My journey with The Camden Youth Hub Project Board

Catherine and Amaan at the Poached Creative offices

By Catherine Capaldi

A new youth space is about to open in the centre of Camden designed by young people for young people, on 12 November.

As one of the young people involved I am excited and nervous about the space being open to the public. On one side I’m excited because its finally going to be open and on the other side nervous because I’m scarred that people will not want to go to the place I and my fellow Camden Youth Hub Project Board members helped create.

We designed the hub for young people to go and chill out, meet new people and make friends.

I have now been involved in the development of the hub for 18 months, during this time I have learnt to not judge a book by its cover and have developed more of an open mind.

The Camden Youth Hub Project Board has worked alongside Camden Council to design the look of the space and the services it provides. Highlights have included working on the design and colour scheme, working as part of a team, making a documentary with Poached Creative and Mediorite, working with Maria, Lizzie and Dionne from Camden and making new friends.

Part of my role as a board member has been to promote the needs of disabled people. As a wheelchair user I find it is important to show people the importance of access at the beginning of the design process. This has been really important to me as I want disabled people to be able to ask for help, feel part of something and not an outcast for having a disability.

I have met allot of new people through this project and made some close friends, like Chris. When we first met he was very quiet but being part of the board has helped him come out of his shell and show more of his great personality.

This is a great example of what the hub will achieve when it opens.

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Tackling homelessness through ETE

Research has shown that over a third of people who use homeless services don’t have the formal qualifications they need to find employment or to participate in and enjoy full and active lives.  Numerous reports have highlighted the need for coordinated and specialist education, training and employment support for homeless people.

Housing support services have long recognised that housing in itself will not provide a complete answer to the risks and consequences of homelessness.  There is a general consensus that the availability of specialist education, training and employment (ETE) services has improved over the last ten years and have played a key role at local level, usually being seen as flexible and supportive by other agencies and people.

Homeless people often experience significant barriers in engaging formal education; the advantages are clear and include greater social integration, confidence and self-esteem. This would give a boost to homeless people who have a strong academic background but need to update their qualifications or to re-familiarise with them. Successive governments have also taken the view that paid work is beneficial in a number of ways; it provides a route out of poverty and it can address the sense of purposelessness, lack of direction and poor self-image that may be present among people who have not worked for sustained periods.

However, many studies have emphasised the need to tackle the problems and barriers single homeless people face in securing training and employment. Some of these problems and barriers include low education attainment, little or no work experience which puts homeless people at a disadvantage, problematic drug use and poor physical and mental health which renders them unemployable.

There are also homeless people that have a history of employment, have qualifications and can perhaps with help, make a move back into paid work relatively simply. In some cases they have complex needs and need a great deal of support before the transition to seeking paid work is a viable option. This means that there are unmet support needs, low levels of self assurance, a lack of interpersonal skills and also an inability to structure their time means they cannot immediately use mainstream services designed to help with job seeking, let alone secure paid work for themselves.

Research carried out by St Mungo’s Broadway suggests that people in this group may benefit from activities that allow them to develop interpersonal skills; emotional literacy, assertiveness and self-esteem, as well from programmes designed to deliver meaningful activity or ‘sheltered’ forms of employment prior to acquiring more formal qualifications.

From experience, front-line housing support workers have frequently voiced concerns that recent legislative changes have failed to recognise adequately the vulnerability of young homeless people and that individuals with particularly traumatic histories were at risk of being pushed out into mainstream programmes before they were ready.

That put aside, there is clear evidence that education, training and employment (ETE) services are beneficial to homeless people. The ETE sector has grown very significantly over the years and is characterised by innovation, diversification and experimentation with many different forms of service being developed.

Poached Creative has been working with The Big Issue to provide practical training in communications and journalism for people who are homeless and long­-term unemployed or facing significant barriers to employment. The training has been really successful and has seen some of the trainees regain confidence to pursue recognised journalism qualifications, write articles for print media such as The Pavement, The Telegraph, and E9 magazine. Some have found work as photographers.

There is a very strong need for coordinated and specialist education for training and employment support for homeless people by service providers. This is imperative as resources might be subject to constraint in future. There is a need for caution, in that it is logical to expect that wider labour market conditions will have an effect on ETE effectiveness.  Realism is needed when considering the scale of barriers that a minority of homeless people face in relation to securing paid work. With appropriate ETE and support paid work can be secured, it can help a person overcome the material and psychological effects of being homeless. 

