Kids On The Green: Member Spotlight | March 2022
Watch the video below or read the text transcript to find out more about Kids On The Green are and what they do to support children and young people.
Who are Kids on the Green?
CAM: Okay, so my name is Cam. I volunteer on various projects, so I work in the studio work with Alphabet People, which is LGBT based session and work on Circus.
AISHA: I'm Aisha, I'm 17. And I just do drama and dance and stuff like that.
MIA: So my name is Mia I'm 18, but I'm almost 19 on Saturday.
MAX: I'm Max, I'm 20 years old, I do music. Iām from Latimer West London, W10. I come Kids On The Green, I do multiple things here.
Who are Kids On The Green?
CAM: Okay, so Kids On The Green to me and from what I see is like a ground zero to a lot of people. A lot of youth, developing artists. Just a safe environment that I think people can come to and be themselves.
MIA: Well we've kind of been around from the very beginning. When it first started it was here originally for Grenfell but it's become a bit more for Mia. Mia comes here, she's got special needs and it's just really nice for her because she's around her peers that are a bit more advanced than her, it really brings her on socially. I find it makes a difference in her, she's a lot different as a person when she comes here, she's a bit more sociable and outgoing.
I just feel like it's exciting!
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE?
MAX: I would say disbelief.
Because there's a lot of children that they're not taught belief in themselves. So already you're at a disadvantage because if you're not centred with yourself when you go outside, you're easily influenced.So I feel like we can talk about knife crime, we can talk about drugs and what a lot of different young people get involved in. But ultimately it's disbelief because there's a lot of pressure when you go outside. But if you know yourself, you know what's right and you can weigh what makes sense and what doesn't make sense.
So I felt like it's important for everybody to stay together and really uplift each other and empower each other because if you ain't got belief in what you do, you're going to come up short. So belief is just the highest form of self love. I feel like children and a lot of youth, and not just youth. Everybody in general, all ages, all genders, all ethnicities, everybody, we all at some point in our lives have lacked self belief, but that is also a driving force. So there's polarities between but yeah, it's important to shine light on self belief.
How do Kids On The Green support children and young people?
AISHA: I mean, I've been here since the start, so since Grenfell. And initially they helped me with, it was a distraction I guess. Like a good distraction from thinking about Grenfell because my close friend passed away in the fire. It was just a good distraction to clear your mind. I did circus, dance and it was a way to express myself which I couldn't do, and I don't think I still can do. But you just do dance and they helped me get more into dance because I was doing it before but now I've got a lot into it. It's my main way of expressing myself.
What is one of your favourite things to do with Kids on the Green?
MIA'S MUM: What about in the summer?
MIA: I like going on beaches, don't I?
MIA'S MUM: What do you like doing here?
CAM: Computers?
MIA: Yeah, computers and stuff. Yeah dancing.
If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be and why?
AISHA: My Nan because she comes from Bangladesh and still doesn't speak any English.
So like to experience how she goes about her everyday life, not understanding what everyone was saying that still living in the community where everyone's speaks English. Just how she goes about it.
MAX: My Mum, like you said because it would be interesting to see the world through my mum's eyes, see how she sees me and all my siblings, to see what life is like.
I feel like it would make me more appreciative of my Mum. I love my Mum already, but I would have so much more love for her to just see. To live in her shoes and see all the struggles that she picks up with and I feel like it just made me a better person. I guess I kind of do already put myself in my Mum's shoes also.
What is the best part about being in the K&C community?
CAM: Alright, I'll start.
MIA: Again?!
CAM: There's always something to do if you look around over the past couple of years, especially during lockdown, the one thing that I've seen is that there's always something happening where it's like in a youth club or just a venue based in the borough.
But if you're looking to actually do something, there's opportunities
there.
AISHA: Culture. Like there's literally so many different cultures. Even in my friendship, it's probably about, we all come from different places. Like none of us come from the same place and it's just like having all the different cultures, learning about the different languages. Like me and my friends always teach each other like one thing each other's language and then we have to try and speak to each other or like learning traditional dishes and stuff like that.
How can people find out more and get involved?
Okay, so anyone interested or aiming to get involved with Kids on the Green, we're reachable on Instagram.
I think that's the main source and the at names or the mentions are Kids On The Green, (@KOTG_W11) and Studio 13, which is studio underscore thirteen with a one instead of an I and a three instead of an E (@studio_th1rt3n).
Kids On The Green
info@kidsonthegreen.com
Instagram: @KOTG_W11 | @studio_th1rt3en
