The importance of co-creating events with young people

Thrive LDN caught up with Drashti Shah who was on the Young Advisory Group for Rewire Summit, to hear about her reflections and experiences of being involved in the initiative.

What part of Thriving through Culture were you involved in?

I initially co-facilitated a 2.8 Million Minds network meeting at the National Youth Theatre in May 2023 . In December 2023, I joined the Advisory Group for Rewire Summit where we worked on developing discussion sessions for the event.

What did you enjoy and what could be improved?

I enjoyed the consistent engagement with a group towards a collaborative process and working together on the event days. I am looking forward to working with the group again for the next event to see how we build further on Rewire.

It would have been useful to work on the outreach and engagement to get more people involved in the first day of the event.

What value, if any, did you get out of the experience?

I felt confident in leading a group and presenting our work. Also, in sharing my experiences in a panel discussion.

I enjoyed participating in the other segments of Rewire, such as a zine-making workshop, crochet, dance movement workshop. It was an emotionally grounding day.

I am currently working with London Arts and Health and during my interview the CEO mentioned how she recognised me from my participation at Rewire & Mad Hearts (an arts and mental health festival at Queen Mary).

What was done well and you’d like to see continue?

It was great to involve an Advisory Group over the months leading up to the event and the group was facilitated brilliantly. I would like to see such core groups/steering committees of young people continue for future events and even involving more young people.

Do you think this project is important for young people? If so, why?

Yes, for three reasons:

· The way young people were involved in the co-creation of the event

· The focus was on bringing organisations into a space to reflect on their work with young people

· For creating a space where the connecting bridges between young people and organizations have been reduced

Are there any themes/ specific areas of focus you would like to see explored in future?

Further exploration of the following would be good to see:

· Young people identifying as LGBTQIA+ & mental health

· Young people and local politics

· Young people and learning/mentorship opportunities in the arts