Have you ever wondered why life isn’t going the way you planned? I could say from experience that the way I planned my life isn’t how it turned out to be. Were there any regrets for that outcome? Maybe; but there was one thing I learned about planning your life, don’t plan the big things so quickly because something just might come in the way of that and ruin whatever you had in mind. I could give you a prime example of that. I’ve always dreamed of owning a clothing store showcasing my designs and the clothes I’ve made but that didn’t happen. Now it wasn’t for the lack of hard work because hard work was there. The simple answer is that life happened, situations happened and for a lack of a better phrase, but my world was rocked… tested even. I could tell you what life and planning have in common – they both test your abilities and your strength. There’s this saying that I’ve grown up with, “the lord doesn’t give you too much that you won’t be able to handle”. That simply means at times when the there’s a roadblock in the way of your plans there’s always a way you could overcome it and succeed. What you may have initially dreamed your life to be, there’s always that one other layer or window to lead you through another, even better dream. Now I am not saying you should abandon your first dream, I didn’t entirely, but the other dream that you may have might just put you onto a different path completely with fewer roadblocks. It might sound like I’m saying: “STOP, DON’T EVER PLAN!” Wrong, it’s good to plan but it is always good to leave room for disappointment. What I mean by that is, make your plan, do the hard work that’s needed but be cautious as well, open to any possibilities. It’s like crossing the street – you look both ways, left and right just to see if it’s safe to get the other side but what if you suspected that the road was clear and as you are about to take a step a car speeds up almost taking you with it. Don’t assume everything would go the way you intend it to because something might just come in the way of that. Now I’m going to say this, and I absolutely believe in this. If we don’t take charge of own life everything we envisioned for ourselves will be invalid. Yes, as human beings we are bound to make mistakes and things are inevitable to happen that we can’t control. But whether we plan or not just know if it doesn’t go as you’d want it to, doesn’t mean that it won’t happen somewhere down the road. Planning and life is just another way of saying “take the road trip that is your life, try new things who knows… another dream might help expand the first”. By Deanna Tuitt

Whether you are struggling to find a job, dissatisfied with your financial situation, irritated by a relationship, or feeling unmotivated and critical of yourself, you are bound to encounter difficult obstacles. But what distinguishes those who are optimistic and driven is how they react to such situations. It is up to you to change your attitude, take action and tackle your life with fervor and ambition, rather than pity yourself and aimlessly trudge through a stagnant life. Below are three inspirational quotes that motivate me to refine my habits when I am feeling frustrated and pessimistic about a daunting situation. “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” –Buddha It is often true that you are your own worst critic. Rather than constantly condemning every move you make, try complimenting your achievements and speaking to yourself in an encouraging tone. When the little voice in your head emits positivity, it affects your emotions and actions favorably. “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon Staying in the present allows you to appreciate those around you and experience the “now” to the fullest. If you are continuously planning ahead and worrying about the future, you risk missing the opportunities right in front you. Sometimes, you must simply accept the life path you are on and trust that where you are at the moment is where you are meant to be. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” –Mark Twain An effective tactic to overcome discouragement or dissatisfaction is to push yourself beyond the boundaries of discomfort and endeavor to accomplish a new task or explore a realm about which you have always been curious. Instead of fearing failure, let your guard down and tackle the unknown because you never know the benefits that may come out of it or the lessons you may learn. By Melissa Simon

