I have now been involved with the young producers for nearly two years and have loved every minute. I was fortunate enough to get involved right at the start and therefore I have been able to see the project grow and develop as more people have gotten involved and more events have taken place.
I have been involved with many aspects over the past year including wider project evaluations, young producer residentials, the archaeologist’s festival, English Heritage site visits and, perhaps most excitingly, the planning of the ‘Shout Out Loud’ branding designs. One of the main things that I have loved is the way in which we, as younger people, have been respected and welcomed. Despite English Heritage being a huge national institution, our opinions and ideas have been taken on board and we can already see changes being made that reflect them. When it came to ‘Shout Out Loud’s’ branding we were asked to play a key role in both choosing the graphic design agency and then contributing to their design process. The final designs for the website and social media platforms clearly reflect our ideas and opinions and this was so great to see as being a project that strives to appeal to younger audiences, it was vital that the branding reflected that.
In February, a group of us gathered in York for the weekend. This was a great opportunity to meet Young Producers from across the country, of different ages and backgrounds, and further get to grips with the aims and goals of the project. From site visits to leadership activities to social media branding sessions and even group Cluedo Nights, we were able to help guide the project in a new direction and define what it meant to be a Young Producer and what we all wanted this project to achieve. We all agreed that we wanted to inspire a new generation of people to get involved and explore their own heritage and tell new stories. To uncover the untold narratives and re-invigorate the current narratives that dominate the heritage scene.
As someone that is greatly interested in the ways in which the public engage with the past (which can vary from watching a period drama to listening to a history podcast to visiting a heritage site) I have been hugely inspired by Shout Out Loud and what it strives for. It is about the ‘same struggles in different centuries’. It is about exploring our shared past, giving younger people a voice to tell their story and discover hidden truths. Being a young producer has given me that voice and I could not be more grateful for this opportunity to show others the value that heritage has to offer.