Well, where do we start?

A couple of months ago we had a regular meeting for the Youth Ambassadors, hosted by Paul Marcus & Stephanie Banger, which is always a fun and inspiring meeting, full of discussion points, action points from previous meetings, exciting news and the revelation of new ideas.  In the last meeting, Callum had shown an interest in podcasts and wondered if it was something that we could look into for the Youth Ambassadors, and so it was a great surprise for them to meet our special guest, Lewis Mason. Lewis is a TV & radio Broadcaster with many years experience, and he had been invited to pop along and answers questions that the Ambassadors had, and chat about their ideas.

This initial meeting with Lewis was full of energy, and intrigue.  Callum's idea of a podcast was clearly something that they all wanted to do, and the more they spoke with Lewis, the more it was apparent that he was definitely the man for the job!  

We pencilled in a date, and agreed that we'd look into how feasible this was.  This big stumbling block was funding, and it just so happened that there was a Board meeting that afternoon in the offices where the Board of Trustees were going to officially meet the Youth Ambassadors for the first time.  This seemed the ideal opportunity to 'pitch' to the Board, to explain why they wanted to do this, who it was for, who it would help, and most importantly how much the cost would be!  After a group vote, the Ambassadors agreed for Callum to take the helm, and present to the Board.  Well, I can tell you that the decision was unanimous, and they got the go ahead to get this going straight away!

The venue was booked, as was Lewis Mason, and Lewis was to bring down all of the professional recording equipment needed to make this a professional podcast...

The expression 'water off a duck's back' comes to mind, when I try and put into words how this first pilot episode went for the Youth Ambassadors podcast!

A quick hello and general chit-chat, and pretty much straight into the recording!

Lewis Mason really is a trained professional, he knew exactly when to prompt, and WHO to prompt at times!  Between us, we had chatted about different topical areas of discussion, and had made five cards with the topics written on, which the children knew nothing about.  All 5 cards were jumbled together, and at the beginning of each podcast you'll hear them picking a new card and reading out the topic of conversation... there was no script, there were no inhibitions, it was just our fabulous kids having a natter with Lewis about REAL LIFE, about situations and circumstances, and about hearing what they have to say from their perspective, living their life as a teenager with a disability.

Riveting. Engaging. Emotional. Warm... all words to describe what they had to say, and how they conducted themselves.  To say we are proud of our Youth Ambassadors, really is an understatement, but don't listen to what we say... 

LISTEN TO THEM!

Click on our PILOT PODCAST EPISODE 1 to listen to the first episode, and watch this space over coming weeks as we reveal the next few episodes!