Today we launch our brand new short film all about the power of writing. It is written and voiced by some of our graduate storytellers, made by the incredible creative team at Us Man Dere, produced by the amazing Media Trust and funded by The Mercers’ Company. We are so fortunate to have been selected for this Media Trust programme and so grateful that UMD made us such a beautiful impactful film. We hope it inspires more young people to pick up a pen and tell their stories.

“In your grip, the power lies
To shape the world, with words that rise”

— Ink Ignites Change

We are delighted to be offering schools the chance to run Write Back programmes within their premises. This term we have been rolling this out our storytelling programmes in The Jo Richardson Community School in Becontree and Greatfields School in Barking. It’s great to be able to reach even more young peole and prove that every young person has a story to tell and the power to tell it.

Two storytellers at The Jo Richardson Community School developing their stories.

“My highlight was coming together and being able to explain your problems and how you are feeling.”

— Storyteller from The Jo Richardson Community School

Amazingly, this year marks a whole decade since our very first book ‘Young Voices: Untold Stories’ was unveiled at Valence House library. It is also our 5th anniversary of being a formally registered charity. We are delighted that all these years later we still have the privilege of working with young people in Barking and Dagenham to find their voices and tell their stories.

Some of the orignal storytellers planning what would go on to be Write Back.

We hope that in 10 years time that we are still here giving young people the transformative opportunity to tell their stories. To ensure that’s the case, we are currently conducting deep dive interviews with young people we’ve worked with right across that 10 years to better understand our impact, work out where we can develop and ensure we have a plan fit for the future.

So if you are a current or former storyteller then watch this space and expect to hear from us soon!