The start of November marked 100 days since the London riots, an event which affected the lives of many and triggered a nation wide social debate around youth culture and respect in the community.

Community voice and youth participation are both issues which Vital Regeneration's arts and digital inclusion project; FreqOUT! has been tackling head on this year with their 'Can you HEAR me?' programme.

FreqOUT! uses digital new media to engage people in creative learning.  They encourage hard to reach and culturally excluded groups to share their 'voice'through digital mediums and interactive workshops.

Their summer and autumn programme 'Can you HEAR me?' has been running a range of projects throughout Westminster and beyond, encouraging young people to speak out about their community through the medium of digital technology.

The programme hosts a range of innovative workshops, such as Animated Film-Making, Polymedia Performance and Digital Storytelling, all of which use cutting edge digital technology to help local young people have a voice and share their views, giving them confidence to express themselves while improving their communication skills.

Oliver Proctor, FreqOUT! Manager, says; "There was great deal of discussion after the London riots about youth culture in the city.  FreqOUT! is all about helping people in the community to find their voice, so we felt we could do a lot of work with young people.  We want to ensure that the youth voice of London is being heard and that we are challenging cultural and intergenerational
misperceptions.

As well as giving young people the confidence to express themselves, we are helping them to think about their rol in society.  In this way, they can find out all the ways they can make a positive change to their community while learning valuable new skills they can take away with them."

FreqOUT! will be holding a showcase on Monday 5th December at the Serpentine Gallery's "Centre for Possible Studies".  This interactive event will be an opportunity for all of the young people that have taken part on FreqOUT!'s "Can you HEAR me?" project to come together and share their experiences with each other and the community. 

Their short-films and media-scapes will be projected around the Centre for friends, family and guests to enjoy and reflect upon.  There will also be a live participatory polymedia workshop demonstrating the innovative and dynamic nature of FreqOUT! sessions, live music by Vital Regeneration young artists, awards and refreshments.

"We are proud to organise this event with FreqOUT! and hope that it will deliver an important message.  The event is a celebration of the youth voice of London, and we hope it will show why this voice has such a valuable place in society" - Diane Emdin, Co-ordinator of Vivendi Create Joy Programme

She goes on to say "FreqOUT! uses new media technology in a positive and powerful way, helping to create joy among London's youth; a mission which Vivendi wholeheartedly supports".

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Notes to Editors:

For press enquiries and images please contact:rash@vitalregen.org

FreqOUT! Showcase

FreqOUT! "Can You HEAR Me?" Showcaseon Monday 5th December from 4.30 - 6.30 pm at theSerpentine Gallery's Centre for Possible Studies 21 Gloucester Place, London, W1U 8HR Map (venue is a 5 - 10 minute walk from Marylebone Station)

This interactive event will be an opportunity for all of the young people that have taken part on FreqOUT!'s "Can you HEAR me?" project to get together and share their experiences with each other.  Their short-films and media-scapes will be projected around the Centre for the local community to enjoy and reflect upon.  There will also be a live participatory polymedia workshop demonstrating the innovative and dynamic nature of FreqOUT! sessions, live music demonstrations by young artists from other Vital Regeneration learning projects, an interactive discussion and awards.

The event will be a celebration of the on-going high impact work that FreqOUT! does and will be an opportunity for the project sponsors, the organisation, the staff team, volunteers, participants and partners to come together in a fantastic creative setting to support the work of the young artists.

FreqOUT!:

FreqOUT! is a community arts project utlilising digital media to engage participants in creative learning.  Its innovative approach engages hard-to-reach, socially marginalized and culturally excluded groups.  Through interactive workshops, learners are inspired and guided by industry practicing digital artists and encouraged to share their "voice" through the medium of digital media.  The final product, always rooted in a personal, social or cultural theme is then presented by the new artists at a public showcase.  The venues for which are generously supplied by the many friends of FreqOUT! in the London Arts industry.

Vital Regeneration:

Vital Regeneration is a registered charity working to transform London's most deprived neighborhoods.  They develop social, environmental and economic programmes, so that people and communities fulfil their potential through learning, employment and enterprise.  Their vision is for everyone to have equal expectations and opportunities in life and not to be seriously disadvantaged by where they live.

For more information about Vital Regeneration please visit www.vitalregeneration.org