Have you ever gazed through a telescope or marvelled at something from the lens of a camera? Chances are the answer is yes. At that point of contact, the lens of your camera becomes what your eyes are to your brain: an observant tool, curious to discover new and yet unknown territory. Cameras, like telescopes, like mobile phones, and like everything in between, all come equipped with that curious, all-seeing eye. But of course, the curiosity they bring can’t exist without one very specific thing: your mind. And as we have invented technology to enhance our ways of life, we have also crafted the means to document our lives and minds in a way that means they can be preserved for all time. This so called invention is what we call film – A medium inspired entirely by our primal curiosity. Films, unlike our lives, are eternal. And thanks to the aid of our unique invention, films also have the ability to alter our understanding of how we perceive time both in our real lives and in the land of fiction. Effectively, you could say that time in movies is relative. When you look back at the classics of today, like 1941’s ‘Citizen Kane’ or 1960’s ‘Breathless’, you see that the visions of the day, as they existed back then, carry forward into the present day. The world as it was seen in 1941 and 1960 can now be witnessed as they were intended, now in the year 2019. Essentially, you could claim that two different time lines have intersected; you’re now living in those moments. And further to the point, the fictional worlds that these movies have created exist within their own time, with sequences taking place in a non-linear fashion. Story lines and character arcs can present themselves without being restricted to time as it exists in the here and now. Character journeys spanning several decades can now conclude in only a mere few hours, and scenarios that would normally be limited to revealing information in a linear sequence can now be rearranged into any order the filmmaker sees fit – sometimes even giving the audience an advantage over the characters. This curiosity, as I mentioned, has shaped our entire philosophy of life. And thanks to the invention of film, the ‘simpler’ things in life have become just that much more complicated. Movies have given way to our primal curiosity. Movies have shaped us and made us more aware of our world. They’ve also inspired us to marvel at our own creativity and experience the world from the mind and perspective of a time traveller. Movies have given us a stronger appreciation for days gone by, for times lost and for memories thought to have been pulled deep into the depths of the unconscious. Without movies, our innate curiosity would only be able to extend its hand so far, and life itself would seem just that little bit simpler. What a soulless life that would be. By Lee Thorneycroft

We worked with Paddington Arts from May-November 2018 to manage an online creative writing and photography competition for young people between the ages of 16 & 24. We managed to reach out to a wide audience from the UK, Europe and beyond. “Even before rules were recorded, morality was expected…” - Shaniqua Benjamin (1st Prize Winner) The competition encouraged adolescents to explore prevalent issues related to faith, identity and belonging through the creative arts and writing. After receiving numerous photograph and article submissions, we offered prizes to the best three in each category. Below are some of the inspiring photography submissions we received. “Belonging is me, belonging is us, belonging is we.” -Nabeela Mulbocus (2nd Prize Winner) Each and every submission was unique, impactful and inspiring. We decided to print booklets with a selection of the outstanding entries to give to the participants and guests at the award ceremony.

You Press collaborated with the GLA (Greater London Authority) in order to find out how improvements could be made in bridging the gap between communities who are less well-represented and the authorities. We originally planned for 12 young researchers between the ages of 16-30 in the BAME community to conduct research with at least five family members and friends to see what concerns them in the community. The project gained so much attention that we ended up bringing on board 18 bright young people who were keen in expressing themselves creatively. On 7th February 2018, we delivered the first workshop for our Community Research Project called ROOTS LDN at the Paddington Arts facility. Like most meetings, our selected researchers were shy in communicating with each other at first. But after three core workshops over the course of six weeks, all of us managed to open up to each other, sharing our stories and expressing our diverse range of artistic thought. In the opening core workshop the group established 5 group values that we would reflect on over the course of the project: Honesty To be honest with not only the You Press team, but with yourself in what you will be able to commit to during the duration of the project. Trust To have trust in the You Press staff to provide a safe space in order to work and communicate regarding the project. Whilst utilising the trust you already have with family members to record effective and detailed data. Empathy To relate to the stories we share with each other. Creating a bond that not only brings the community together, but helps provide a better understanding of the plight of others. Inspire To inspire and be inspired. With the anecdotes you share and collect, the ability to convert what you gathered into a creative piece of art. Fun To have fun! In order to work effectively, there must be stimuli that helps you get your creative juices flowing. Whether through conversation or sharing your creative pieces in the workshops. In the second core workshop, the researchers alongside project coordinators shared their countries of heritage. From that, each participant created a short piece of poetry to share back to the group. Some of the work achieved that day displayed a lot of powerful verses revealing not only the pride of each researchers’ countries, but also the hardships faced through their history. In our final core workshop, we discussed and demonstrated the literary technique used by writers known as ‘Anecdotal Recollection’. In pairs, participants had to tell each other a short bizarre story with the task being to rewrite the story that they listened to. The aim was to demonstrate the core value by listening to these stories and interpreting them into their own artistic styles in written form. All researchers were required to record their data from a minimum of five family members and submit their creative output by the end of March 2018. From this we produced a final report and a celebration of the project including each researchers’ creative output.

