2024-03-31-accounts - Seeit Working Trust

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SEEit Working Trust Annual Accounts and Trustee Report 2023/24

Principal activity

SEEit Working Trust is a registered charity (no. 1071987). We devise new ways of working to mainstream the use of arts, culture and creativity in sustainable development – supporting positive social change

SEEit Working Trustee Report for April 2023 – end March 2024

The two main programme activities continued to be:

Rules of Engagement Learning (RoEL©)
City Soil Lab©

1 Rules of Engagement Learning (RoEL © ) Development

Manor Park Media Project in order to test out the RoEL sessions

The project received funding from Foundation for Future London (FFL) in February 2023 to start March 2023: Using "Rules of Engagement Learning©" to co-create a media and creative career project with a group of young people living on an underserved estate in Newham.

We started a pilot project that would see project partners use of the Rules of Engagement Learning© framework by The Magnum Photos Foundation, a national charity that uses photography and storytelling in the community for social change, with a focus on wellbeing and employment opportunities, working with grassroots youth support services Be Heard As One who use their unique life skills, creativity, safeguarding approach and deep community connections to collaboratively improve the lives of marginalised communities by supporting better decision-making from professionals, public sector and individuals.

Sian from SEEit Working Trust and Kevin from Taking Shape started the RoEL © sessions with Derek, Jeff and Shannon to gain essential feedback for the development of the sessions and how they are delivered for the further wider pilot from April 2023. Manor Park Media Project was the funded project that the RoEL sessions used to explore the themes and plan the co-delivery.

2023/4 Manor Park Media Project. Foundation for Future London CP&P Collaborative Commission 2023 : Research & Development Project.

Using our "Rules of Engagement Learning©" approach to co-create and deliver a media and creative career project with a group of young people living on an underserved estate in Newham.

What did we Deliver, What did we Learn?

This project was a collaboration between Newham based youth organisation Be Heard As One and the foundation of the celebrated photographic archive and agency Magnum Photos. The partners worked with SEEit Working Trust and Taking Shape to undertake “Rules of Engagement Learning - RoEL©” sessions that were developed to provide a framework for youth workers and arts organisations to co-design and co-deliver more meaningful cultural engagement programmes for the young people they work with. SEEit Working Trust has designed RoEL© sessions, facilitated by youth workers, around 7 themes: Knowledge; Access; Engagement; Participation; Learning; Progression and Legacy.

Over 8 sessions, the team worked with young people who live in the historically underserved Manor Park area using photography and a range of storytelling tools to explore, publish and exhibit stories about their life experiences and perspectives. The programme built vocational skills and career progression pathways as well as supporting creativity, confidence and wellbeing through the creation and presentation of these stories.

Impact Across the Project

The project created opportunities for the young people to:

Feel seen, heard and valued
Express issues that are impacting them

SEEit Working Trust Company No: 3425216 Charity No: 1071987 Reg Address:43 Overstone Road, London W6 0AD

Hear from the older generation about their lives and challenges they have experienced (including poverty, knife crime and incarceration)
Meet other young people
Play and have fun (something that was flagged in testimonies as being lacking in the young peoples lives)
Be part of a collective creating a project together (again something that was identified in testimonies as lacking for young people)
Learn new skills
Hear about training and career opportunities
Access to arts organisations and cultural institutions
Deeper relationships with mentors through working on a creative, storytelling project
Progression pathways for their further education and careers through the continuation of the project

The project created opportunities for the youth workers to:

Express issues that have impacted their lives and their work (including the care system, institutional racism, incarceration, gangs and knife crime)
create a different space in which to hear from the younger generation about their lives and challenges, as well as their ideas on possible contributing factors and solutions
Learn new skills (Rules of Engagement Learning and creative skills)
Hear about training and career opportunities for themselves and the young people they work with
Access to arts organisations and cultural institutions - building trust and relationships with creatives, and gaining creative experiences, to use in supporting young people

The project created opportunities for the researchers (SEEit Working Trust andTaking Shape) to:

Learn vital information about implementing the RoEL framework, and what needed to be developed/changed in order to optimise the impact of the approach in terms of individual, organisation and sector learning. “Legacy” was added to the session themes to explore the wider impact of the project in addition to the impact on the individual - on the family, community, social services, the youth sector, the creative sector and the funder. And this will be added to the RoEL evidence hub for grassroots access as well as to inform, influence and support policy agenda, service design and investment choice.
It was also identified that key competencies that are inherent in youth work link to WRYSE competencies that the creative/cultural industry value above technical skills when recruiting young people, and we will add this to the RoEL sessions’ project learning theme to ensure the project evaluation evidences these competences within it’s outcomes – which the youth can then evidence in CV writing and interviews.