Guardian visit for The Big Issue journalism trainees

Journalism trainees at Poached Creative learned how to pitch stories and got the chance to see how a major news organisation operates at a visit to the Guardian's London headquarters last week. 

The visit was part of Poached's training programme for The Big Issue, which aims to teach online journalism skills, including writing and photography, to people of diverse backgrounds, including the long term unemployed, in order to get them real world skills and job experience that can be used as a stepping stone into paid work. 

The Guardian visit was an opportunity for the trainees to see how the news industry operates on a large scale and to receive advice from experienced journalists. I was glad to see that the skills we are learning will translate to a high level work environment. 

I was especially impressed by the Guardian’s online strategy and I think it’s something we can learn from. They are a digital-first company and devote significant time and effort towards their website and interactive media, which is reflected in their readership, which hovers around 200,000 in print and over 5 million daily visitors online. 

The ease of editing articles online compared to in print means that Guardian articles on the website, especially breaking news, often receive updates as developments occur. 

Even the titles of news articles are changing as newspapers move online. It’s no longer enough to include a catchy pun or phrase; instead the headline must have terms that will easily be recognized by search engines, something to remember as we write our own stories. 

After a short history of the Guardian and a Q&A session with our guide, we had the opportunity to ask questions of Guardian journalist Maya Wolfe-Robinson, a commissioning editor for Guardian law and Comment is Free. 

She explained how to pitch opinion pieces and said it is important to be clear about what issue you want to debate and what your angle is. And she stressed that journalists do not have to come from traditional backgrounds and that having a unique perspective on an issue can make for a powerful story. 

The visit encouraged me to try pitching stories to a variety of news outlets and emphasized the most important trait for journalists: persistence. In order for anyone to succeed it is essential to keep building a strong portfolio.

It's Mental Health Month at Poached Creative!

This month we’re focusing on creating a mentally healthy workplace in the office. 

We were inspired to look at mental health due to our recent work on Free Minds, a youth-led campaign to raise awareness of how mental illness affects young people. We've also been inspired by our work on Off Centre’s Tackling Gang Violence report, which looks at the psychosocial issues behind gang violence, and our Oii My Size project – a youth-led website that tackles healthy relationships for teenagers.

It’s an important and common issue, with 1 in 6 people working with a mental illness at any given time, and absenteeism due to mental illness costing £8.4 billion annually to UK employers .

Our experience training unemployed and disadvantaged people in communications, many of whom experience mental health problems, have shown us the positive difference that meaningful work can have in people’s lives. Many of our trainees go on to volunteer or work in our office, becoming a valuable part of the team. 

So we’re confident that our office can support people with mental illness – but we want to be the best we can be! So we asked Twitter how to create a mentally healthy workplace.

We had a great response, with people advocating:

* flexibility,

* looking out for and respecting one another, and

* confidential support.

Here are our favourites answers from Twitter:

@poachedcreative ...Promote an open and honest culture in which you engage and support your staff
— NHS Employers (@nhsemployers) June 20, 2013 

@poachedcreative Mentally healthy workplace? Flexibility, giving a sh*t about each other not just outputs, solving problems, caring...
— Markoneinfour (@MarkOneinFour) June 18, 2013

Hi @poachedcreative ooh, it would be difficult to pick just one! Have a look at our top tips for healthy workplaces: http://t.co/weRJUd1Ziu
— Mind (@MindCharity) June 18, 2013

What’s your top tip for creating a mentally healthy workplace? Tweet us @poachedcreative

Interviewing - it's a juggle!

Writers and journalists on our training courses often struggle with the art of the interview. There's no doubt it's a difficult beast. No longer is a grubby notepad and half-chewed pen all you need. If you're lucky enough to have time to do a face-to-face interview you'll probably be wielding a flip camera, digital camera and smartphone for starters. However you're conducting it, there's a jumble of things you need to think about before, during and after your interview.

A checklist seems like a sensible option. Here's what we've come up with.

Interviews checklist

Whether you’re the interviewer or the interviewee, interviews are nervewracking. This handy checklist will help you put your interviewee at ease and get a good story or case study.

