Young people from across Suffolk demonstrated a range of creative talents in art, dance, poetry and music at last week’s showcase event ‘Make an Exhibition of Yourself’ at Suffolk County Council’s Endeavour House headquarters in Ipswich.

The event, organised by young people, and performed to an invited audience, is the first in a series of youth celebration events to be held in the county, following an award of £15,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Director for Children and Young People, Rosalind Turner presented awards to the young people for their performances and said, “This has been a wonderful occasion to celebrate the talents and hard work of young people in Suffolk. I would also like to acknowledge the dedication and efforts of the youth workers in supporting these young people’s work towards this event.”

The evening featured performances from Tru Soldiers street dance group and a story called ‘Monster Mayhem’ by 11-year-old Jake Goddard, both from Felixstowe’s Level Two Youth Project, as well as the Lateral Artiste youth drama group from Lowestoft and music from the Believe project (CSV Media) in Ipswich. Other youth clubs and projects taking part include: Moving On Project (Lowestoft), Key and Link Project, 4YP Ipswich, The Sudbury Web, The Sudbury Celebration, At Home by Emily Pyne, Brandon Flower Pots, Garp Toons and other art contributions.

Nicki Chatt, aged 13, of Tru Soldiers street dance group, Level 2 Youth Club, said, “We wanted to bring the hip hop and the street dance together in the performance. It’s been good tonight, it was interesting to see all the really good things that other young people have done.”

Jake Goddard, also from Level 2 Youth Club, said, “I got my ideas from Level 2 and shops in Felixstowe and used different voices for the characters to bring the story to life.” 

Make an Exhibition of Yourself is the first of 3 celebration events to be held in Suffolk, as a result of the County Council receiving an award of £15,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Suffolk County Council is one of 10 local authority pilot projects to be funded across the country to develop and deliver initiatives to test out a range of youth-led celebration events, working with local services and communities to foster more positive perceptions of young people. Each of the successful pilots will need to ensure that young people are at the centre of the decision making, planning, development and delivery of the celebration events. The Suffolk pilot aims to provide a platform to enable up to 1,000 young people to celebrate their achievements - both formal and informal, participation and involvement in a range of positive activities. Each event will be organised and managed by young people, supported by a number of partners including: Suffolk Youth & Connexions Service, Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Young Suffolk Vinvolved team, voluntary youth sector, Extended Services and Youth Offending Service. 

Suffolk Coastal Teen Voices (SCTV) and Connexions Suffolk recently organised a Youth Art competition and showcase for the district, held at Walton Community Hall in Felixstowe.