Students from Ron Dearing University Technical College (UTC) are preparing to tell the story of Hull’s award-winning Freedom Festival from a young person’s perspective as they take become reporters at the five-day event.
The Freedom Festival Arts Trust has teamed up with the employer-led school for a unique two-year partnership to create the Young Reporters Club, which will see three students join the event’s official media team in both 2019 and 2020.
The students who successfully applied following the announcement of the partnership in June will be tasked with producing a broad range of content through writing, reporting, uncovering stories, blogging, video and photography skills. They will undergo training during the summer holidays ahead of the festival.
Shervin Ventura, front, and fellow students Deon Wong and Rebecca Harman will report from the Freedom Festival in a partnership between Ron Dearing UTC and Freedom Festival Arts Trust.
The aim is to provide a platform for the voices of young people in Hull and enable them to tell the Freedom Festival story, exploring key issues such as human rights and equality and diversity, and building on the knowledge they are gaining through Ron Dearing UTC’s creative curriculum.
Shervin Ventura and Deon Wong, who will become Year 13 students at Ron Dearing UTC when the new school term begins in September, applied to join the club. Rebecca Harman, who is about to become a Year 12 student, also put herself forward for the challenge.
Engineering and media student Shervin, 17, said: “This is a great chance for me to be able to understand media and experience exactly what it is.
“I’m looking forward to recording the festival through photojournalism, candid social shots and documentary photography, and I want to come away from this understanding more about how the media industry works, as well how content is produced.
“I’ve enjoyed photography as a hobby for the past five years but I never imagined I’d get the chance to do something like this.”
The 12th annual Freedom Festival takes place from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 1 September 1. Last year’s event attracted 132,000 visitors and delivered £4.3 million to the local economy. Learn more about the festival here.