The project created opportunities for the arts organisation to learn:

The Rules of Engagement Learning approach and can now input these into future work.
The importance of cultural programming by and for people with lived experience.
The importance of having people in your team who have a similar lived experience as the participants
The importance of play and fun in collaborative projects
The richness and power that is possible in collaboration, all parties bring their lived experience, connections, ideas, skills and more
The impact that creativity, storytelling and collaboration can have on a person’s mental health and sense of community.

In September 2023 We shared our findings at an exhibition event with the young people and invited audience. We produced the exhibition, delivered a talk/discussion, a Zine and a podcast

“We’re definitely supporting systems change with this project and the approach will work - the youth workers, creatives and young people said it was a great experience and will support it’s development and roll-out as an approach for more meaningful cultural engagement in marginalised communities” Sian Slater, SEEit Working Trust

SEEit Working Trust

From March – September 2023 we worked with 2 creatives and 5 youth workers. First with testing and developing the RoEL© Sessions, then through the delivery of the funded project Manor Park Media (with 6 young people). The aim of youth work is to support young people to reach their full potential and working with creatives on quality, relevant projects with progression pathways is a massive tool that youth workers can use.

Sessions for a funded project – Manor Park Media Project – over x2, ½ day sessions: session #1 General; session #2 Project Specific based on 7 themes: Knowledge, Access, Engagement, Participation, Learning, Progression, Legacy.

Theme	General working with Youth EXAMPLES	General working with Creatives. EXAMPLES	Manor Park Media EXAMPLES
Knowledge	What is Youth work and why it’s important	Overview of cultural/creative sector – benefits and opportunities	Specific photography, visual image and storytelling & potential careerpathways
Access	Youth workers have built up trust and can access YP who would most benefit from the project. Look at venue location, safeguarding issues , food, transport, etc	Youth worker and creative need to build relationship and understanding so can build trust. Also look at issues of venue location, cost of travel, food, depending whether at venue/in community is the venue seen as accessible	Youth worker to identify yp specifically for this project. Derek and Jeff coming to sessions at Barbican gave them confidence to bring youth to Carrie Mae Weems exhibition – a first for YW and yp.
Engagement	YW to engage youth because they know the yp is interested/will benefit	Youth workers to support creatives through initial sessions whilst trust is built	Derek, Jeff and Shannon built trust through RoEL©sessions so were able to support each other through theproject
Participation	The project needs to be quality, relevant with progression pathways – keepit interesting	Youth workers to support creatives: best timeslots, days, length ofproject	Another creative, Timi joined the team – he had lived experience of Manor Park
Learning (transformation)	Work Ready Skills & Experience (WRYSE) are key to employability – we want to include evidencing these in the project evaluation. Learning for Youth workers CPD, and young people	Creatives need to think about the youth learnings, how these are measured and reported. Learning for creatives CPD . Evaluation and budgets included in this section – transparency/appropriate	Creatives and youth workers to co-design the learning and evaluation process and share the information (usually kept by Creative and funders).
Progression	Never promise yp anything you can’t deliver, so progression opportunities and signposting need to be thought about as key to delivery	Creatives can open up networks and opportunities for the youth workers and young people	Shannon has connected youth workers and young people to her network and employment opportunities. Derek has connected Shannon to his networks
Legacy	Impact on community/ neighbourhood and youth work sector	Impact on arts organisation and cultural/creative sector	Safe Spaces for yp in Manor Park high street; podcast & Exhibition. Peter Marlow Fdn cont’d support and basing development on RoEL©

Manor Park Media Project : Working with 6 young people over 8 weeks

Exhibition :https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E-HjAAGrrKt9Jk187kYbNXE7ntqxfLHa/view?usp=sharing
Check out “Manor Park Media” on Spotify

SEEit Working Trust

“I've learned a lot being a mentor on this project, it’s built my confidence and understanding. I would like there to be more pockets of workshops, not just photography and media but different industries for young people as it gives them a different outlook on life. There should be more funding put into projects like this because they are the future. It has provided an opportunity to see life differently, interact with people on a different scale. People who are invested in supporting them, exploring what they can achieve.It's been really good because the young people have been able to show me their view and way of life. They weren’t scared to speak their mind and explain how they view the world. Mostly I've heard that they're not happy with what's going on around them and they want better.” Jeff, Creative/Youth Worker

“I would say they need to do more for the youth so they don't end up like my generation basically. They need to better the youth, teach them what's wrong and what's right. Because now in the present there's a lot of stuff happening, there's a lot of murders, there's a lot of crime. So I just feel like if you can teach the youth, I think it'll better them and it'll better the next generation. I have a younger sibling and I want to see them grow and learn better than I did, basically have someone to guide them and not end up on the path that I went through basically.” Daniel, Young Person

