Voice Magazine welcomes its second cohort of Kickstart employees to the team

After a successful first cohort, Voice is proud to welcome our second round of kickstart employees, with seven new young people joining the team. 

Voice Magazine welcomes its second cohort of Kickstart employees to the team

Voice Magazine is excited to introduce its seven new Kickstarts, who joined the team at the start of August. Over the next six months Voice will be working with the recruits to generate new content for the website, develop new social and marketing strategies, and take a deep look at how the Voice platform can better serve young people interested in art and culture. 

Joining the team are three Trainee Journalists, a Social Media Assistant, a Media Sub Editor, a Development Assistant, and a Business and Projects Assistant.

The new Kickstart cohort will build upon the excellent work delivered by the first cohort of Kickstarts. Working with Voice from February until August, the first cohort saw great success at Voice, developing new series like Voice Verdicts and Voice Retrospects, as well as covering events like Mozilla Festival and Brighton Fringe. Voice is exceptionally proud of the personal development opportunities offered to its Kickstarts, working to ensure everyone leaving had a clear sense of ‘where next?’ Members of the first cohort have since gone on to secure jobs at Sky Sports and the Economist, as well as acceptance onto a master’s programmes.

The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit and is available for employers of all sizes.

Each young person will work 25 hours per week for six months, with their time divided between completing a schedule of work and undertaking further training and personal development opportunities.  

Tom Inniss, Editor of Voice, says:

"I am thrilled to be welcoming seven new young people to work with Voice to really push the boundaries of what we as a magazine and a platform can offer, while simultaneously helping them to nurture in their own growth and discover their place within the creative sector. It is always a privilege to work with talented people, especially so early on in their career."

Emrys Green, Business & Projects Manager for Upstart Projects, says:

"Our first cohort has been so successful and our new recruits have hit the ground running with their energy and passion, helping to design what their programme of work and study looks like for themselves which is such an important aspect."

We are offering our resources and growing network to other employers in the skills, creative and digital industries as part of our Kickstart Support Programme.

Announced in September 2020 by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Kickstart Scheme is the government’s flagship employment scheme to help address the growing unemployment rates among 16-24 year-olds. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that between March-October 2020, over 200,000 16-24 year-olds fell out of employment and were the age group with the highest redundancy rates. That figure could rise further when the furlough scheme ends, as HMRC reports that those on furlough tend to be younger.  

This cohort of Kickstarts will work with Voice until February 2022, after which a final cohort will be recruited. The government has committed to funding the Kickstart scheme for out the 18 months.

Voice Magazine is managed by charity Upstart Projects, a charity championing youth voice and leadership and dedicated to creating opportunities in the arts with young people.


MEET THE TEAM

02732a939c3bbbc0661d001bc42199d59a2d6b1e.pngAmy Clewlow

Amy is a Media Sub-editor for Voice, and is an Illustration graduate from Hereford College of Arts. She’s a passionate creative who enjoys putting out new, fun content to expand minds and start inclusive conversations. She’s an avid podcast listener and novice animator always looking to expand her horizons. 

“I applied to join the voice team because I felt like I could grow as a creative in a fun, accepting environment, I wanted to learn more skills especially in the editing realm and I felt I could flourish with voice and my team.”

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Ash Edmonds

Ash is a Kickstart Journalist for Voice. A graduate of Music Journalism from BIMM Brighton – where he now lives – Ash has been writing about everything creative for the past few years. An avid audiophile, he spends a lot of his time searching streaming platforms, record stores and live shows trying to find his next musical obsession.

I feel that journalistic writing is incredibly important, and through Voice, I can pair it with my obsessive passion for all things musical, cultural and conceptual. I am very excited to improve my skills, and help to inform readers about all things creative and progressive. Hopefully my time here will increase my self-confidence too.

78ccf65e59ddf06939f725c99606fcbbb59c1363.pngDulcie Geist

Dulcie is a Kickstart Trainee Journalist with Voice. They are a Fine Art graduate, originally from Cardiff, now residing in Glasgow. They love Welsh culture, queer culture, pop culture, and lack of culture. They have a passion for the arts and an even deeper passion for anything that makes the arts more accessible (and frankly, more fun).

I have always enjoyed writing and hope to finally become somewhat capable at it through the experience I’ll gain working at Voice. I applied to work here particularly because I value their prioritisation of young people’s voices and their recognition of the intrinsic link between the arts and politics."  

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Hamish Gray

Hamish is a Kickstart Trainee Journalist for Voice Magazine, and is a recent English Literature and Creative Writing graduate with a deep passion for anything that grabs him, be it literature, film, video games or world culture. He is always looking to learn something new and tackles each experience with the unshakeable belief that good art can come from anywhere.

“I applied for this position because I love the arts, and I love to write. A job that combines both of these things is a dream come true. I hope to learn the ins and outs of working as part of a publication: sourcing content, developing my journalistic skills, and gaining experience in a professional environment.”  

78ccf65e59ddf06939f725c99606fcbbb59c1363.pngJay Komar

Jay is Voice’s Kickstart Social Media Co-oirdinator, and a Filmmaking graduate from Aberystwyth University. They are interested in music, film, animation and art. Specialising in the way each of these can be made more accessible and collaborative through social media.

“I chose to pursue this job because it offered a chance for me to do all the things I love like graphic design, animating and editing – all whilst gaining more experience of large scale social media activity and producing regular content.”

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Olivia Wyatt

Olivia is the Kickstart Business and Projects Assistant at Voice. She is a recent Education Studies graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University. Olivia loves expanding her knowledge in anything and everything. You can find her reading everything in sight or bending over backwards trying new yoga flows.

“I applied for this opportunity because I would love to be able to empower and inspire young creatives to showcase their work or potentially even start their journey through an amazing organisation such as voice, something I wish I had found when I was younger.”

78ccf65e59ddf06939f725c99606fcbbb59c1363.pngMolly McIntosh

Molly McIntosh recently graduated from Nottingham Trent University studying Music Performance. She has a passion for anything music related whether that be performing,  listening to music or learning more about the industry itself, music has definitely become a huge factor of her life.

“I am looking forward to working with Voice because I love the feeling that I would be helping facilitate such an amazing platform that promotes young creatives to get their work out there and to be noticed and appreciated by other young creatives and followers of the community.” 

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Voice Magazine

Voice is a magazine and platform for young creatives covering arts, culture, politics and technology. This account contains anonymous posts, information regarding the website and our events.

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