News

An Impact Arts creative writing programme in Edinburgh ended
last week with a brilliantly imaginative and original showcase by a team of 16
and 17 year olds at the city’s atmospheric
Assembly Roxy venue.

Entitled Everyone Has
a Story to Tell, the show explored the myths, legends and ghosts haunting
the City, transporting the audience to the Jazz era and interweaving personal
and political spoken word pieces with drama and music performances.

Almost 30 family, friends and Impact Arts partners were present as the group showed off their creative writing achievements and the
confidence they have gained over the course of the Creative Pathways programme.

While developing as writers, the group have also taken part
in weekly one-to-one employability sessions, thinking about what they might
want to do in the future, completing SQA units and learning skills in job-hunting,
interviews and CV-writing.

The main event also provided the opportunity for the team to
learn skills in set and costume design, sound and lighting.

Brandon, 17, is one of the project participants and solo
spoken word performers on the night.

“It’s been a great experience – the best one of these
I’ve been on. I’ve been on courses like this before, but this one has
definitely inspired me.”

“It was great working with the tutors. They gave us
cool ideas, gave us feedback and inspired us on how we can improve. They definitely
had a big influence.

“The employability work helped a lot. I’m going onto a
college course now, and the mock interviews and CV work we did really helped in
that.”

The group have been working with Impact Arts tutor Rosanna Hall, a writer and dramatist, for the past ten weeks. She says the showcase encapsulated the
team’s achievements and progress well.

“The group were really excited to see their hard work meet
an audience, and they were genuinely surprised that so many turned up to hear
what they had to say.

“The aim of the project has been to build employability
skills in young people through developing their confidence, teamwork and
understanding of putting together an event.

“While some participants were more hesitant, having the
opportunity to write and direct others got everyone involved at bringing the
space to life.

“The group took the reins excellently and gained confidence
and memories which will last longer than the applause of the audience.”

The programme was possible thanks to funding from Skills
Development Scotland and Inspiring Scotland. For more about our work with young
people, please visit this section of our
website.