Wow! so we really have come to the end of the Explore project for now – at least the first phase is over. I want to say that on behalf of the group it has been a fantastic opportunity and I am so proud to have been a part of it. Obviously we have had some amazing moments as a group and we have been able to do some great things within the community of York.
Here are a few of our favourite photos, but you can find some more here.
Colm opening equipment before the workshops started
Nick worked on the vision mixer for every live broadcast
Filming the Knit and Natter group - see the video below
People working as part of the TV broadcasting workshop
Colm on camera while I talk blogging in the background
A very special effort from this young lad working out the vision mixer in Tang Hall
Mike with the Accessible Arts and Media team
We’re going to be showing a film celebrating the conclusion of the Explore Media project, On Thursday, April 22, we will be serving drinks and there will be a short film screening at 5.50 pm, showing some of the highlights of the project. The event will last around an hour.
There will the opportunity to meet some of the mentors from the workshops including myself, Colm, Emma, Becky, Dave, Liam, Nick, Mike, John and Kirsty as well as some of our managers at the council, Dave, Helen and Tricia who are all lovely and have helped us throughout the project.
Unfortunately, the event is invite only, but you are more than welcome to request a ticket by contacting us – however, please be aware it is on a first come first served basis.
- York’s City Screen cinema
We can’t show you the celebration video yet, but we can showcase some of our favourite vids from the project. For more exclusive audio content and interviews by Mike Leigh Cooper you should head over to the NING – it’s great over there you know?
Below you can see some of the fantastic work our film-makers, volunteers and workshop participants shot while we were working on the project:
We think you will agree that this selection of videos provides a very positive take on everything that we did as a group from late last year when we started, through the workshops and before we finished it off earlier this month – it’s been fantastic and we really hope that when the new central Explore library opens in York next month (May 24, to be exact), we will have more opportunities to provide these great workshops and taster sessions to York’s thriving media community.
Just incase you wanted to know some of the facts behind the project, 120 people came to the workshops (including TV broadcasting, film-editing, blogging, social networking and more), and the figures that came out from our research post-project far exceeded our original expectations and goals for the project. You can see above within the sample interviews and footage that the people who got involved really shared something with the mentors that were on hand, and because of this they were able to greatly advance their skills, indulge their interests and expand on their personal experiences.
It was particularly positive for us because we got to work with so many fantastic people from a variety of backgrounds and with many different skill-sets. The majority of sign-ups for the workshops were in their 50s closely followed by people aged between 30 and 40. This surprised us a lot but made us realise just how much value this project could have to people already in business and not just people starting out or looking to learn new skills when they leave education.
Other useful figures include the ratio of people who took part who were employed to those unemployed. It’s interesting to observe that the majority of people (39 per cent) were already employed in comparison to the 30 per cent of people who were unemployed and 24 per cent of those were retired. This again illustrates that the people coming in to the Explore Media workshops were not only looking to gain skills that would help them get work, but also that job-holders were engaging with the project to advance their personal and professional profile.
In terms of location, while most of the participants came from our home area of Acomb and also the Fulford and Osbaldwick areas, people came from all around the city to participate in the workshops – it was very humbling and we even managed to squeeze a few more people in to the workshops when they were browsing in the libraries and took an interest in our work.
We are very proud of all we have achieved and we hope that those who came to take part in the workshops enjoyed them just as much as we enjoyed delivering them.
Thanks,
Kind regards and best wishes,
Dom Smith and the Explore Media team.
See you in May at the new Explore central library!
That’s all for now then, we will keep you posted on more information as we get it. Explore‘s mentors will be working with KhaoZ Media so feel free to keep in touch with them via their official website.