Before the interview – be prepared

If you can meet the interviewee in person that’s best but if not you might need to settle for a phone interview. Make sure that you’ll have somewhere quiet where you can freely have your conversation. If you’re meeting them in person, try to go to somewhere they’ll feel comfortable and where you might pick up some more information about them.

· Think about how and where you’re going to do it.

· Research the person and their organisation.

· Find out the facts of the story.

· Write your questions beforehand.

· Make sure your camera/dictaphone batteries are charged, make sure you’ve got a pen and notepad.

· Start with something easy.

· Build on it, reflecting back some of their answer in your next question.

· Put the tricky questions in the middle.

· Try to have a ‘wildcard’ question that will be different from everyone else’s.

· End on a light note or ask about the future.

During the interview

· Introduce yourself and say what the story’s about and who it’s for.

· Build a rapport, look for something in common.

· If you’re going to record, tell them you’re going to record it.

· Turn camera/dictaphone on.

· Ask your first question and LISTEN

- nod, use open body language

- make eye contact

- Make positive noises (but only if you’re not recording).

· Try to get your next question to flow from the previous answer.

· Be natural.

· Probe – if they haven’t answered fully, ask again from a new angle.

After the interview

· Check their details – full name and spelling, name of organisation, job role (if appropriate).

· Get their contact details (mobile, email, website) in case you need more information.

· Tell them what’s going to happen next. When and where can they see the story?

· Think about the most interesting/exciting thing. What was the one thing that stood out or stuck in your mind – this is what you should lead with.

· Write it up/edit as soon as possible, while it’s still fresh in your mind.

· Check any facts and get any missing information.

Good luck!

Find out more about Poached Creative's training and communications services.

Working with young people

Easily bored, no attention span, noisy, fussy eaters, expect the world, think adults don't know what they're doing, lack of appreciation - it turns out everything they say about Generation Y is true.

Until now I've managed to avoid working with young people and I still don't really know how it happened. A conversation between my administrator, Kayla, and our director of sales and youth projects, Lucy, a hastily composed funding application, some frantic policy writing and form filling and - poof! We had ourselves a youth film project.

Well, I'd worked with unemployed, homeless, depressed, disabled, incredibly intelligent and sometimes difficult people since I started Poached (and before that too). I figured I could handle it.

At first it was frustrating. They listened - I think - to the brilliant trainers we'd lined up for them. Experienced filmmakers and screenwriters who'd worked for the BBC and Ginger Productions had volunteered their time for us. But our young crew were bored, they hated the lunch we'd provided and were itching to get stuck in to the filming.

Then it was stressful. We had a film to make. They were lukewarm when it came to creating a script. It was starting to feel like we'd have to drag the young crew through a process they'd completely lost interest in - and this was only week 2!

Then I learnt something. We'd thought it was their project, told them it was their project, encouraged them to make it their project. But we hadn't acted like it was. And they felt like we weren't listening to them. After a morning working with our film production trainer they called me in.

"We're changing the script."

OK, I thought. Let's see where this goes.

"It's going to be more of a drama than a documentary."

Panic! That meant actors, mocking up locations, a full script.

"It's going to be a metaphor - you know what that means?"

I could barely contain my rage but I fought the urge to throw the Concise Oxford at them.

Then they went on to describe what they'd come up with. It was creative, ambitious, a hell of a lot of work. They referenced some of the techniques they'd learnt in some of our more "boring" sessions. I couldn't help but smile. I questioned them on why they thought it would work, if they'd watch it, if they were willing to put the work in. Their enthusiasm and commitment was evident. I couldn't have been more relieved.

They wrote the script, found the actors, agreed the locations, did all the paperwork, got all the filming done on an incredibly tight schedule and now we're in the editing phase. They've come up with a far more ambitious short film than I would have dreamt of doing in the time and they've pretty much pulled it off.

It will probably seem obvious to anyone who's used to working with young people (or any other group for that matter), but there's an incredibly powerful response when you stop trying to help people do what you want them to do and genuinely support them to do something that they believe in. Far too many projects, I believe, fall into the trap of the former. I'm just glad I had some Gen Ys around to jolt me out of it.

You can follow their progress and book tickets for the free screening at Rich Mix 0n 19 August on the Hackney Hounds website.