For our “Voices of the Movement” project, we put together a performance in 15 weeks to shed light on the challenges faced by refugees and migrants, and the stigma against displacement. We worked with 11 participants, consisting of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, to influence them to share their stories and let their voices be heard. With the help of talented artists and volunteers from the community, the show was made possible in hopes of building a more accepting community of people from all different backgrounds. “Over land & sea, I follow my destiny…” With the help of expert facilitators, “Voices of the Movement” provided opportunities to learn and develop a wide-range of soft skills related to creativity, artistic expression, storytelling, nutrition and wellbeing. The project provided a safe and nurturing environment for the participants who worked closely with the artists to help transform their narratives into powerful poems, spoken word pieces, and music. The artists delivered the impactful stories in a vibrant performance, where the real-life narratives came together as one.

“Voices of The Movement” project grew from the increasing need to address the migrant refugee crisis that has taken over the globe by storm. There are over 60 million refugees in the world, 60 million people torn from their homes and their families, just looking to survive and start again. From January to May 2017 we worked with a group of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and a group of talented artists to create a 'movement' that challenged the stigma associated with people of displacement. We brought to life inspirational stories through original music, poetry and a theatrical show in collaboration with Park Theatre. Our project paired one talented artist with one refugee/migrant and they worked closely and sensitively together to transform their narrated life stories into powerful poems and music. The refugees and migrants in our project decided how they wanted their stories to be told and delivered.  With our project we have successfully shed light on the negative misconceptions and stigmas associated with refugees and migrants in the mainstream media. Our project and our theatrical show was a message, one of extraordinary human resilience and hope that one can always rebuild from the rubble.

On 11 July 1995, 8,372 Bosnians were systematically massacred and buried in mass graves in Srebrenica. Thousands of women, children and elderly people were forcibly deported, and a large number of women were raped. This year (July 2016) will be 21 years since the Srebrenica genocide – Memorial Month. The Srebrenica Memorial honours the victims and survivors of the genocide and war. “Spread Love and Not Hate…” In 2015, a group of artists went on a physical and mental journey to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they took part in a learning visit to understand the true meanings of hate, forgiveness and survival. The aim was to utilize the lessons manifested from the dreadful events that occurred in Srebrenica to foster a world in which our differences become our strengths. The artists had the honour of meeting the incredible mothers who had survived the systematic massacre in Srebrenica, and tragically lost their husbands, sons, brothers and nephews along the way. “When I asked the surviving mothers what I can do to help, they said to me: ‘Spread love and not hate, and share what you have learned here with others.’” – Farah, You Press Co-founder The bravery and strength of the mothers had a profound impact on Farah’s view of the world. His experience inspired him to form a partnership with the charity ( Remembering Srebrenica ) that organised the trip to create a unique creative arts project called ‘ I Remember Srebrenica.’ After 10 months of planning (without any funding or resources, but with the help of the charity and the community), we managed to take a group of talented artists and students to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The whole creative team travelled together to participate in a 4-day learning intensive about the Bosnian war and genocide. The team learned how the genocide affected individual lives and the community as a whole by speaking face-to-face with the survivors and mothers of Srebrenica. Within 4 weeks of the team’s return to London, powerful responses to the event were produced and showcased at a tester event in November 2015. The money generated from the event was donated to the mothers of Srebrenica who were still in the process of identifying the bodies of their loved ones as a result of the genocide. Forgotten Stories In July 2016, we retold the forgotten stories of the people who were brutally overlooked. We strive to give a voice to the innocent victims who deserve to be heard. On  15th July 2016,  we held an event called ‘I Remember Srebrenica’ at Oxford House, Bethnal Green to honour the victims and survivors of the genocide and war through poetry, music and spoken word. Our group was deeply inspired to create art focusing on human rights and the tragedies of war. Many pieces touched on individual survival stories from what has been described as the greatest atrocity in Europe since WWII. The video below is an example of an original piece created for the event.

