Ripples Story: “Expect the unexpected”

In this article, Neil Young, CEO of St. Paul’s Youth Forum, reflects on his 2015 Memorial Award, which took him to Toronto, Canada to learn about youth radio. An unexpected visit to a community food project, however, set a new direction for his work in Glasgow.

In youthwork we always have a plan A, B, C, D and so on. Young people turn up with a completely different agenda to what has been planned, due to circumstances outside of their control, family emergencies, issues at school etc, and we need to adapt quickly – often putting aside well thought out plans to create something different.

Likewise, my experience with the Rank Memorial Award had so many different aspects that were not expected, creating a long-lasting impact that is far beyond the predictions.

It was a hot morning when I arrived in London for my pitch. I was looking to expand my knowledge of youth radio, with our youth station, Bolt FM, about to celebrate its 15th birthday by visiting the world’s most popular youth radio station in Toronto, Canada. I had been told not to use PowerPoint, but to be more creative. I brought with me a mobile broadcast unit consisting of a laptop, a mixing desk, mics and cables. I proceeded to give my presentation, and the judges seemed interested. But sadly, on the way home, I got the call… I was not the winner of the award. Then! Plot twist, the judges were so impressed that they wanted to give me the award too, so I could take the trip to Canada!

I arrived in Toronto in a blizzard. It was April, -8 degrees C and the airport was closed after our flight arrived. I managed to get to my accommodation, eager to get over any jet lag and begin learning. Staff at the radio station had been told of my arrival. Neil Young was coming to the station for a week! When I arrived, I have never seen so many disappointed faces, until I discovered that they were expecting an older rock star, rather than a youth worker.

Through my time at the station, I discovered about their expansion into TV, making short news programmes and drawing people together from all over the city. I learned how their finances worked and the Canadian model of people being able to reduce their income tax bills by giving to charity. I learned how to bring diverse communities together, give marginalised people a platform and about how First Nation People were at the heart of tackling poverty and injustice.

One evening, I met with a family friend for dinner who had been at a bridge competition the night before, raising funds for a food organisation called The Stop. I had vaguely heard of The Stop through a visit they had made to Glasgow around tackling the growing problem of food insecurity and the arrival of food banks. A meeting was arranged to visit this fantastic project in Toronto and I learned from the founders about their growing project, where people helped grow food in community, learned how to cook good food and share food round a table together.

This unexpected meeting shaped a whole new direction for my work. I left Toronto a few weeks after arriving, in balmy summer weather of 25 degrees. The warmth of old and new Canadians, happy to share knowledge, skills and concepts left me with a great deal to reflect on.

The impact of the Memorial Award

Over ten years on, the ripples of that visit can be seen around our community. Youthworkers are continuing to deliver radio and podcast programmes in the area, however the visit to The Stop inspired a new area of work for us. We began with a small orchard and polytunnel for growing with a few people gathering and sharing food, but it has now grown into hundreds of people enjoying food round a table every week, an urban farm with commercial polytunnels in the middle of a Glasgow Council Estate (barely touched by vandalism due to the ownership felt by the community), and a Pantry supporting people in a dignified way. The Scottish Government even created and launched a fund from our project as an example of good practice.

We can attribute almost five million pounds of investment into our community to the seed funding of a few thousand pounds. A real unexpected outcome where the ripples of the pebble in the pond have gone far, creating positive big waves in our community.

Blackhill Community Farm, St. Paul’s Youth Forum.

Read the full latest issue of Rank Ripples magazine