If you were still wondering what Poached is about...

I couldn't put it any better than one of our trainees, Brij, who has just got his first full-time job as a care worker in Tottenham. What that has to do with writing and communications, you might well ask.

I've always wanted Poached to be about helping people to find out what they're good at and gain the confidence to go on and do the things they want to do with their lives. Communications is the world I know and understand, and it's a great way to help people open up to oneanother and to the thoughts and ideas within themselves.

The way Brij explains it really touched a chord with me (and, without wanting to be too soppy about it, his email did bring a warm tear to my eye).

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Brij Burrun wrote:
Hey Jess,

I got your text, and thanks for sending the reference.

I'm also very thankful for the support you gave me whilst at Poached, as I think it has helped me a lot in finding a job that I am interested in (Health Care).

I honestly think, if it hadnt been for Poached, I probably wouldn't have even bothered looking for a job in the care field, so right now I would still probably be unemployed and very frustrated.

Thanks again for everything - your time, support, information, guidance, training, confidence, and motivation...

Will definatly be in touch, and let you know how it all goes.

Take care.

Brij

Read Brij's blog from his time at Poached Creative.

Poached Creative pilot - summary of results

Over six months, Poached Creative helped eight people to gain an understanding of, and skills in, either writing or design. The pilot project aimed to provide experience and a track record for Poached in working with people who were long-term unemployed. It was also intended that the experience would help Poached to begin to build its portfolio and attract commercial clients. From April to October 2009 all the aims were either met or exceeded.

• 2 trainees completed a graphic design and communications programme
  
• 5 trainees completed a writing and communications programme
• of these, 2 trainees completed twelve-week programmes and 5 completed six-week programmes
• 1 trainee did not complete the programme
• 5 of the trainees were referred by the Careers Development Group (CDG), a charity specialising in getting long-term unemployed people back into work
• 2 were referred from Camden Calling, a social enterprise giving vulnerable people access to the art and music scene
• 1 trainee found us on a volunteering website.
  

Trainee outcomes

All trainees improved overall in their own assessment of their knowledge of, and their skills and experience in:

• interpersonal communication
• written communication (writers)
• writing for the web (writers)
• design principles (designers)
• file formats and requirements (designers).
  

Knowledge of writing for the web, web standards and principles and web technologies were the areas that saw the greatest impact in terms of trainee knowledge. For all but two trainees, the experience demonstrably improved their overall confidence and sense of direction. Many of the trainees talked about how the programme raised their self-esteem, helped them find motivation and gave them a sense of pride in what they had achieved.

Some comments from the trainees included:

"I really like the fact that it’s real work that you’ve got to get it right. I was being trusted with that and it really raised my self-esteem - that’s pretty important."

“Confidence in my own ability, interview skills, experience writing for professional organisations, feedback about my writing…I wish it could have been more than one day a week.”

"You've been a huge help in helping me get my confidence back."

"Good just coming into Poached each day and working with everyone. Getting up early and getting into good habits and a routine. It was difficult at first but it got easier."

"For anyone who wants to do anything involving web pages, journalism or writing, I think it’s a good idea."

“Very stimulating.”

"I've learnt loads, loads!"

“It was good, thank you.”

Read the trainee blogs for their first-hand pictures of the programme and their development.

Poached Creative is happy to share its practice with other organisations with similar social goals. If you would like to find out more about the project, or to see the full report, please email us.

Got some nerve?

I've been making a lot of people nervous lately, myself included.

In the last week or so I've started a new (and quite scary) leadership development programme; taken Angela to meet our client, Mark, from Room2Heal; and had my employee from my other working life, Lou, come to teach proofing at Poached Creative.

In Lou's case it was probably the fact that I - her boss - was sitting in on the training session. We've delivered in-house training together before so it wasn't completely new territory. However, this time I was a commissioner and a participant and she was training people who didn't work in the same organisation as she did. She was concerned about pitching it at the right level, saying the right things, and making it interesting for her audience. Of course, she was brilliant and Brij, Chris and Angela got a lot out of the session.

For Angela, I think it was about not knowing exactly what was expected of her. Meeting with a client to talk about communications for the first time can be pretty nerve-wracking. But we talked through what we wanted to get out of it and what we wanted to ask. Her nervousness actually meant she prepared well and the meeting went exceptionally well.

