Seen and Now Heard is a poetry and spoken word based initiative for young people from lower income backgrounds.
With the help of a number of youth services, we will be engaging with young people to introduce them to spoken word and its possibilities, and encourage them to produce and perform their own work before an audience.

We will:
Encourage young people to read and write more

Show them how to present their opinions and viewpoints coherently through poetry and spoken word - to help give them a 'voice'

Help them to gain confidence and self esteem from sharing their work publicly

Demonstrate that their work is worthy of being performed in a formal performance venue / theatre

A very important part of Seen And Now Heard will be our mentoring programme in which we pair children who wish to write and perform with professional spoken word artists and poets who will give them feedback and support and help to develop their work.

We have a long list of amazing and established poets and spoken word artists willing to be part of our mentoring programme.

However, we urgently need funds to pay for our twice yearly theatre performance - it is of vital importance that these children are shown that their work is worthy of being performed in a professional theatrical setting, rather than simply rapped out on street corners.

We want to take them off the streets and in to an environment where their hard work is praised and encouraged, to give them self esteem and above all a sense of self discipline and self worth.

We also need funds for basics like notepads, writing materials, etc - we want to be able to provide each child with their own private writing journal, where they can work on their ideas, develop their writing, and eventually produce something fantastic.

Seriously, some of the kids do not even have a pen in their homes, I promise.

But we can change that, and give them a voice that will be heard.