International Arts Project Piloting in Croydon

On August 20th, art and culture will liven up Croydon Town Centre through the pilot of an international youth project, The Complete Freedom of Truth (TCFT).

The ambition of TCFT is to cultivate global youth citizenship using culture and the arts. TCFT aims to develop the creativity of young people across Europe, whilst fostering skills training and cultural awareness, as well as exploring factors such as equality, inclusion and democracy.

The one day pilot will give local young people the opportunity to get involved in creative workshops and a discussion, which will seek to question and challenge their vision for the future of the community.  Young participants, ranging from the ages of 16-26, will be invited from a number of organisations in the Croydon area.

Workshops will be taking place in Matthews Yard, Project B and Turf Projects between 12.30pm and 4.30pm, which will be run by experienced facilitators and artists.  There will also be a sharing of the work through a final performance from 6.30-8.30pm in Exchange Square, which all the local community are invited to attend.

The pilot is being facilitated by Naomi Gabriel and Shaniqua Benjamin, a young pair from Thornton Heath who have participated in TCFT over the past two years.  They are running the pilot project in partnership with the arts organisation Opera Circus.

Shaniqua said: “TCFT genuinely changed my life.  It challenged my mindset, helped me to overcome some of my fears and provided me with the skills to develop as a youth leader, which finally gave me the push I needed to start my youth platform, Young People Insight.

“I’m a better person for it and I want to give young people in Croydon the opportunity to experience it, because words are not enough.  If there proves to be a want from the young people after the pilot, I hope to bring a week long TCFT to Croydon next year so they can get the full TCFT experience.”

If anyone wants to volunteer on the day or can sponsor the pilot in any way, please contact Shaniqua at shaniquab29@yahoo.co.uk.

Photos by Robert Golden.