Powerful insights into London life in new collection of podcasts
This Summer, 16 young Londoners took part in workshops, interactive talks, and masterclasses to hone their podcast producing, editing, and storytelling skills.
Creativity Works: Podcasting was a full-time, six-week immersive training programme created and delivered by A New Direction. Part of the Mayor’s Fund for London Creativity Works programme, it took place at the Good Growth Hub in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Throughout the programme, those taking part developed a 5-to-10-minute podcast in response to a brief from the Migration Museum in Lewisham, Greater London. Each participant was encouraged to tell their story through the medium of a podcast – be they about their community, work, or personal experience.
The participants received support from professionals working at the cutting edge of the podcasting industry – with representatives from Apple Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Spotify, the BBC, and The Guardian – to name a few.
Each podcast embodied the spirit of its creator, exploring subject matters unique to the mind behind them – from a comedic retelling of a cinema job to a moving insight into a trans experience.
At a celebration event at the end of the programme, participants discussed their work, playing an excerpt from their finished podcast.
Chief Executive Officer of the Mayor’s Fund for London, Jim Minton, attended the event:
“I was lucky enough to hear some of the young Londoners share extracts from their podcasts. They were brilliantly powerful, and I’m looking forward to downloading the full episodes.
“Thank you to the young people and everyone involved at A New Direction. Each participant was a tribute to the creative spirit of young people and the untapped skills and potential across London.”
Isis Thompson, an Executive Producer at Sony Music Entertainment, worked with the young Londoners on their podcasts:
“As a producer with over 15 years’ experience in the industry, I’ve listened to many podcasts and audio pieces. It’s always exciting-and actually quite rare to hear something I’ve never heard before. Uncovering standout voices that are telling authentic stories is the best part of my job and the podcasts created by the group have managed to do just that!
“Rechimel’s story for example was fluid, intentional, and unique capturing my attention and left me wanting to hear more. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to be involved in this programme.”
Rechimal Miller participated in the training programme:
“I’ve really enjoyed being part of the Creativity Works: Podcasting course and being given a space to explore my interest in authentic storytelling whilst learning some new skills in audio production.
“The Heart of the Community brief from The Migration Museum was inspiring and I enjoyed taking part in the masterclasses and workshops. It was good to have feedback from industry professionals and areas we could improve upon. It’s also good to now have a wider network of like-minded peers & to now be offered a mentor and opportunities to apply for paid roles and more training in the digital storytelling sector.
“This type of course is really important to help people trying to break into the creative industry especially those without pre-existing industry networks.”
The programme was delivered as part of the Creativity Works programme, which supports young Londoners with the skills they need to access opportunities across the creative industry.
Creativity Works is supported by the Citi Foundation and delivered by A New Direction (A.N.D) and Media Trust.
You can listen to the podcasts on Soundcloud (or at the top of this page) and learn more about the Creativity Works programme on the Mayor’s Fund for London website.
