You Press is an award-winning social enterprise that aims to tackle today’s issues through the creative arts. Based in London, our projects empower young people (between 16 – 30 years old) from underrepresented communities to hone their crafts and amplify their voices.
Our mission is to empower young people and communities by providing opportunities for them to express themselves and gain training and experience in the creative arts.
Founder / Director
Creativity and Operations Manager
Strategy & Funding Manager
Social Media Manager
Graphic Designer
Project Manager
Website Developer
Videographer
Videographer / Photographer
Videographer / Photographer
Videographer / Photographer
Videographer / Photographer
Videographer / Photographer
Website Developer
Our Design Community has been made to specifically meet the needs of young creatives in London wanting to develop their skills and interests, we’ve designed and delivered a number of free courses and training programmes that have nurtured young creative talent and improved their confidence and career prospects.
The You Press Creative Agency was born organically through the needs of our project participants to find employment in the creative industries. Our agency seeks to support young creatives’ career progression and access to the creative industries by connecting them with organisations looking for creative professionals.
The Conscious Hive our platform for young creatives to express who they are and what they care about through a range of creative media. We have developed a hub for young people to share their stories, opinions and ideas within a range of creative projects and events, as well as our blog “ScribersHive”, where young people can write and read articles on a diverse range of topics.
We are committed to working with young people from varied social and cultural backgrounds, and aim to develop their skills and talents through meaningful engagement in a range of creative media.
A Group of young people from Newham meet on the leadership programme called UpRising to figure how to get young people from various ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds to contribute to mainstream British Society.
You Press’ first media partnership was with The Guardian as we launched a youth focused series in June that involved publishing articles written by young people focusing on the topics that matter to them.
You Press won 1st place for this award
You Press named ‘Inspiration of the Week’ by Urban Pollinators, a think tank working with leading practitioners on issues around regeneration and society.
The founding team graduated from SOAS with Post Graduate Diplomas in Law & Community Leadership (Awarded Distinctions), through a scholarship programme funded by Tower Hamlets Council.
You Press takes a new direction after completing many national & international training programmes. The focus was on giving marginalised and invisible communities a voice through the creative arts.
This project involved pairing young talented creatives with homeless people to share their stories through performance based art.
After the success of the pilot project, You Press used the same project model for a programme that involved sharing the stories of ex-offenders through creative expression.
Travelled to Bosnia (with a group of talented artists and students) and delivered a powerful live event that that honoured the victims and the survivors of the Bosnian genocide and war.
Bosnia
Successfully delivered our first theatrical project that focused on the stories of Refugees, Migrants and Asylum Seekers.
Successfully delivered a community research project with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and a group of young talented individuals in the BAME community.
Worked with Young Westminster Foundation from March to November train young people who live, work and study around the City of Westminster.
Worked with Paddington Arts on a Photography & Creative Writing Competition based on the themes of Faith, Identity and Belonging.
On Friday 8th June (during Ramadan), the You Press’ team members along with volunteers from the Young Westminster Foundation helped to deliver a Community Dinner feeding the homeless residing at the Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest in Poplar.
30 young people from the UK, France, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey all gathered together to not only learn about journalism but also each other’s cultures. The week was spent discussing different social issues and taking part in fun activities that all in all brought everyone closer.
With our artist development programme, 15 talent young artists from around London were selected to learn and further develop their musical skill with the help of our music leaders.
After our 2018 ROOTS LDN success, we implemented the same programme for the 2019-2020 year!
We created this project to help recent graduates with skills and techniques for success. The programme ran for 10 weeks, allowing graduates to experience the workshop process.
At the end of this workshop-based programme servicing North Westminster, participants’ work was compiled into our first Creative Writing Anthology.
Music, poetry, freestyle, and the written word: all on the Paddington Arts building. Participants explored issues that impact them and our community in this new series.
A 12-month project exploring the cultural and social values in European countries. Participants from 8 different countries collaborate on different creative mediums to produce meaningful content.
Our agency continued its creative work this year, reaching new organizations and communities.
From 2019 to 2022, we had the honour of training our youngest group of young people on the Youth Quake Programme in partnership with an incredible charity called Harrow Association of Somali Voluntary Organisations (HASVO).
You Press collaborated with the Anti-Tribalism Movement, during which young people were equipped with the knowledge, skills, confidence and resources to design their own social action campaigns to make a positive difference in their communities.
In 2020, we partnered up yet again with British Land and Paddington Central to deliver a couple of events celebrating Black History Month. You Press along with our talented pool of young creatives streamed two documentary screenings and virtual Q&As with inspiring Black Artists. Available to view on our YouTube Channel.
In 2020-2021, we successfully adapted our artist development programme to be delivered virtually until it was safe to have physical contact. The young musicians clicked almost immediately and created socially conscious music with the help of our music leaders and our supporting artists.
In April 2020, we teamed up with Barking & Dagenham Giving to document local stories and produce a series of illustrations representing Barking and Dagenham’s response to COVID-19.
For two years in a row, ASPIRE has trained young creative freelancers looking to take their first steps into the working world, through free virtual workshops. This programme aided creative individuals aged 16-30 in developing their skills and talents in order to access the creative industry.
During the lockdown, Maslaha commissioned us to create a series of short-animated films, in English, Urdu, Sylheti, Somali and Polish, for parents to help prepare their children for starting school - especially, in light of the many challenges that lockdown has brought to families and their children.
A scheme up and running with Kingston University and College as well as SOAS and partnerships with American schools. Both the interns and You Press have benefited immensely. Interns earn credits whilst gaining hands-on experience.
Dadkeena, translating as 'our people in Somali, was a free two-day online event led by Ridwan Yusuf, intended to support individuals aged 18 and above from the Somali community, by providing valuable workshops on key aspects of personal development, such as goal setting, confidence and productivity.
This 10-week training program for young people aged 16-30 encouraged them to develop their public speaking skills and confidence. Coordinated in partnership with expert workshop facilitators, the training ran for 10 weeks, during which participants practised their public speaking skills in a safe and friendly environment, supported by our expert facilitators.
‘Truth On The Roof’ is a 15-week storytelling project focused on helping young artists share their opinions on meaningful social issues through music and spoken word. We promote social inclusion, community cohesion and artistic expression by training 20 young artists from BAME backgrounds to develop their employability skills.
ScribersHive: Royal Docks is a unique learning experience designed to give the young people of Newham a way to express themselves through multimedia storytelling. This programme was created so that a diverse group of young participants will be taught transferable production skills which they can use to voice their issues in today’s modern world.
Check out the other services we have to provide