Dear Mama, I pray this letter never reaches you. I am sorry. I am sorry you have to see this. Iam sorry I’ve left you alone. The moment I was grabbed from your arms into the clutches of ominous death I knew I would never return to you. Do you remember my hands you used to kiss? These hands, though tied, now pray to be back in your warm embrace, thanking God each night for the UN’s protection. BETRAYAL. HYPOCRISY. COWARDICE. How could they just leave us like that? Last week I played football with them, and now they supervise the execution of my family. The blood of my nation splattered so mercilessly across the classroom next door doesn’t even make me vomit anymore. Every beat of my heart is a bullet shattering into pieces the skull of my grandfather, my father, my brother. United Nothing. RACISM. DIVISION. HATE. The land weeps for its sons. Serene Srebrenica, a city of safety brought to its knees in a single gunshot. One became ten; became a hundred; became thousands more. And now what’s left? A blanket of snow concealing bloodstains and secrets of this untold war. The sky and mountains that brought clean water and air now only brings agony and despair. Men of honour lie beneath the once sparkling River Drina where Papa taught me to swim. Why? Mere names. We share the same skin, culture, language, even pray to the same God, yet genetic waste is what they call us. And they won’t stop until we are all gone. MISSING PEOPLE. MISSING PEOPLE. What happened to you, Bosnia, my beloved? You were once home to Europe’s very own Jerusalem, and now death and destruction devour your very soul. Shattered hopes and battered dreams. Bullet- ridden buildings become broken homes. Holy Qurans lay unearthed between scattered bones. Mama, I read mine every day. I pray for us to meet again in a land with no such agony, where rivers are made from water and not blood, and food is found on trees and not in the pockets of the dead. WARRIOR. WORRIER. But mother don’t you cry, for some good may still come of this. If I must be torn from you, then do not let the world forget. A paradise of free souls is where I await you, Mama. Forever Longing, Your Son 16 YEARS OLD. 20 YEARS DEAD. Srebrenica remembers. Will you? – Written by Najmul Haque & Merium Bhuiyan

Life is cheap and irrelevant, a thing that naturally expires, some would not even spite on me if I was on fire. Why bother and waste their saliva? A tyrant’s propaganda cannot heal like the words of a saviour. Fear shrouds itself in the illusion of power, like a sheep clothed in wolfs clothing, their egos survival became their motivation, Using weapons of lies for annihilation, their false pride was our destruction. Born to one mother and father different to yours and another, then comes the massacre, we are forced to die together. Bones become one as we cluster cannot tell one from the other, Yet I have a name, lost in a mass grave. My youth was coloured with love and dreams, the bodily odours of hugs and a caring tight squeeze. Now my love and dreams sail with the breeze, I give chase, picking up pace, escaping the torture waiting behind the screams. If life was bliss and perfect, folk would label it boring. Yet it’s morbid to think some would find war games to be exciting. The earth beneath my feet need not be the encasing of a tomb, At least, the soil of heaven, Shambala, Zion or the immortals garden of Eden. Are we specs of dust easily swept under the carpet? You can close your eyes but cannot close your ears, Who cares to hear how the dead came to be dead, robbed of precious years? Are we not family though, yet you left us to be savaged by tigers and bears? If you pierce it will bleed, fragile is the human flesh. Yang that isn’t subdued by ying causes the worst of sins. How do you remove a mask of grief, turning upright your upside down grin? The pain of remembrance, yes it shatters but is also strengthening. Some parents lose their children whilst out shopping, may be on a trip to the zoo, or whilst you nodded off from exhaustion. To see your young return alive and whole is truly a comfort. How does a mother with a gaze that is fixed, find herself in the gravest pits, Searching for their young still held in their tight loving grip? Could a voice be heard beyond the grave? Testify and seek their justice at The Hague? Criminality is a plague, infecting those with a lust to reign, One of thousands murdered in this way, now hear my voice beyond the grave Could you be your brother’s keeper, like a mothers love for her child, whilst in the manger? Could you be your sister’s healer, like green hands that nurture and water a flower? Watch as a phoenix rises from the ashes of persecution, Deeply rooted roots once had their petals charred, continue blooming, muse at the fruits as they ripen out of season, for the richness of this land will never lose its nutrients! — Inspired by the ‘I Remember Srebrenica’ Project – Ausar Furion (Lloyd Benjamin) –

