For Care Day 2022 the theme is “It takes a Village to Raise a Child!” Through our bespoke work placements, apprenticeships and mentoring opportunities, we wanted to showcase the wonderful talent of our care-experienced young people and how they flourish when they are in a supportive environment. Our partners and supporters are vital members of our village. They provide so many opportunities, offer their expertise and create a wider network of support for our care-experienced young people’s careers.
Read on to see how Kennington Film Studios approached us to create one such opportunity.
Kennington Film Studios Partnership
Back in May 2021, Drive Forward Foundation piloted a new programme with Kennington Film Studios focussed on increasing accessibility to film production amongst diverse groups such as care-experienced young people. Kennington Film Studios recognised that the production industry often relies on personal networks for recruitment and this has led to an industry that is severely lacking in diversity. Therefore, they wanted to deliver a programme specifically for creative young adults who might have missed out on accessing film production altogether.
We worked with Kennington Film Studios and the social enterprise Iconic Steps to create a bespoke three week course which would take young people through the entire film making process from scratch; right from story-boarding to the final editing process. Seven care-experienced young people from Drive Forward signed up to the programme and were given a choice of three creative briefs for the course. Thereby ensuring that they could apply their new found skills and make the most out of the filming equipment and facilities at Kennington Film Studios.
One of the participants was Iuri, who gained an apprenticeship in Broadcasting Production soon after completing the course, “The main thing is I walked away grateful for the opportunity without doubt, Drive Forward put me in a position where I can now meet like-minded people, I can showcase my energy and my work that was something I’ve never been able to provide for myself.”
Drive Forward's 10th Anniversary
All three groups chose to create films about Drive Forward Foundation’s 10th anniversary which were showcased at a film screening in June 2021. Watching the three films was a fantastic experience for our team as it gave us the opportunity to see our work through eyes of our young people. Some of them have worked with us for some time and gained a 12-month working placement within the Civil Service; others had never heard of Drive Forward Foundation before and had to build their own opinion and understanding about our work from their own research.
As a result of this bespoke programme, the young people developed a new set of industry specific skills, increased their networks (both professionally and amongst their peers) and more importantly were able to raise their own aspirations. Cleo, who joined the programme as a Film and Media studies graduate, said that the course gave her the opportunity to use equipment that even her university did not have. The best thing about the course for Cleo was the close bond that formed amongst her group during filming. They continue to stay in touch, supporting one another through their shared experience of the care system and in their professional goals.
Building Futures
We, at Drive Forward, are delighted at the progress of our young people and that we were able to facilitate such a programme with our partners.
“My experience making the film was lovely. During the course, Kennington studios were super helpful, motivating and genuine. I also got a chance to meet other young creatives which was refreshing because it allowed me to feel at home as well as have some friendly competition which is always good for the spirit."
Opportunities such as this provide a platform for new and more diverse networks to form; not only for our care-experienced young people but for companies too; they are able to see the talent they are missing out on through traditional recruiting policies.
You will agree with us, after watching the films, that we can look forward to seeing the next generation of film directors and producers who will change the lens of how we view those in care!
Join Our Village
At Drive Forward we do not want these bespoke programmes to be a rare occurrence. Just as we encourage our young people to aim high, we want to work with more companies, creative studios and professionals to increase the number of opportunities available to our care-experienced young people across a range of sectors. If you are interested in creating opportunities for young people or are not sure how to help, please get in touch to discuss how we can work together.
