BEHIND THE SCENES: MANCHESTER FUTURES (JULY)

Our podcasting course Manchester Futures just wrapped up. If you’re unfamiliar with MF, it’s a 6-week course that provides bespoke support to young people aged 16-25 looking for work, kindly made possible by The Prince’s Trust. 

With the goal of working towards a live radio show the group immersed themselves into the digital world and got to business.

This time, employers joining us were Fuzzy Duck, Brighter Sounds and The British Red Cross. Let’s tell you a little bit about each of them. 

Fuzzy Duck is a company that works across the realms of design, film, animation and other means of creativity to craft much-loved stories. The kind of stories that one doesn’t forget or the kind that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling. They’ve worked with BBC Bitesize, CBBC’s Blue Peter, the Science Museum in London and the National Trust to name a few. 

Brighter Sounds is a creative music charity which helps music creators, leaders and industry professionals through creative projects, residencies, training and events. Over the years, they have connected those working with them with established artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Bugzy Malone and Everything Everything. 

And, last but not least, the British Red Cross is a humanitarian charity aiming to help those in crisis, in the UK and the rest of the world. Currently, they are offering advice, support and schemes to help those affected in Ukraine, as well as offering advice on Climate Change and what we can do as individuals to prevent further monstrosities. 

Participants such as Kate, who aspires to make their own podcast post workshop on philosophy and cinematography, chose to explore the British Red Cross as they wanted to learn “insight into the humanitarian industry”. Bartender Gabriel Hackman agreed that it was “really informative”, adding that he chose Red Cross because he was “intrigued by the panel about climate change” that the charity discussed. 

Others like part-time fundraiser George Edwards went with Fuzzy Duck out of a keen interest in the film production industry. During his time at University, George received training in Radio commercials and would love to make his own radio show exploring plays, due to his “love of theatre”. 

Although no previous broadcasting experience is required to join the course, individuals such as Amina had dabbled in a podcasting course funded by the Prince’s Trust in the past. During Manchester Futures, she built up her confidence and said: “I would actually love to make my own podcast about personal development or confidence building”. 

As with all of our workshops, we strive to create and maintain an environment of ease, where anyone can join and be their authentic selves with no judgement. It’s great to see when that pays off and people involved such as Amina leave feeling confident and ready to boss their next move. 

To hear more from the group behind Manchester Futures, you can tune into the radio show they scripted and produced themselves called ‘Shut Up and Listen’. During the show, they chat about neurodiversity, potatoes and game shows. 

Listen now.

If you’re interested in applying for the next workshop, please drop an email to projects@reformradio.co.uk to find out more.