I slowly rolled out of my bed this morning and stood up to stretch out my arms. As the sun was shining its warm golden light over my bedroom, one thought came to my mind; in fact this thought has been on my mind for the past 6 months like a broken harp playing a broken record. The thought that I am referring to is that I need to find a job soon or I will certainly go bonkers. Sadly after I had freshened up, I found out that in the period; March-May 2012, 1.02 million young people aged 16-24 were unemployed and the number of young people aged 18-24 claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) was 463,200 in June 2012. As an ethnic minority living in one of the poorest boroughs in East London, this was shocking news for me. Especially since I come from a culture where if a man is not working, he automatically losses his status and role in the family. As the eldest brother in my family, I have always worked since the age of 15 and I have always tried to be a positive role model for my younger siblings. In my family I had always played a leading role in being a good son that looked after his mother and younger siblings. However since my contract ended from my job over 6 months ago and after many unsuccessful job applications, I have often wondered, how can I support my parents and younger siblings, if I can’t find a job? This may come as a shock, but despite these depressing statistics the truth is there is hope for us, the unemployed voices, even if at times it may not seem so. The past 6 months I have learned that in order to not lose focus in finding a job, one must; Face it that there are days when you want to give up and never wake up from your bed. But if you can pull yourself out of your bed and go for a brief walk, you will feel better. The brief walk and fresh air will give you a chance to reflect on why it’s important for you to not give up. By doing this I was able to make optimism, expectancy, and enthusiasm a part of my daily experience. Tap into your support unit, whether it’s your family or close friends. Believe me when I say to you that there is nothing more powerful or therapeutic than talking to your support unit, especially on the gloomy days when you might feel like giving up. Take control and realise that it’s a numbers game. The more job applications you make, the higher probability there is that you will find a job. Keep applying! Plan and strategise your daily job applications and activities. This way you’ll never lose focus of your end goal. There’s a famous quote that states that, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. By doing this I was able to sign up to many recruitment agencies and build a strong network base to inform me of job opportunities. It’s only a matter of time until I find a job that I am looking for and I know that I may not be able to control external factors. But I can certainly control my attitude and have hope.