“This is the most important project I have worked on in my 20 odd year career in the creative industries. I can not wait to share our learnings with the wider creative industries and see the impact it will have on the lives of many young people and our communities. I am incredibly grateful to Sian Slater for her years of research that have led us to this point. Without Sian and her work, I would not have met and collaborated with the young people and the youth workers who have now become my fellow Manor Park Media collective members. The Rules of Engagement Learning process will create greater equity and healing within our city and our cultural institutions. I do not say that lightly, I believe it wholeheartedly. I look forward to the bright, bright future led by the young people I met through this project.” Shannon Ghannam, Magnum Photos Foundation, Peter Marlow Foundation

Creative RoEL© Models: Youth Workers Leading Change 2023/4

With funding from Foundation for Future London’s Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Large Grants 2023

From January– December 2024. An East London pilot of RoEL© - better connecting and building relationships between youth workers and creatives for more meaningful cultural engagement, and sustainable creative progression pathways for marginalised communities

Draft Project Timeline:

Dec 2023: funding confirmed and final planning

Jan-Dec 2024: project management start 7 days a month til end project; includes development of Creative RoEL© Careers; Manor Park Media Futures progression and legacy activities – young people and organisation development Jan-May2024: RoEL sessions development and materials development

Jan-Jul 2024: Training the Trainer development, materials, and licencing activities

Jan-Sept 2024: Communications platform development; data collection & Impact Evidence Hub development FebJun 2024: Training the Trainer testing; Manor Park Media Futures progression and legacy activities developing podcast & sound, and exhibition

Milestone : May 2024: 5 youth workers complete training the trainer package May-Dec 2024: Monitoring & Evaluation and reporting Milestone: Jun 2024 : start RoEL􏰀 sessions for 4 projects Milestone: Oct 2024: RoEL􏰀 sessions for 4 projects complete Oct-Dec2024: website/resources hub materials development for on-line sharing Milestone: Dec 2024: Complete project; Yr End Sharing Event

SEEit Working Trust

ScreenSkills Pioneers 2023/24 : A new pathway into Screen careers for marginalised young people 18+ Research & development project Building on our 2022 RoEL ModELs© Theory of Change framework. We also continued to work with 60Forty Films and Screen Skills into 2023 on developing the new pathway into the screen industry for young people from marginalised communities, and developing a delivery framework to support it

Working closely with Youth workers
No/minimum qualification entry opportunities, emphasising evidenced WRYSE competencies
Additional service offered by Screen Skills to deliver industry diverse/inclusion (including socio-economic) targets

We collaborated with 60Forty Films to develop our non-institutional Creative Inclusion Framework for the Screen Industry, and we piloted a first version of our Screen RoELs, with 60Forty Films, ScreenSkills and Taking Shape - ScreenSkills HETV funded Fully Focused to host our initial on-line Youth Worker session with 15 youth workers, and our in-person Youth session with 20 young people and their youth workers. This was really successful and October – December 2023 we held additional sessions with Youth workers and young people to support applications to the ScreenSkills Trainee Finder 2024/5 programme:

over 200 applications nationally
10 of our young people cohort applied
3 young people got interviews : HETV opportunities in Locations, Accounts and Sound
3 young people gained places on the programme
2 young people are currently working on a production in a new Barkingham & Dagenham Studio production, with the opportunity to work in Europe

Strategy 2024: wider pilot

We are now developing the pathway, and the delivery framework to support it, working with Industry, Industry Support organisations, Youth Workers and Councils.

Engage with Youth media training partners, Industry, local authority, regional industry training bodies, funders to develop the new pathway and delivery framework
Engage with Youth Workers to give them the knowledge of, and access to the new pathway and delivery framework, so they can better support the young people they work with to access and progress in the sector – eg evidencing youth WRYSE through a portfolio of projects and experience (Creative RoEL© sessions from ages 7-19/25)
Engage with Young People aged 16-25 wanting to enter the Screen sector through the new pathway
To embed an approach that can be delivered nationally to support more inclusive and diverse Screen Sector

SEEit Working Trust

2 City Soil Lab © in development 2023/24 - sees our cities as the solution to our environment challenges, and we start with the soil.

With support from Tower Hamlets Council and Grow Foundation. Working with Tower Hamlets and Public Farmhouse

The delivery of City Soil Lab© was delayed in 2022/23 and again in 2023/24 because of the change in local Tower Hamlets council leadership and delays in the fit out of the City Soil Lab physical space – the disused carpark – with still no confirmed finish date as of 31 March 2024

This year was mainly carried out in the fourth quarter to develop a pre-pilot project without the use of the disused car park so we can test out ideas already developed. To be delivered in 2024/25.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Founder Sian Slater for supporting us, leading on our strategic review activities, organisation development, and continued support of all governance, strategy, Partnership, programme development, management delivery, and fundraising/development activities.

Directors

The directors who served during the year are as stated below: Dr D H Slater Ms H Bishop Stephens Ms K F Shaw Mr R McDonald

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.

This report was approved at an Annual Trustee Meeting in December 2024, and signed on its behalf by:

Mr R McDonald, Director

SEEit Working Trust