Our Impact
The Agency has been delivered and evaluated across the UK and Northern Ireland by Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs), community centres and theatres. The programme help build connections in divided communities, support communities affected by crime and celebrate cultural diversity in communities impacted by systemic inequality.
Through the programme, Agents continue to do great things that would be unimaginable for these young people - Agents spoke about their ideas to tackle social issues at the Houses of Parliament; Agent Seshie's music platform IAMNEXT, brought underground artists to Glastonbury Festival; Agent Farhad even went on a trip to USA to study social justice and business models for young people at risk of exclusion.
Evaluation
“The Agency has levelled the playing field. I left school with no grades, but I have learnt everything I need to know from The Agency.”
Impact
Key aspects of The Agency
1.
The Agency methodology puts young people from some of the most underserved areas of the UK at the centre of social change, using an asset-based approach to achieve sustainable, local change through young peoples’ life experience, community resources, culture and passion.
2.
The Agency supports young people on an individual level to improve their opportunities but also creates a collective force for systematic change, mobilising young people around social issues they care about.
3.
The Agency changes the way cultural and community organisations work with young people by adopting more inclusive, co-created, collaborative working practices across their organisations.
4.
The Agency uses creativity as its key currency to unlock innovation, helping young people to achieve their potential and future success in education, employment and enterprise.
5.
The Agency is a tool to create robust networks within a locality where young people, cultural organisations and communities work together around shared goals and values.
What does the money support?
Young people
Inputs
£30 weekly stipend
316 hours of creative training sessions
20 hours of mentoring time with industry professionals
128 hours of producing support to help realise their projects
Attend an annual national gathering of young change makers
Access to high-profile networks
Outputs
Improved local and professional networks
Project that benefits their communities
Hard and soft skill development to improve their employment, education and enterprise opportunities after the programme
Increased sense of agency in what they are able to achieve and what is open and accessible to them
Shift in perception about their communities as places of opportunity for them
Organisations
Outputs
New partnerships developed with local organisations
Facilitated training and experience in co-creation practice
Improved connection to community needs in the local area
New methods and experience gained for working with local communities
Inputs
3-day intensive training for staff
A training toolkit
Weekly mentoring calls
Twice yearly CPD days with national network
Communities
Outputs
Develops culture of investment into local economy, encouraging Agents to support local goods and services
21 new community projects led by young people every year
44 new training and employment opportunities every year
Young people stepping into leadership roles in the community
Inputs
£6,000 commissioning investment from Agents’ projects
£1,000 investment to improve local infrastructure
Hear from our Agents
Prince Agyei
ViZION
Dulcie Usher
Horizon Retreats
Key outputs in numbers
Funding invested in Agent’s projects
£118,547
Number of jobs created
127
Total Number of Agents
843
Projects Created by Agents
277
Number of community members engaged
41,000
Funded projects still running
In a world of significant change and transformation, economic growth does not mean prosperity for all. As a potential way forward, the concept of degrowth invites us to rethink how growth can be better for ourselves, our environment and our communities. The Agency encourage social innovation through supporting young people from underserved communities to develop projects rooted in local assets, lead change in their communities and drive sustainable futures.