POVERTY TAKES CENTRE STAGE

Smashing the poverty stigma is on the agenda for young people in Kent this weekend.

The youth anti-poverty event at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury on Saturday, December 8, Thinknation: Project Twist-it will see a series of performers come together live on stage to tell the story about poverty to get rid of the stigma experienced in schools, online, in the media and within society. Hosted by film-maker and journalist Billie JD Porter the free event is aimed at 14 to 24-yearolds to stand together for one day with mentors from business, tech, the arts, academia and the public sector to expel the negative stereotypes.

Project Twist-it is a multi-platform initiative founded by the author and journalist Mary O’hara and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to shift the conversation around poverty in Britain and America. As part of this project, young people from across Britain will come together in Canterbury on 8 December to share – live on stage in front of a public audience – their ideas on how we can tell a new story about poverty and smash the stigma experienced in schools, online, in the media and society. The event kicks off with a special screening of a short film made specially for Project Twist-it, where young people share their insights on poverty and how we can change the way it is perceived. There will be an acoustic performance from Louisa Roach, singer/songwriter for Liverpool band She Drew The Gun and a first screening of a short film about Battersea Arts Centre’s Beatbox Academy run by the musician and theatre-maker Conrad Murray.

There will also be Q&A sessions with invited panellists and live performances from young poets. Project Twist-it founder Mary O’hara said: “As someone who grew up in poverty and who has been writing about it for over a decade I have been repeatedly struck by the fact that there is a stigma attached to poorer people. For young people this can be especially profound anda a source of shame. With Projec ct-twist-it I wanted to create som mething that helped change th his. “Young people are cen ntral to any change in the wayw we talk about poverty y so Project-twist-it partn nered with Think Nation to find a way to amplify their voices. I have no o doubt that the solutio ons to the problem of pov erty stigma will come from m our young people.” Thinknation: Project t Twist-it Live! will be at the Gulbenkian at the University of

Kent, Canterbury on Saturday, December 8.8 Tickets are free. Visit t thegulbenkian.co.uk/ /event/ thinknation-project-tw wist-it/

Louisa Roach, far left, will be performing at Thinknation, hosted by film-maker Billie JD Porter, left