ABOUT STAND4
Young people have a voice and at STAND4 their voices are heard because what young people have to say matters
First established in 2010 as WEYDA (West End Young Digital Artists), STAND4 is Success4All’s award-winning youth activism group.
Aged between 13 & 19, our STAND4 members are passionate about tackling social issues together.
They stand for the North East, Equality, Environment, Anti-Racism, Education, Culture, Heritage, Freedom & so much more.
They are vocal, open & honest about their experiences and hope that by sharing their united voice they can bring about positive change in the North East.
Some of their previous work includes producing The Change For The Better podcast, creating a tool kit for young people to help identify fake news, directing two documentaries, West End Heroes and Young, Religious and Judged, as well as two radio shows. They’ve also participated in a European project called EuroSOLE where they got to explore Self-Organised Learning Environments.
So, what do you stand for?
THE STAND4 PODCAST: CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
“What do you want to be when you’re older?” is a question many young people are asked but one that is often met with uncertainty and hesitation.
After several discussions about their future aspirations, STAND4 decided to produce a podcast that focused on careers they were considering.
In season 1, they wanted to hear from people like themselves in careers such as law, politics, business, history & much more.
They wanted to talk to people from diverse backgrounds about their careers, how they got to where they’re at and the barriers they faced along the journey.
The podcast aims to demonstrate to the youth of today that no matter their circumstances they can achieve their goals and aspirations.
You can stream The STAND4 Podcast: Change For The Better on all major streaming platforms.
At the start of this project, the group completed a 2-day podcast workshop delivered by, Demola from Catbol Media Agency. The workshop introduced all the components involved in launching a podcast, from production to marketing and even the more intricate details such as search engine optimisation.
STAND4 found the training immensely beneficial as it helped them envision their podcast.
The podcast is designed to widen aspirations and to encourage young people that regardless of their circumstances they can achieve anything they set their minds to.
PROJECT: FEAR, LIES & PROPAGANDA
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” ~ Malcolm X
Uncovering the good, the bad, and the ugly of propaganda is no small feat, but for our STAND4 group, this was the perfect project that allowed them to get a better understanding of the media and how it influences politics and the lives of ordinary people.
The project aimed to help encourage young people to question, identify and challenge potential fake news.
Throughout the project, they engaged, interviewed and facilitated discussions with experts in the field to get a better understanding of propaganda and how it can create tension and unrest between groups.
Based on everything they learnt, they developed a toolkit to help educate and empower other young people to identify and evaluate fake news they may encounter and become positive voices in their local area too.
WHAT YOU SAY
‘In the WEYDA science club, we found out lots of things and how to do cool experiments.’
‘Education to me is the key element to making society better nationwide. Working and experience and sole it has made me realise it is possible to be that ingredient of change.’
‘Working with all ages prepares me for my future career. By communicating with others, it develops my skills of understanding others.’
‘Collaboration and communication has always been important to me. Sole has made me understand how essential it is. It has allowed me to realise how important it is to share any information that could help another person.’
‘We used initiative and entrepreneurship when interviewing people and answering/asking questions on the spot.’