We turn young people's ideas into action, through creative, youth-led projects.

Case study - Castle Rock High School, Leicestershire

Photography project: respect

A photography project encouraging young people to respect their local environment and community.

In October 2007, Young TimeBank was invited by Castle Rock High School to run a photographic project as part of North West Leicestershire’s ‘Respect’ Agenda. The aims of the Agenda are to encourage children and young adults to take an interest in, and be more responsible towards, their local communities.

The project met every Wednesday as part of Castle Rock’s after school programme. The group’s first sessions explored the young people’s concerns for the communities they live in. The students were then encouraged to split into groups and take a camera in order to go out and record their environments. Once they started taking images, the project concentrated more on photographic skills and working as a team in order to come up with exhibition ideas. As part of the project a whole-day session was also organized for the students to go out to the nearest village with their cameras, giving them the opportunity to take pictures of other parts of their local environment too.

As well as taking, editing and formatting their images, two of the groups designed DVD covers and A4 posters. All the images will go onto a DVD for the students, with a copy going to the Local Historical group as part of their archive.

Young TimeBank’s youth-led approach ensured that the young people enjoyed their involvement in the project, as well as gaining a wide range of skills and a sense of personal empowerment:

One student, Anne Marie, remarked:

“I had a great time, I liked how we were trusted to look after the camera and be treated like adults.”

Her fellow classmate Bridgette added:

“I had a great time taking pictures of our local environment on the photography project. It was really fun.”

This is not to say that there were not challenges during the project, however by discussing any differences of opinion, and working through these challenges as a group, the students gained an awareness of the importance of good teamwork and communication skills.

One of the students, Hannah, commented that:

“Communication is key. If you don’t talk, everyone gets angry with themselves.”

The project’s Volunteer Facilitator, Steve Saunders, really saw the change in the young people he worked with and said:

“it was really good to see how the young people picked up skills and the way in which the quiet ones slowly came out of their shell to open up and participate.”

Steve also gained a huge amount personally from giving his time to the project, he said:

“the biggest skill I have gained is definitely project management”.

Steve really enjoyed his experience of volunteering with Young TimeBank and is keen to get more young people involved with positive community activities. He also volunteers for the Young Archaeologists in Leicester.

Through the project, the young people have been able to get to know their local environment by taking pictures of the area in which they live. This has led them to take greater pride in their local environment as well as finding an interest in photography and design.

Working in partnership with the North West Leicestershire Respect campaign and the local historical society has meant that the young people have been involved in areas of their community they may not have previously been able to.

Exhibiting the student’s finished work has helped to create a positive image of young people, and encouraged other young people to become involved in their community.

The Whitwick Historical Society held an exhibition of the student’s work in June, whilst the work is also currently being exhibited in Castle Rock School. The photographs are also going to be displayed in July in a shop space within a local shopping precinct in Coalville, which the local council has donated so that local residents can enjoy the students’ work.