Like 1 million other young people in Britain today I woke up this morning feeling heavy hearted, apprehensive and unacknowledged by the many employers whom I had sent lengthy applications to several months ago. This had become my regular state of mind. Since my job ended in March this year, I had, like so many others, attempted to apply for jobs that I liked, jobs that I was overqualified for, jobs that paid the wage I was on five years ago and jobs that were simply available. I was astonished to learn early into my job hunting mission that many employers do not even recognise receipt of applications these days. Meaning that for suckers like me, I hold my breath for jobs that I really want without evidence that my application has even been seen by the prospective employer! These are certainly difficult times and this morning I wished I could roll back into bed and wake up on the right side. Just as I considered resetting my alarm, I was reminded that this was no regular day of mine. I was preparing for an interview with someone whom I hoped could shed some light on these uneasy times for future generations. I would meet Jon Snow, an accomplished and widely-respected news reporter of Channel 4 news in five hours time. My excitement of meeting Jon Snow was three-fold. One, he is a well known journalist who has enjoyed a hugely successful career in broadcasting. Two, unlike most reporters he gets away with being openly opinionated. And three, I hear he is a great supporter of young people. I am always curious to discover how public figures such as Jon Snow connect with every day common folk like me. Generally I feel young people are becoming less important to our society. We have little consumer power; we’re under represented in politics and if that wasn’t bad enough many of us still have to live with our parents! I wondered how Jon Snow would regard someone like me who on the surface is an ethnic minority living in one of London’s poorest boroughs. I was encouraged at first glimpse by seeing this 7ft tall figure embrace his old friend Vaughan Jones (whom I had got the interview through) with broad open arms when we met. Phew. Jon Snow was clearly in a light hearted mood. I felt I could be confident that he wouldn’t grill me in the way I’d seen him effortlessly do to so many of his guests on TV. And later having spent the next hour or so with him, I realised that he is in fact, as he described himself, like a young person inside. My team mate Farah Mohammoud kicks off our interview with Jon Snow. FM: Jon, what did you gain from your experience teaching in Uganda with VSO? JS: I was 18 and I had never been out of England. I wanted to impress my father who regarded me as a very stupid boy, due to my poor A-Levels. I applied and I got it. I was totally radicalised by it – it completely changes your perception of the world in which you live and your relationship with human kind. FM: Was this the catalyst that propelled your career into journalism? JS: Absolutely yes – I wanted to be a journalist and I wanted to make a better world – so you could say going to Uganda affected me profoundly. I am probably a politically motivated journalist, I want to change the world, I want to make it a better place – I want to expose corruption, evil and praise good things. FM: This makes me think of the many young people today who are desperately looking for similar opportunities or life experiences to give them a sense of purpose and direction. Maybe if there were such opportunities for young people to explore their capabilities; more young people would actively work to change the world like you. Sadly with the recession, high tuition fees and major public spending cuts already implemented, the future does not look promising for young people. Farah delves deeper and questions Jon Snow on the role of the media with regards to youth representation. FM: What are your thoughts on the portrayal of young people in the media? JS: Portrayal of young people depends on what media you are talking about. In Tabloids clearly young people have a tough deal. I think the electronic media to some extent ignore young people. I don’t think they consult them, take for example debates about education and schooling. On the other hand there are various constraints to talking to young people. For us you have to have the permission of the parents up to the age of 16. So it’s very difficult to speak to young people of 14-16. By the time we have the parents’ permission, the day is gone. This is one of the challenges posed by recent technological developments especially within online social media. Not only are journalists expected to respond to broadcasts quickly but the increased demand on their sources and representatives to be instinctively reactive can result in compromised quality reporting. JS: The image of young people isn’t good and it’s not a conspiracy to portray young people in any light. Many of the journalists divorce themselves from their children and they don’t look through the children’s perspective. In our 24 month investigative quest to understand how young people have became so unmercifully demonised by the UK press, this statement from Jon Snow was as close to the truth that we had ever been. The journalists’ separation from their own kin must allow them to see other children, as these ‘Hoodies, ASBOs and Chavs not even as th’eir own human kind, labels such as ‘Feral Children’ would suggest that. And some wonder why young people would riot after being discriminated for their age. Are young people the victims of Ageism? Farah moves on to discussing the experience of young Somalis in particularly. This is especially important to the two of us, Farah being a young Somali who is living in multicultural London. FM: What are your thoughts on the portrayal of young Somalis? JS: I don’t think people differentiate between young Somalis and old Somalis. The general portray of Somalis is poor – they are the latest in a sense the largest wave of immigration that Britain has experienced and there’s a very little attempt to understand where they are coming from, what their particular problems are and what gave rise to this exodus. You ask me how young Somalis are portrayed; I don’t mean to detach young Somalis from Somalis in general or from Somali crisis. But generally speaking in a recession people are always looking for people to blame and Somalis are handy people to blame. FM: What can be done about the misconceptions about Somalis or young people in general? JS: I am very glad to have been approached by a number of Somali community leaders who have tried to lead me to understand what’s going on and I’ve benefited from this. So I am very aware of the outreach coming from the Somali community itself. The best thing I would suggest that you do is to begin to educate young people about why Somalis are here and what gave raise to their parent’s flight & to your parent’s flight. Living in Newham, one of Europe’s most multicultural areas, we are painfully aware of exactly how uneducated the general public are on migrations to the UK. At worst a consequence of this misunderstanding leads to violence, racism and xenophobia and at best it can result in ineffective public services. I woke up this morning unsure of what the day may bring. I go to bed tonight satisfied by our experience of meeting Jon Snow. He demonstrated to us that despite his years of experience and his privileged background that he was just as open to listening and learning from us as he was to talking and sharing the truths that he had discovered along his journey. Furthermore I am contented that Jon Snow reaffirmed the need to educate the British public on the experiences of young people in general and also from migrant communities. I might not be working in the exact industry and role that I desire but the events of today makes me feel that our voluntary work with Praxis and our commitment to developing You Press is more than worth waking up for. Interview by Farah Mohammoud and Lè N Ho (Praxis & You Press)