I was nervous because I was about to be thrown into a learning situation with a bunch of people considered to be 'senior leaders'. I'd never considered myself in this way and I didn't really know what was expected or if my response would be right. It meant I read all the course material beforehand and thought about what I wanted to get out of it before I got into it. I met lots of really interesting, impressive people, and felt I had something to contribute. Phew.

So it turns out that a bit of nervousness is good. Taking yourself, or gently pushing others, outside a comfort zone is the way to learn quickly and feeling a bit nervous helps to sharpen your senses.

Public speakers, swimmers, actors, tennis players and TV presenters have all acknowledged it (I've just spent ages googling for the perfect link but you're just going to have to look it up yourself - Daniel Radcliffe and Pete Sampras stood out of the crowd). And classical musicians seem to know a thing or two about it too. Being a bit nervous means you're not taking things for granted and what you're about to do is important to you. For a real sense of this in action, take a look at Poached trainee Chris' blog.

I had a ski instructor once who said that if we weren't falling over we weren't trying. He felt we should be pushing ourselves to the next level. And that's a bit how I feel at the moment. That sensation of looking down from the top of a very steep mountain feeling part nervous, part exhilarated. Hesitating for a minute, then pushing off...

Keep sight of where you want to go, choose your turns and bend your knees!

There will be time...

It's been a busy few weeks and I had two new trainees start today. Things are really moving on quickly, meaning I've got to work hard to keep up.

First, there's the training. This is priority number one. I've got three people now relying on me every Thursday to give them training, guidance, feedback, work and support. If I do nothing else I have to make sure I get that right.

Second, there's the business essentials. Make sure there's somewhere to train out of. Make sure the paperwork's filled in. Account for the money spent so far. Try to make sure we've got enough computers, the right software, people to train and work to do.

Third, there's the business development. By which I mean business survival. We need more funding, we need paid work, we need organisations that are willing to pay us to train their beneficiaries. I'm finding it difficult to get the time to sort all this out.

Fourth, there's the professional development. I need to learn from this pilot, develop as a leader, influence others, build contacts and maintain existing relationships.

Finally, there's the people. Now if I'd really done this in priority order I would have to put them first because without them, none of this could happen. There's Angela, Jeevan, Chris and Brij, my trainees, who inspire me to get up every morning and work late into the night. There's Saba, Chris and Martine, Claire and Louise, who are all successful professionals in their own right and have volunteered their time to contribute (or promised to contribute) to the training programme. There's Claire, my development manager at UnLtd, without whom I'd have no money (and probably very little sanity). There's Sophy, Chris, Otu and Paul who are all helping in an advisory capacity with their various areas of expertise. There are my contacts at CDG - Michael, Kemi, Darren, James and Natasha who have all helped me get office space and people to train. There are my colleagues and bosses at work (the paid variety) who have been so supportive of this new venture. Then there are all the people - my flatmates especially - who just support me as a person to get all this done.

I'm afraid this is a really boring blog post - it doesn't think of its audience, it doesn't add anything of wider value, no links, no pictures, no particularly stylish use of language - just about everything I've ever told my trainees not to do. But it's going up for the record as a massive thank you to everyone involved so far.

You can't compete with babies

When I spoke to Jeevan at 8.30am he was already on the bus. "My girlfriend's had the baby!" he announced. I'd been prepared for most excuses but even though I knew his partner was expecting, I hadn't anticipated it quite so soon.

In fact, I was hoping he was coming in to Wood Green for training because Saba Salman - a freelance journalist who writes for the Guardian - was coming in to talk about writing feature articles. This was a great opportunity for Jeevan and Angela to hear from someone who'd made a success of writing - on their own terms - and I was keen for them both to be there.

"Well, you don't get a much better excuse than that," said an accommodating Saba when I told her. She's absolutely right.

As numerous politicans have found, you might sidle up to a baby to share their limelight, but in terms of attention, interest and - let's face it - cuteness, you'll never be able to compete with them.

Seriously though, it puts things into perspective. Jeevan might not manage to finish his training with me but he'll be learning a hell of a lot about fatherhood, responsibility and priorities over the next few years. I just hope he writes about his experiences.