Young Reporters provided an opportunity for young people aged between 12 and 19 to write weekly articles which could be published in the local paper
When? ran 2012 to 2023 with 2019-2023 hosted at Big Local and supported by Big Local North Cleethorpes
Partners: Grimsby Telegraph; Grimsby Institute; VANEL; CYC The Hangout
The Young Reporters scheme started locally around 2012 (and there was a big celebration in 2022 for its 10th anniversary). Soon after that VANEL got involved hosting the ongoing cohorts of young people who would meet weekly to brainstorm; write; learn and connect under the guidance of a tutor.
Articles would be written about a huge and diverse range of topics that mattered to the young people. Grimsby Telegraph provided the opportunity for the (very lightly edited) articles to be published every Tuesday in the “Viewpoint” column.
For many young people that was a huge opportunity for them to express themselves and their creative writing and journalism skills and get an experience of real life writing, editing and publishing.
Around 2019 the groups themselves moved to the newly opened Big Local North Cleethorpes community hub at 82 Grimsby Road. This was also a chance to encourage more local young people from Cleethorpes to join the group and also to encourage articles to be written about topics relevant to the North Cleethorpes area.
Covid of course interrupted things and articles slowed down and were being written more remotely. However the group continued and restarted at 82 Grimsby Road later in 2020.
In June 2022 long-term tutor of the group – Jenny Hodson from VANEL – left and John Mooney, Big Local North Cleethorpes Development Worker took over the mentoring of the group up until his own retirement around March 2023.
Unfortunately from early 2023 it was not possible to work out further funding or resourcing for the group. However, VANEL have been extremely proud to be involved with Young Reporters for well over a decade and Big Local North Cleethorpes have been connected for around four years.
The overall Young Reporters scheme has been a finalist and sometimes winner for many local and national award schemes.
My daughter took part In Young Reporters a few years ago and received the Diana Award for this work. Her columns went into her portfolio, and proved a great topic to talk about at interviews. I would highly recommend students apply to this programme, particularly students who want to go into vocations related to English: writing, publishing, marketing and media. These industries require a portfolio of work as standard – parent of a Young Reporter
Thoughts from prolific Young Reporter Grace on the 10th anniversary of the group…
There are genuinely no words, which is ironic considering I have written a total of nearly 25,700 word articles for the paper, so having no words is unusual for a budding writer like me. But, over the past 2 years now I have been lucky enough to be apart of the young reporters programme. I began during the first lockdown, when I can admit, I was in a very difficult time in my life personally. I have always had a love for all things English and book related, but had never really considered the thought of writing as a career choice. Throughout 3 or more lockdowns I wrote about topics which were never talked about, topics which needed more awareness and topics which were close to my heart. I got the opportunity to use my brain for something which soon became the biggest passion in my life, and my biggest therapy. I have had so much feedback on my articles from teachers, friends, family, strangers, friends of family and even the radio! I have been able to use this programme for my own therapy but also for helping others so that they are able to feel a sense of relief that somebody their age, or just somebody in the area relates to what they are going through. Jenny allowed me into this programme without realising how much it helped me during lockdown, and allowed me to write freely, let me spread my creativity, edited my very long articles which were well over the word limit, and consistently emailed me with praise, check in’s and kind words. I am beyond proud to be apart of this programme with some amazing people, and I am insanely grateful that I now am looking to pursue writing as a career.
I cant wait to write more and to keep inspiring others I hope. Thank you for this opportunity always.
