Asking for a Friend

The organisations worked with young people in Southwark to ask the question: how do children and young people’s friendships affect their mental health?

A new youth collective was formed for local young people aged 11-15. The group met every two weeks from February to July 2024 to socialise, develop creative and event management skills and research the topic as a group.

In one workshop, the collective worked with socially engaged studio, Different Gravy to learn analogue photography skills. They took each other’s portraits and captured the whole group together.

Local designer Childsdraw led a screen-printing workshop in which the collective got to customise and personalise their own clothing.

Finally, the group brought all of their skills and learning together for one big event in July 2024. The programme for Friends Fest was curated by the young people. Their goal was bring their peers together to have fun, get creative and boost their wellbeing. They planned their perfect day to spend with friends and brought it all to life on International Friendship Day at the South London Gallery.

Attendees got creative through drop-in jewellery making and phone case customisation workshops; puzzled through the pop-up escape room with their peers; and enjoyed the games corner, which included retro arcade games such as Space Invaders and contemporary iterations on Nintendo multi-player classics like Mario Kart. Throughout the day, young people were able to lounge on bean bags, slurp fresh milkshakes and munch mini burgers, and listen to our in-house DJ. The event ended in an electric dance performance from a local dance group.

Supported by Impact on Urban Health and Southwark Council.