Cavendish Link Continues

Funding has been raised to support more filmmaking at Southwark’s Cavendish School in Bermondsey. We are delighted to continue our work with this wonderful school and its excellent young people. The current project is scheduled to run till the end of January 2017.

Community Channel – funding drive

The national platform that is the Community Channel via crowdfunding has found a way forward, not least due to Sky giving 50% of the target figure of £300,000. Congratulations to Caroline Diehl and her team!

A Community Channel owned by the community offers a tantalising prospect: local media organisations together with local radio/TV stations could create a network across the country that feed a national platform as well as their own individual outlet. Campaigning anyone?

When you consider the disconnect shown by the Labour Party’s current difficulties over working with a leader whose popular mandate is not mirrored by the Parliamentary Labour Party, social media plus local broadcasting becomes a real player for change.

 

Stop & Search and Knife Crime

“What If?”

This short film, a co-production with Elevated Minds CIC, explores Stop & Search and the perennial request for respect.

Can relationships with the Met Police improve? Beautifully written and narrated by Alessandro Quao, it premiered in Brixton at the Family Summit, an event staged by Elevated Minds in October 2023.

“Future Hear”

Coming from Charterhouse Youth Club in 2004, here is George rapping his thoughts around drugs and violence and how to live life.

“CHANGE OF THOUGHT”  [cert 12A, 73 mins, 2022]

There’s 3 paths: dead – jail – or a bounty on your head.”

This film features three Southwark boys facing permanent exclusion who then created and delivered training sessions to London’s Met Police recruits.

Here is a trailer. Alternatively watch the film:

Feedback: “It’s a very important film” …“shows what can be changed with the right intervention at the right time” …”Javell made it – there is hope in your film ! :)” … “I did wonder if black kids could do some training exercises for teachers as well as for the police” … “a  well told story!” … “I was encouraged and troubled by all of this” …

This film is the final output of LET’S TALK, CTVT’s 4-year project looking for breakthrough initiatives to confront knife crime and youth violence. We ran Forums in schools and youth clubs from 2019, produced discussion videos during lockdown, and in September 2022 launched “CHANGE OF THOUGHT” at Peckham & Nunhead Free Film Festival.

Voices in the documentary:
Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, CEO of Elevated Minds which aims to create     sustainable change between Black communities and the Police
Javell, Reuben, Emmanuel
Javell’s mother Erveline
Emmanuel’s mother Adama
young people from local schools
barrister Stephen Akinsanya
playground manager Stephney Bent
Sherifa Carr, Passion For Change
Sayce Holmes-Lewis, Mentivity.
 

See also LET’S TALK Video Report 2020.

Community TV Trust [CTVT] offers media training & filmmaking in schools and PRUs and in workshops for the disabled and marginalised. Engaging young people in open-ended creative work, links Community to Education.

CTVT’s Spectrum of Clients

CTVT has worked with schools, PRUs, local authorities, community groups, companies and corporations, with mental health, disability, ex-offenders and the marginalised.

Southwark Council

Safer Southwark Partnership

Dragon Cafe / Mental Fight Club

Sustrans

University of East London

Metropolitan Housing Trust

Community Action Network

Education In Human Values

St. Martin’s Estate

Lambeth E-Learning

Newham Young People’s Organisation

Young Parents Project

Creative Partnerships

STEP Theatre

Metropolitan Police

Southwark Pensioners Action Group

TACT Ltd

Dept of Health

Tangled Feet

South Bermondsey Partnership

Freewheelers Theatre Company

Surrey SATRO/Alcohol Awareness

Penwith DC

Cornwall Neighbourhoods For Change

Bede House

Dulwich Community Council

South London Gallery

Prendergast Vale College

Somali North East Education Trust

Lewisham PCT

SLaM NHS Trust

Cavendish School

Pelican TRA

bede-rehearsals.jpg
Rehearsals at Bede’s filmmaking project

Southwark.TV Report available for download

“An open-minded, fun and accessible community ‘TV’ service, run as a forum for debate, the supply of information and promotion of local initiatives, talent and needs, has a vital role to play in multi-cultural, multi-faith C21st century Britain. Digital/cable TV and new media will be playing their part in urban regeneration and social cohesion.”

Community TV Trust from its launch in 1999 sought ways to innovative in community media. How might engagement be achieved?

Southwark.TV – a ‘horizontal’ community project – ran from a pilot in early 2003 to 2014 when the site was archived. You can find it under the CTVT Projects menu or click HERE to read it. Once you have read the report you can also browse the Southwark.TV website from HERE

It foresaw the rise of social media and online activity, shifting away from mainstream media to portable/mobile devices and citizen journalism.