Icon has partnered with Swale CEP, Kent County Council and Royal Opera House Bridge to lead a cultural consultation with 300 children and young people in Swale, aged 2 to 25.
The project sought to find out how children and young people perceive and experience arts and culture, what obstacles have prevented them from participating in other cultural activities over the years and what they would like to take part in. The findings have contributed to a refresh of Kent’s Cultural Strategy. The project was set up following Icon’s previous partnership with Swale CEP, Theatre31, an award-winning youth-led young people’s performing arts programme (2019 to 2022).
The consultation comprised workshops hosted across Swale in areas of high deprivation and/or low cultural engagement and included drama games, debating activities and small group discussions.
When presented with options of cultural activities and asked which they would like to take part in, 73% voiced their interest in carnivals, funfairs and music festivals and 64% wished to participate in live theatre, pantomime and performance events. Of those who answered a questionnaire covering the arts and cultural activities that Swale’s young people engage with, 26% said that they have visited a music venue or theatre outside of school or home and 36% said the same with regards to art galleries and museums.
When asked what they believed to be the main barriers to their access to cultural activities like these, two obstacles received the majority of focus; 86% of young people highlight ‘a lack of arts and cultural activities’ in the local area and 63% listed ‘travel or transport’.
“We live on a really busy main road and there are never any buses. There’s nowhere good that we can just walk to. We have to rely on our Mum or Dad to take us places and they’re always busy.” – Participant
A key outcome of the project was a Manifesto, written by a group of 8 young writers and participants from the project, stating why they needed and deserved access to cultural opportunities.
Thank you to everyone that took part.
Youth Voice Manifesto
We are the young people of Swale and our voices matter – please listen!
We are the young people of Swale and our voices matter!
We are invested in making decisions that directly impact our lives
Both now and in the future
If we are truly listened to, we will be empowered and motivated to fulfil our true potential
Young people make art because it gives them a voice when other ways of talking don’t work
If young people are free to make art, they can communicate what’s most important to them
Young people need the arts to show them what potential there is in the world around them
If young people don’t have access to the arts, life becomes black and white
A sense of their own identity and community is lost
Young people need to be heard because they think outside the box
They don’t even know about the box!
If young people are ignored they will feel unable to speak up about the things that matter most
Young people need access to theatre because it gives them joy and expands their horizons
If young people never go to the theatre they limit their words, their worlds, their capacity to create
If we can’t see it, how can we be it?
We are the young people of Swale, we need creative opportunities!
The arts feed our souls in ways nothing else can
If young people are given opportunities for culture and creativity
They nurture a special part of themselves
Enabling them to imagine and see a world they wish to create
To explore and to make that future world a reality.
Young Writers
Eli Bradburn
Peyton-Jai Collier Kettle
Demi-Leigh Collier Kettle
Mollie Costello
Liliana Rose Dell
Kez Harris
Jasper Pluck
Brooke Spokes
Full Cultural Strategy
The full cultural strategy will be published later this year.
More Information
If you would like further details about this project and its research outcomes, please contact:
Sarah Chiswell-Hornett
Sarah@icontheatre.org.uk