Ynot?
[Sunderland] 2002 to 2009
Spanning 7 years, the Ynot? programme provided a variety of continuous arts activity for young people aged 16-21 living in the Sunderland area, particularly focussed on the aspirations of young parents and those leaving care.
The broad aims of the project were to provide young people with the opportunity to:
- develop new skills and interests;
- experience working alongside professional creative practitioners;
- identify and explore employment, training and educational possibilities;
- develop their confidence and self-esteem;
- interact with others in a creative, dynamic and enjoyable environment.
Ynot? also aimed to:
- create opportunities for positive work with disaffected young people;
- increase participation in the service (Young People's Services);
- encourage and develop positive peer education;
- engage young fathers.
Activities generally took place all day on Fridays at The Place in Hendon and included drama, creative writing, film and video production, DJing skills and music production, visual arts, graphic design, animation and street dance. Young people involved in the project since its inception included those accessing the departments responsible for those leaving care, young parents, young offenders and young homeless people.
Work created through the project included several high-quality spoken-word CDs, a number of short films, a book celebrating the group's work between 2003 and 2005, a combined book and DVD based around street dance, and a set of colourful boards for the outdoor nursery space.
During 2007 the group were commissioned by the Sunderland Empire Theatre and Sunderland City Arts Team to produce a set of graffiti boards that were used during the staging of We Will Rock You at the Sunderland Empire.
The group also worked with writer Paul Summers, graphic designer Tommy Anderson and illustrator Bethan Laker to create an illustrated children's story book called The Lost Rainbow. The book has been professionally printed and was launched at Seven Stories, The Centre for the Children's Book, on 27th August 2008.
In the latter part of 2008 the group took part in a series of workshops with artist Kate Sweeney, exploring how substance misuse impacts on their lives and their communities. This work resulted in a series of photographs, texts and poems created by the young people which were brought together in a DVD format and entitled Snowed In.
Between 2003 and 2009, the Ynot? project received funding from the City of Sunderland, Arts Council England North East, Connexions Tyne & Wear and Northern Film & Media.
This project is now complete and we thank all those who took part.
