My big issue is that young people deserve better. I know this because I have seen first-hand what amazing things can happen when a young person is given all the tools and support they need to succeed.
Long before my series Chicken Shop Date was the global hit on YouTube that it is today, it was a column written by the 17-year-old me for The Cut – a youth magazine produced out of The Stowe Centre, a youth club in north-west London. That space was full of young people, from all across the local community, with ideas, opinions and enthusiasm for pop culture and beyond.
The Stowe Centre gave me the tools and confidence to find my voice with my column, but, just as importantly, it connected me to a network of young people and mentors that I could lean on. Looking back, I realise how rare and valuable that was – I was incredibly lucky to have that space and guidance. Without that grassroots foundation, the idea that started everything, simply wouldn’t exist.
It is exactly why I launched the Dimz Inc. Academy last year and am thrilled to be going into a second programme this year. Using my own resources and the incredible support of the charity Spiral Skills, we are offering 15 young people hands-on media training, industry mentorship and paid work placements across four weeks this summer, so that they can kick-start their creative ambitions.
Right now, the need for support for initiatives such as this is even higher. Young people across the UK deserve so much better and the timing to act could not be more urgent. Alan Milburn’s report on NEETs has shown that over one million young people are not in education, employment, or training, warning of an entrenched “lost generation”.
It is far too easy for critics to label this age group disengaged. The report proves the reality is structural – mental health struggles, regional inequalities, and stripped-back youth services have systematically shut doors in their faces. We cannot keep expecting young people to thrive while taking away the very places that help them grow.
