Every young person has incredible strengths to share with the world. With the Hear Me Out! fund, part of our Power Up programme, we’re giving young people up to £250 grow their talents and develop their skills however they choose.
Each funded project is as unique as the young person running it. Last month, we introduced you to Charlotte and Charlie, who have their crafts club and swimming lesson projects well underway! Now, we meet an aspiring voice actor, the founder of a cleaning services start-up, and a maker of personalised picture frames.
Kieran, Bridge Foyer
Inspired by his love of video games (and evil characters in particular), Kieran will use his funding to pursue his dreams of becoming a voice actor. He plans to purchase a high-quality microphone to make demo recordings and advertise his skills to potential clients.
Kieran said, “Right now, my idea is to have a go and start doing this as a part-time job. There’s a website I can use to share my ideas and demos and get work. I’ll get more experience as a freelancer and get my name out there, then eventually, hopefully, get a big project.
“I want to build my confidence, my social skills and my business skills. The things I worry about are my reading and writing. There might be some problems here or there, but I’ll figure out a way around them. It’s a lot to do, but you’ve got to be brave. It’s best to jump in at the deep end.”
Liah, YMA Derby
Liah plans to launch her first business, providing cleaning services, with the £250 she was awarded.
She said, “I’ve seen a lot of people who would like to work but don’t have the chance to for a number of reasons, like low mood, depression and low motivation. My idea is to provide a cleaning business to the local Derby community.
“I’ve discussed it with other residents here and have received real encouragement and eagerness to be a part of it. This will help residents with their employability skills, communication and trust, also giving them a healthy routine and purpose, which will help with low mood and motivation.”
This is Liah’s first go at following in her business-owner parents’ footsteps, and will help her to learn some of the skills she’ll need to meet her dream of owning a B&B. Liah said, “I want to be a business owner, so it’ll give me an understanding of how to do that. Talking to customers, managing staff and money management. And I’ll learn loads of new cleaning skills too!”
Natasha, Ravenhead Foyer
Natasha is already running a small business through Instagram making personalised picture frames using scrabble tiles. With the funding, she plans to grow her business, purchasing materials to make the orders she receives and moving into a new product line in bath bombs.
She says, “I’ve been crafting for about a year now. I’m a really creative person and I got into crafts through my boyfriend’s family. They all do things like that, so I thought I’d give it a go. I tried candle melts first and loved it. I like that you can be creative with other people, and for other people.”
Natasha had the idea for starting a business after seeing other successful artist pages on Facebook. “I thought, ‘I could have a go,'”, she said, “My goals are to have a good job and make people happy around me, and this is a way to do that.”
