WFC have run training programmes in the UK since 2008: in London, Leeds and Cumbria. In London we have run five programmes, including a project in 2011 in partnership with The Prince’s Trust, which looked at the causes of the 2011 youth riots. The result was a campaign calling on youth to share stories around police stop and search as it was felt this was a major factor in the outbreak of the riots. In Leeds we worked with Asian communities outside Bradford in a small town called Keighley. Then as now, it felt important to give young British-Asians the opportunity to express themselves as a way of understanding how they experience Britain today. In Cumbria, our partner ran our six-month training curriculum. We are now looking for another UK partner to run the curriculum again, with a view to potentially offering it as an effective rehabilitation tool for young offenders. We have found our training programme gets young people back on track and it would be good to run more programmes with British youth who want to turn their lives around.
With almost half a million young people in the UK classified as ‘Sustained NEET’, not currently in education, employment or training and unlikely to be anytime soon, capacity building in Britain is as important as anywhere else in the world. In East London, WFC worked with kids at risk of exclusion from school with 80% going onto study Media. In Leeds, WFC worked with Asian communities in Keighley, the home of 7/7 bomber, giving these youth their own voice. In Cumbria, WFC licensed their curriculum and recruited tutors for a six-month filmmaking programme. Following the 2011 Youth Riots, WFC partnered with The Prince’s Trust on projects focusing on the causes of the riots and in particular police stop and search, building a youth campaign around the brand name What We’ve Done. Young people from this project have since launched World Film Collective UK, a production team for hire.
2008
WFC begins working with young people at risk of exclusion from school in Newham Borough, East London. Programme continues for two and a half years
2009
The late Felix Dennis, publisher-turned-poet, sponsors WFC’s third training programme in Newham in Video Art. Young filmmakers select poems from his anthology and produce video backdrops for his 2010 poetry tour
2010
WFC turns its attention to Greater Leeds, working with young people of Asian extraction in the town of Keighley
Filmmakers produce three short films: The Keighley Asian Women and Children’s Centre; shopping habits of the local population; crime in Keighley
2011
WFC responds to Youth Riots with a training programme focusing on the causes of the riots in partnership with The Prince’s Trust
Filmmakers develop concepts for web series to spark a youth-led debate
They create brand, What We’ve Done and website www.whatwevedone.co.uk
2012
Part II of What We’ve Done focuses on police stop and search
Filmmakers build a campaign, asking young people to send video testimonies of being stopped and searched
2013
Alice works with film industry professionals to develop comprehensive 6-month curriculum that takes a young person from Sustained NEET into education or work.
Tendeka Matatu (Prod. White Wedding, Jersusalema) mentors WFC filmmakers
Filmmakers produce Girls and Gangs, testimonies from girls with experience of gang life in East London
2014
WFC licenses its 6-month curriculum to youth organisation in Cumbria, NADT