Truth About Youth

A project designed to turn the widespread negative image of young people on its head and tell people the Truth About Youth began last autumn at Ovalhouse, working in the boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark.

Truth About Youth is The Co-operative Foundation’s £280,000 project in South London, being run in partnership with Ovalhouse, to challenge and change the perceptions of young people.

Ovalhouse has engaged 10 young people aged 16-25 from across south London to join the two-year project and engage with people from a variety of sectors including the media, the police and local shopkeepers to try and discover why young people are often marginalised.

The young people will also create original performances, exhibitions and artwork to express the real truth about youth. 

Seven cities in the UK have received their share of £2million funding from The Co-operative Foundation, the grant-making arm of The Co-operative Group, to tackle the negative images of young people through its Truth About Youth programme.

In each of the seven cities, one charity has been selected to help establish projects designed to challenge and change the widespread negative perceptions of young people in their communities over the next two years.

The Co-operative Foundation’s seven Truth About Youth cities and charities are:

• Birmingham – Envision
• Bristol – The Prince’s Trust (Bristol)
• Cardiff – YWCA
• Glasgow – Young Scot
• London – Ovalhouse
• Manchester – The Royal Exchange Theatre
• Newcastle – Regional Youth Work Unit (NE)

Truth About Youth is one of several initiatives being undertaken by The Co-operative to support young people – one of three priorities chosen by over 50,000 of its customer-members to shape The Co-operative’s Community Plan.

The Co-operative Group stands apart from other major retailers in the UK as a business which is owned, not by a small group of shareholders, but by more than five million consumers. With core interests in food, financial services, travel, pharmacy, funerals and farms, it has an annual turnover of £14 billion, employs 123,000 staff and operates over 5,000 retail trading outlets handling more than 20 million weekly transactions.