Write Back

Who we are

About Us:

Write Back is a registered charity which builds self-esteem among marginalised young people by helping them to tell their own stories. We foster self-respect, community and independent voices for young people through immersive and inspiring storytelling programmes.

We have been operational since September 2019 and, in early 2020, registered with the Charity Commission and recruited a board of trustees. We have operated on a mostly voluntary basis and are now able to secure a more sustainable model for the charity.

We are now looking to take on at least one storytelling facilitator who can expand our capacity by supporting delivery of our programmes.

What We Do:

We run 10-week storytelling programmes open to students aged between 13 and 16 and identified by their teachers as lacking confidence, self-esteem or a creative outlet. These young people are referred to us by schools in Barking and Dagenham, and are then enrolled in our programmes at the Future Youth Zone, an award-winning local youth centre. In each session we run confidence-building activities, engage with the writing of a young author and then develop the stories of the participating young people. The 10-week project also involves working with writers and artists and culminates with the celebration of the young people’s work including in books, local museum exhibitions and much more.

Alongside our main projects, we run a graduate scheme that offers new creative opportunities for young people who have completed a 10-week programme. We also run bespoke, one-off storytelling sessions for young people in collaboration with other partners.