Hi guys! So my name is Emily and I work for Fixers! My role
is a Young People’s Coordinator and I cover the Tyne Tees region as well as
bits of Cumbria and The Border. I absolutely LOVE what I do. It’s so exciting
with so much going on…
So basically,
Fixers is a charity that gives young people (16-25) a voice through creative
media projects. Projects can be based on literally anything; all we ask is that
at least one other person will benefit from your Fix! Many projects are based
on personal experiences, others are based on interest, issues and hobbies etc. that
people are really passionate about. From mental health awareness to challenging
negative attitudes around parkour/free running and bullying to healthy eating!
We cover all kinds! Our young people let us know what they want. We create a
range of resources which are all used to get the young people’s messages out
there! Common resources include short films, music videos, documentaries,
leaflets, posters, phone apps, websites, workshops…the list goes on.
I work with the young people from start to finish throughout
their projects. I attend initial meetings with individuals and organisations
and work with the young people to really get their projects off the ground. I
help them really unpick their idea – identify their chosen target audience,
figure out the key message, how they want to reach their audience etc. Lots of
planning basically! Once that’s done we get the creative guys involved! We have
Creative Hubs all over the UK and have a number of Creative Producer based at
each. These guys will come along and meet our young people and talk about their
idea, come up with some resource ideas, and really start to get creative in how
we’ll get the message out there. By the end of the meeting the young people and
Producer will know what they are creating and how. Next, we have production.
This is the day we actually go ahead and make the resource. This day really
depends on what the resource is! It could be a film/documentary etc so production
day would be filming, if it was a leaflet/poster or another type of print
production day may be taking photographs for the leaflet, or the young people
creating the content for their print. It really depends. All of the editing of
resources takes place in the Creative Hubs. This is where the producers work
their magic and produce the final outcome – our young people’s resources. From
there, we just need to make sure our young people are happy with the resource
then it’s time to get sharing!
We have a team of online journalists that publish the stories
and profiles on our website of the young people we work with and their
projects. We’re always sharing our young people’s projects as far and wide as
possible. We support them as much as possible in giving them a voice and
allowing them to be heard. Of course, all of our young people are tweeting,
facebooking, instagramming and general social media-ring their projects too.
And rightly so, they should all be very proud of themselves. We also support
our young people with a physical launch too. This could be going into a school,
GP surgery, youth centre, council offices – it really depends where the target
audience are! We gather feedback from the audience and will update the young person’s
profile on our website with the feedback. It’s lovely for them to know what
kind of difference their project and resource has made.
As well as the above, we also produce broadcast items for
ITV and UTV in Ireland. These tend to be approximately 3 minute items that go
out once a month on regional news (usually on the first Thursday of every
month!) The items are all about the young person, their project and the reason
why they are doing the project.
I’ve worked with so many different young people, covering a
range of project ideas. Here’s a couple; a film challenging attitudes around
young unemployed jobseekers, poster campaign around facial palsy, a film around
the benefits of volunteering, a leaflet around the benefits of apprenticeships,
a film around bullying, a poster campaign and awareness cards around
hypermobility syndrome, films around domestic violence, a film showing modern
circus in it’s true light, a film around young farmers, films around ME, a film
around teenage depression, a rape prevention project, a young carers leaflet, a
rap around homophobia, we painted a mural on a wall to liven up a community
space….the list goes on. Those are a FEW of the project topics I’ve covered.
Now that’s us in a very quick nutshell.
Now you have to go
on our website www.fixers.org.uk and see
all the amazing stories and projects our young people have done on there! If
you are interested in becoming a Fixer, please visit http://www.fixers.org.uk/index.php?page_id=2848
Emily x