The Warren Youth Project
For the past 30 years, The Warren Youth Project – an independent charity – has been providing vital support services to marginalised and vulnerable young people in Hull.
Operating from a former fire station in Hull city centre, the Warren’s staff team offers free support, guidance, training, music, education and counselling services to young people aged 14-25.
Find out more about The Warren herE >
See JJ Tatten’s TED Talk here >
The Warren Spoken Word Collective
The Warren’s Spoken Word Collective is a youth led group that begun through the necessity of having their voices heard! The collective have performed knock out appearances at BBC’s Contains Strong Language, BBC’s The Verb, 53 Degrees North, Substance Festival, British Science Festivalas well as informing and shaping debate at Westminster and most recently in Canterbury for Think Nation and Project Twist It.
Not only do participants undertake regular creative writing and performance workshops, they also get the chance to help nurture and expand Hull's burgeoning youth spoken word scene at the ground level. In addition to playing a key role in promoting and organising spoken word activity in Hull, participants have the opportunity to develop key skills which help improve confidence, creative thinking and practical employability skills.
As we move into an uncertain future, it’s crucial that young people get the opportunity to showcase their voices, and this is the driving force behind TheWarren’s Spoken Word Collective.
The Warren Spoken Word Collective is a SSW project and has been funded by ESF in partnership with the Humber LEP.
Andrew Gooch is a writer and performer who has been part of the Warren Spoken Word collective since its inception two years ago. His poetry and writing covers a wide variety of subjects but is mainly focussed on current issues affecting todays' society such as mental health, joblessness and poverty.
“There's nothing I love more than writing a new piece and having an opportunity to share it with an audience.”
Follow him on Instagram
Jodie Langford is a thought-provoking spoken word artist from Hull. She began writing and performing as part of Art Celebrating Equality at The Warren Youth Centre in 2016. Since then she has risen to be one of the most distinctive voices in Hull’s burgeoning youth spoken word scene. Following jaw dropping performances on Radio 4’s The Verb and at BBC Contains Strong Language Festival and 53 Degrees North Jodie was quickly asked to join the brilliant group Women of Words. Jodie has a natural way with words and lyrics and is a talent not to be missed especially if you are fans of like minded poets such as Kate Tempest.
The Warren Spoken Word Collective at PTI Live!
“It was a huge honour to be invited to Project Twist-It. Poverty is becoming an increasing problem in the UK and it’s particularly visible here in the North. So helping raise awareness of it through spoken word felt like a very proud moment for me and by the end I think we could all feel that something big and worthwhile had started.”