Photographer, @onlydestt)
• Louis Pallier (Video Director, @louispatternss)

Placing young people at the heart of both identifying the barriers and then creating a solution was key to making the campaign that responds to the problems young people face today. The group was responsible for researching, strategising, coming up with the concept and producing a creative social campaign that would unlock access for a specific group of young people. Through this process they had to consider:

● Young people want access to real, paid and aspirational opportunities, in many instances these include opportunities that they might not even know exist

● Foster self belief and creativity amongst the target audience to ensure they feel these opportunities are available and attainable

● Make all outputs ownable for young people with a youth-led communications plan to drive impact

● Provide skills training, soft skills development and creative inspiration that will create a sense of agency with participants to deliver lifelong positive impact

● Relate to young people who are willing to make positive choices about their futures, but often with little or no opportunity to do so.

● Create a groundswell of self belief and opportunity among young Londoners affected by youth violence.

The paid residency ran from Livity’s Brixton office from December 2019 through February 2020. Over that time the residents received master classes and invaluable guidance from the teams at Facebook and The Prince’s Trust as well as ongoing programme management and mentorship from Livity.

The first phase of the ‘Lightwork’ campaign is focused on inspiring a groundswell of self-belief in young people has now launched and will run across Livity and The Prince’s Trust channels within the Facebook family of app for the next six weeks. Facebook will also provide additional support to promote the campaign to young people across the UK. At a time when young people are faced with so much uncertainty and anxiety around their futures, positive content that can bring inspiration about their future is needed more than ever.

Featured within this content are interviews with presenter Kenny Allstar, youth activist and entrepreneur Jeremiah Emmanuel, Keep Hush founder Freddy Masters and campaign coordinator Yra Lougheide-Camejo.

The following stages of the campaign will focus on the development of career related skills and linking young people with job opportunities, once the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted.

Pippo Khalwa, one of The Residency explains: “The Livity residency has been, overall, an eye-opening experience. I somewhat arrogantly assumed previously that I had grown to understand everything that goes into a marketing campaign and the roles behind it, but throughout this process, I have come to realise I was largely mistaken.

"This experience has been a formidable challenge as I’ve had to address some of my communication and teamwork issues of my own, but I’m grateful that I have an environment with such resourceful, open-minded creatives to bounce off of and grow with. I've already learnt so much about what has been holding me back professionally in the past, and I'm hopeful that it's setting me up for a bright future. I’d recommend this process to quite a few of my friends, definitely.”

Kat Hahn of Facebook said: “The project taught us that approaching creative briefs in a different way brings great rewards. Not only was the value our six young people added through their insight and experience immeasurable - I have also been truly humbled by working with them; their drive, their passion, their talent is inspirational. There really is nothing more powerful than getting to know and working directly with your audience.”

Livity's Alex Goat said: “Young people want access to tangible future pathways, especially those at risk of experiencing serious youth violence - directly or indirectly - but too often it feels like there are no options open to them. The Facebook led partnership between Livity and The Prince’s Trust looks to change this by empowering an amazing group of young creatives to design, produce and execute a campaign offering a more inclusive narrative that breaks down the barriers to employment and gives young people what they actually need.”

Alex Fleming from The Prince’s Trust: “The ability to be truly young person led is incredibly important to us at The Prince’s Trust. This project has demonstrated the importance of believing in the talent and creativity young people have to create something inspiring to their peers. By working with partners like Facebook and Livity who share our commitment to building young people’s confidence and skills, we’re able to inspire them– even in uncertain times - to seek positive next steps and have thriving futures.”