Young Scot and Paul Hamlyn Foundation

About the Project - DownloadLowdown

The purpose of "DownloadLowdown" is to work with young people from across Scotland to build a library of podcasts which will truly reflect the diversity of our population.

The focus of the project is to work with those young people who are not engaged with their community, and give them a quality experience that allows them to explore both their creativity and the issues that are important to them. The project combines arts, citizenship, IT and the development of transferable skills.

The project is being delivered by a team of professional artists, well experienced in working with excluded and marginalised groups. The role of the artists is to inspire, facilitate, explore & support the expression of the young people’s ideas as well as deliver the technical requirements of the project.

About the Artists

The first area involves Alex Patience who is responsible for the work in Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, Highland, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Alex has worked extensively as a performer, director, writer/collaborator and instructor and in theatre development. Alex has worked on many worldwide, community theatre and film projects with particular reference to Scotland.

The second area will be facilitated by Pete Vilk in Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Fife, Falkirk, West Lothian, East Lothian, Edinburgh and Midlothian. Pete is a professional musician, drummer and sound designer who has over 10 years experience. He has worked with a wide variety of challenging groups from young people in post-war Bosnia and street children in Georgia to young offenders and special needs groups in the UK.

Area Three will be coordinated by Alan Bryden, and comprises Argyll and Bute, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Glasgow. Alan has gained a great deal of experience in the world of music, including: producing; playing; remixing and DJing. His work with young people has included that in Polmont Young Offenders Institute.

The final group is managed by Lesley Ross in North Ayrshire, East Ayshire, South Ayreshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire. Lesley recently worked as a Community Learning & Development Worker managing the Oasis Youth Centre in Dumfries. She also worked with Dumfries Youth Enquiry Service and LGBT Youth Scotland and has contributed her skills in the music and magazine industry. She now has her own internet radio station called radioasbo.org.

Project Objectives

The key objectives of the project are to:

• Give a voice to young people whose views are not often heard through the usual channels
• Build a library of podcasts which truly reflects the diversity of our population
• Give marginalised and excluded young people the chance to take part in a high quality arts experience which will enhance their key skills of numeracy, literacy, IT and communication and personal skills such as self esteem and self confidence

The content of the podcasts will be participant-led to allow supported exploration of the issues that matter in their own lives – as a result this will increase understanding and communication between disadvantaged, excluded and hard to reach young people and a number of other groups e.g. their peers, the wider community and decision makers.

The information gathered as a result of this project will be fed back to the decision makers on a local level in the local authorities, and also on a national level by Young Scot.

More Information

You can subscribe to the DownloadLowdown podcast and have weekly episodes delivered straight to your computer. Just search the iTunes store, using the keyword 'downloadlowdown' or 'young scot', or visit www.youngscot.org/downloadlowdown for further options.

If you would like any more information about this project please feel free to contact Gregor Urquhart, Communications Director, on gregoru@youngscot.org