21st Birthday Grant: Learning from Lockdown video

As part of our 21st Birthday we awarded grants this summer to support those groups that answered our surveys with their summer holiday programmes and providing an extra opportunity or experience for the young people they work with. The youth media group Exposure were one of our grantees, and used the grant to help make their newest video ‘Learning from Lockdown’. Angela Mascolo, previous Jack Petchey Community Award winner and member of Exposure, told us her experience of helping bring the film to life.

I’ve been involved in Exposure’s lockdown projects since the beginning of the pandemic. I first wrote an article sharing my experiences with anxiety during lockdown and the impact on Italy, where I have family.

I then went on to write further articles on the pandemic, such as interviewing my peers on the impact of Covid-19 on midwifery and theatre, as well as exploring the possibility of Universal Basic Income being 2020’s version of the NHS.

I was really grateful to have been awarded the Jack Petchey Community Award for inspiring my peers to share their experiences during lockdown.

Most recently, I have been involved in Exposure’s latest film project, ‘Learning from Lockdown’, which showcases young people’s testimonies of their lockdown experiences, using funding from The Jack Petchey Foundation. This follows on from Exposure’s highly successful musical film last year, ‘Slice O’ Bread’, which was also supported by JPF.

Young people have been one of the groups hardest hit by Covid-19 with their education, job prospects and mental health all being impacted negatively. Yet much of the focus in the news and on social media has been on furlough, working from home and the reopening of businesses and public spaces. You really need to dig deeper to read about the pandemic’s impact on young people.

Our film therefore serves as an important resource to create solidarity and help diverse young people feel connected during this time. Over 20 young people feature, where we talk about how we’ve been coping in lockdown and our creative pursuits.

I especially loved how the film was complemented by ‘Streets (Keep it Together)’, a song written by young Exposure contributors who formed the band ‘eyes-a-head’.

In the film, I talk about the anxiety I experience around staying healthy and how I’ve been managing this, such as by taking walks and being able to appreciate local wildlife for the first time.

Being in front of a camera is not my forte and so I am proud to have been able to achieve something new and build my confidence with being filmed.

In addition, I helped edit the film by picking out graphics, animations and sound effects. I was really pleased with how they were put together to produce the final product.

I’m really proud of the work we produced, and I loved being able to hear about other young people’s experiences and creative endeavours in the process. Going forward, I hope ‘Learning from Lockdown’ will inspire other young people to share their experiences with the pandemic and highlight the importance of involving young people in decision-making during these uncertain times.