Did you know that young people played a big role in planning and promoting Discover Young Hackney as cultural ambassadors? Well, we went to meet two of these young people to find out more about their experiences.

Amelia, who is 14, explained what being a cultural ambassador involves: ‘We get young people to go to events, and we have to promote the Discover Young Hackney festival and go to workshops about how to promote the events and the festival.’

It has been a good learning experience for Amelia, who told us, ‘It’s been fun. It will hopefully help meÖI’m becoming more confident about talking to young people and stuff.’ Naomi, who is 15 and also a cultural ambassador, said it also changed her perspective of her borough: ‘At first I thought Hackney was quite boring, but after the Discover Young Hackney project I’ve realised there’s a lot more to it, and it’s got a lot more for young people to do.’

The Cultural AmbassadorsHaving attended most of the events taking place in the festival, they had positive things to say about Discover Young Hackney. Amelia thinks ‘it’s a good idea because there’s too much crime and we need to get lots of young people in Hackney doing positive stuff with their lives.’ Naomi agreed, and explained that the festival is helping combat the negative image of young people: ‘I think it’s a great idea because not only is it helping get people off the streets but it’s helping them meet new people and it’s showing adults that the youth aren’t as bad as they come across; they’re more interested in learning than anything else.’

Naomi said that being a cultural ambassador ‘has taught me a lot of things’, and she would recommend it to other young people ñ in fact, she has started a MySpace page to promote Discover Young Hackney and encourage others to get involved.
About this story

This story was produced by Gloire Ammany, 18, Sarra Said-Wardell, 12, and Shannique Smith, 14. It was published in Hackney Today.
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Headliners London with Discover Young Hackney