Funded by Arts Council England, the MyVoice Creative Writing Competition engaged over 500 young people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to write poems, prose and scripts. The project recruited a panel of judges, published an anthology of winners, and delivered a celebration event scheduled for March 2020.

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I set up the project, devised the marketing strategy, and worked with partners from the Young Ambassadors project and the cultural and voluntary sector in Nottingham to engage young people. I facilitated writers and teachers to run creative writing workshops in schools, communities, and Violence Reduction Units to drive entries to the competition. I recruited the judges and brought in the young ambassadors to promote the competition, recruiting one as a volunteer to the judging panel. I commissioned a publisher to produce an anthology of the winners. I wrote the introduction and acknowledgments. I planned an in-person celebration event, which I cancelled when the pandemic hit, and which I transformed into an online showcase, crippling the number of proposed engagements.

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A digital anthology of Speak Up! is available to view below for free.