Mad About Grime

In partnership with Spotlight Eastside youth centre, Social Streets delivered Mad About Grime, a multimedia youth project.

The aim of the project was to give local young people from disadvantaged backgrounds an insight into creative and media industries that they may otherwise have felt inaccessible, and to inspire them to consider this as a potential career. At the end of the course we offered one participants a week-long work placement in Roman Road LDN’s editorial offices.

The longer term ambition of our youth outreach work is to provide opportunities in journalism to local young people, to provide a progression into the industry from within the community and to attract local people into our workplace, helping us achieve a truly community-led model of local journalism.

The course gave participants taster sessions in multimedia publishing, culminating in a press night where participants got the opportunity to interview bona fide E3 grime legends.

Students applied their journalistic skills to the music and culture of grime, the genre formed in Bow and which has gone on to become a global phenomenon. During grime’s early days artists developed similar journalistic skills: writing, filming, and editing.

The workshops were delivered by professionals with years of experience in the media industry including Kiss FM’s DJ MIK, film director Lucia Helenka who created the seminal grime documentary Roll Deeper, grime DVD pioneer Troy A Plus Miller and programmer for Rich Mix, Martha Rumney. 

Students who completed the course were given the opportunity to interview local grime artists including Mercston, Lady Shocker and Risky Roadz.

Edna Bannor, a 16 year old girl from Bishop Challenor School in Whitechapel, was one of the young people to attended the course and was inspired by a career in journalism. She went on to complete a work experience placement at Roman Road LDN magazine and continues to contribute ideas.

Local resident and graphic designer Perry Harding designed the Mad About Grime poster. 

The course was funded by Action for Bow.

Project: September to December 2019

Funded by: Action for Bow

Impact: 12 young people received taster sessions in the creative and media industries

Impact: promoted youth centre to local community

Impact: outreach to six local schools

Impact: opportunity for local artists to give back to the community

Impact: one participant went on to complete a a week long work placement at Social Streets’ flagship title, Roman Road LDN