Shift

Jenny Ross speaks with Joey Mander from Coventry Youth Activists (CYA), a group of young disabled people campaigning to break down barriers, challenge discrimination and create change in their communities. Joey shares how CYA supports young people to become campaigners, leaders and advocates, while also creating a space of friendship, belonging and mutual support. He reflects on the power of colle...

Women arriving in the UK can face language barriers and isolation — but community spaces can make a huge difference. In this episode, Jenny Ross speaks with Sara Hutchinson, CEO of Beyond the Page, an English language teaching and community arts organisation based in Thanet, Kent.  Sara talks about the organisation’s United Mothers project, which supports women through informal ESOL (English...

A young boy spends three hours peering through a microscope at spider skins, completely absorbed by what he is seeing. Later, he brings his mum back so he can show her everything he has learned, despite her fear of spiders. Discovery Planet, a community interest company based in Ramsgate, creates exciting, pop-up science events in everyday public spaces, bringing scientists face to face with young...

Through services like befriending and volunteer transport, volunteers are helping people stay connected, rebuild confidence, and live more independently—often making a life-changing difference in quiet, unseen ways. In this thoughtful and inspiring episode, Jenny Ross from Collective Discovery speaks with Emma Cooney, Charity Manager at Kent Coast Volunteering , about the power of volunteering to...

After school, the door opens and children tumble in—dropping their bags, grabbing toast, and filling the room with chatter about their day. They let off steam, feel safe, and simply be themselves, with space to play freely. At the Pavilion Youth and Community Café in Broadstairs, these small, everyday moments help confidence grow, friendships form, and vital life skills take shape. In this episode...

Many older people are isolated and overlooked, and live in conditions that are hard to imagine—sometimes without heating, proper food, or basic household necessities. In this powerful episode, Jenny Ross speaks with Vanessa Wood, CEO of Age UK Thanet, whose team works tirelessly to connect older people to their communities, counter loneliness, and support wellbeing. We hear about the eye-opening c...

Through guerrilla dance performances on beaches, high streets, shopping centres, and public spaces, groups of older women are taking dance out into the world—playfully and powerfully disrupting assumptions and inviting audiences to see ageing differently. In this joyous and inspiring episode, Jenny Ross from Collective Discovery speaks with Sian Stevenson, Creative Director of Moving Memory Dance...

Domestic abuse can affect anyone, and its impact on children and families can be profound. In this very moving episode, Jenny Ross speaks with Jo Baldwin from the Oasis Domestic Abuse Service in Thanet, who works with children and young people affected by abuse. We hear about the heroic efforts of mothers caring for their children while navigating abuse, the courage of young people finding their v...

Jenny Ross and Mercy Shibemba introduce our second series, which explores the role of changemakers—people working at every level of the system, from grassroots community action to global movements. What connects them is a commitment to shifting power, building connection, and responding practically and hopefully to the challenges the world is facing. These conversations are honest, inspiring and f...

When organisations involve young people in their work and share power with them, the focus is sometimes on how this impacts on the organisation.  In contrast, in this episode we explore why young people get involved, how they benefit and how organisations can support them to progress and move on whether that’s within the organisation or to opportunities outside.  We spoke to: Sophie Matt...

There are many different ways to involve young people in an organisation’s work. We hear how four very different organisations tried to ensure their support for young people’s leadership was equitable and inclusive and how they addressed questions of accountability, representation and responsibility.   We spoke to: Martha Mackenzie, Executive Director, Civic Power Fund  Nicky Crabb,...

Young people are leading organisations and taking different approaches to decision-making and power sharing which all organisations can learn from. In this episode we hear from four young people leading organisations about the challenges they face and how they think older people can support them.  We spoke to: Sophie Mattholie, Trustee, the LUNA project.   Scott Kirby, Organiser, UK...

Sharing and ceding power to young people can be challenging for organisations and the people who work within them.  In this episode we hear from three very different organisations that have made a clear commitment to sharing power with young people. We hear about how they adopted new structures and processes to support power sharing as their organisation grew.  We spoke to: Catherine Hil...

There is a growing involvement of young people in youth funders’ grantmaking. We hear about how this can work in practice, and the benefits and challenges from the perspectives of two young grantmakers, a funder, and a facilitator of youth involvement in grantmaking processes. Plus we’ll hear some top tips for funders working with young people. We spoke to: Dan Seifu from the Involving Young Peopl...

One of the ways that youth organisations and funders can involve young people in their work is to invite them to be part of their governance structure and become a trustee. In this episode we will hear about the role of young trustees from a range of perspectives. We spoke to: Natasha Johnson, a Blagrave Trust Young Advisor and board member of the British Youth Council. Segun Olowooke, Chair of th...

One of the ways that youth organisations work in a more consistent way with young people is to create structures for engagement and/or sharing power. In this episode, we will hear from four organisations that have created different kinds of structures to enable them to involve young people more actively in their work.  We spoke to: Cecilia Cappel, Participation and Engagement Manager at Spark...

One of the ways youth organisations work in a consistent way with young people is by creating specific roles for them. In this episode, we will hear from three organisations that have involved young people in their work by creating different kinds of leadership and ambassador roles.  We spoke to: Mark Powell, Artistic Director at Prime Theatre Vicki Felgate, Co-Founder of Big Leaf Foundation....

One of the ways youth organisations can ensure that their work is aligned with the priorities of young people is to actively involve them in their learning and evaluation processes - to ensure that their feedback informs the way their programmes and services are adapted.  We spoke to:  Dave Close, Director of Hot Chocolate Trust  Jeni Stephens, Youth Work Manager at Carefree Cornwal...

Youth organisations often work in partnership with young people to design their programmes and services - this is sometimes called co-production. In this episode we’ll hear about the benefits and challenges of co-production and how three organisations have sought to embed the approach in their work and organisational culture.   We spoke to: Alex Mckell, Head of innovation and trainer at...

Welcome to our new series, which focuses on the shift amongst youth organisations and funders towards sharing power with young people, drawing on our work with The Listening Fund which aims to make the youth sector more accountable to young people. In this episode we explain why we’ve made this podcast, give an overview of what we’ve learned about why and how organisations are involving young peop...