2023: YJ’s successes, surprises and stars!

As we wrap up what has been, as always, a busy year here at YJ, our co-director Grace delves into our team’s highlights and proudest moments of 2023:

Evolution of our YJ services
Our video production work has taken centre stage this year, helping us to deliver our mission to revolutionise storytelling. Our video services are rooted in our commitment to build the confidence of our collaborators to create impactful content that resonates authentically. The demand for this distinctive approach has soared, setting us apart from the run-of-the-mill corporate video production services – check out our showreel below:

 

Surprise national recognition for My Generation reporters!

It has been a busy year for the My Generation reporters – the first older peoples’-led news platform in the UK (think Ladbible meets Corrie!) – who produced more than 200 stories this year. Kirsty and the reporters also mentored a news team in Sunderland who have now set up their own news platform – the second of what we hope will be many older peoples’-led news team across the UK!
The team also gained national recognition through a mention in the Parliament Inquiry: the rights of Older People, and by earning a nomination at the Smiley Charity Film Awards for their Winter Wise advice film, produced in partnership with Greater Manchester’s Ageing Hub and national charity Independent Age.
 

Media Cubs stars

We had the pleasure of working with a whopping 1200 young reporters to unleash their creativity and confidence this Summer. We also teamed up with some incredible brands including Factory International, Big Bus Tours London, Go Ape and SpongeBob the Musical to provide mini reporters with real life media opportunities – the latter racking up 49,000 YouTube views to date! Brands are recognising how powerful kids-led content can be, so we’re look forward to building on this work in 2024.
2023 has felt a particularly exciting and impactful year: all of our projects provided dozens of opportunities to inspire people of all ages to use the power of the media to share their stories and build their confidence.
No two weeks are the same here at YJ, and we’re not short of ‘wins’ to celebrate at our weekly team meetings. We’d like to thank every partner organisation who has enabled us to create these ‘wins’, and for supporting us to deliver the work we love, with people who inspire us.
We look forward to working with you in 2024.