Well, things seem to be going well so far, the photos for the Vocational skills collage are done, it’s just a case of chopping them up and sticking them on! Bob has drawn the pic of Tom on a big board for us and now its up to the young people to put it together. this kind of thing is really good as it helps with Motor skills and team work too.

The Pru guys have been experimenting with photography and working with Jackie on their creative writing. Cody and Chloe have come up with some brilliant poems about themselves which will defo be in the exhibition. Jackie has brought them an album to stick them in and decorate them, which is really good. Robson and Nathan are proper little comedians and Jackie has helped them write some poems which they are going to use with their photos. Robson is scared of heights so his photo is of him falling off a skyscraper! he did it with John’s help and they worked on it in photoshop. It looks really sick!

The yr9s and the Older people are having some really interesting discussions about the media and the way they show young people, and how they can influence the way people see young people by the language they use, like in newspapers. If they describe people as ‘yobs’, you automatically think they are bad, and that they are hoodie-wearing baddies who terrorise society. That’s the whole thing really that this exhibition is about, because we might wear hoodies, but it might just be that we’re cold! Just because we wear them doesn’t mean we’re bad. John and Karen both wear hoodies when they aren’t at work, but nobody thinks they’re going to rob someone! We are planning to put together some podcasts, like a radio show, to discuss these issues so homework was to go and have a look at how the media portray young people.

A new group might be joining us soon, they are called Project Challenge and they are what’s called NEET young people. This means they are ‘not in employment, education, or training’. There are about 15 young people in the group aged between 16-19, and their youth worker, Guy, is coming to the steering group meeting soon to see what its all about.

The GALYIC girls have been experimenting with photos and things like hats and lighting effects. They’ve come up with some great shots. They’re also discussing the effects of homophobia in their schools etc, and how it makes them feel. They’d like to interview some older people who have had to deal with these problems and talk to them about what it was like growing up in the 60s/70s if you were gay. Kerry, Helen and jan are going to ask some older people to come in and be interviewed. We’re going to make a podcast of the interviews and Bob will help them get some shots to go with it.

We are really enjoying working together, such a lot of different people with different points of view, but they all seem to have one thing in common - they want to be seen as individuals and not just a stereotype. We do hope this project will encourage ‘the public’ to not just judge a book by its cover. have a look at the piccies, they’re GREAT!