The riots of 2011 brought about anxiety, frustration, disappointment and more obstacles for young people to overcome. Contrasting these elements was the sense of community and the determination of those who wish to reclaim youth’s good name.
Last night, the Oasis Charity alongside Dulwich Picture Gallery hosted ‘Restoring Peace’- an evening of workshops followed by discussions with a panel set up by David Cameron.
Scribble Ink had the privilege of running a writers’ workshop with students from local schools. The aim was for individuals to write a monologue reflecting their thoughts on the riots and find creative ways to identify the causes as well as suggest solutions. Questions like; ‘why did people take part in the riots? why the riots happened in some areas and not others?’ and ‘did the police do a good job?’ were explored throughout their creative pieces.
The young people surprised me with their varied writing styles. I didn’t just see ‘text’, rather, I saw the propensity for future journalists, politicians, novelists and songwriters. The works were generally very well articulated, poetic and inspiring.
The monologues were then taken to Drew (an artist and friend of Scribble) who injected the text into the young people’s portrait photo’s (pictures will be coming soon ). Then end result was fantastic and really mirrored the voices of our young writers.’ Feel free to click the e book below to enlarge and read the ‘text’ version of the monologues.
The evening ended with speeches by the likes of Baroness Newlove and Brian Paddick and of course, a Q&A which, members of the Southwark community alongside the students took part in. I believe the writers’ workshop enabled the students to think about what they would say during the discussion. much like their monologues, their questions and suggestions were well articulated and great food for thought. Seeing their passion and will to challenge stereotypes, really was inspiring.
Hopefully more events like this will continue. Here’s to the prospect of a long relationship between Scribble, DPG and Oasis!
Click here to download the e-book.