 |
| Company: |
Youth Comnunications Network Community Interest Company |
| Location: |
Liverpool |
| Established: |
2006 |
| No of employees: |
1 plus 15-20 volunteers | |
The magazine is published by Youth Communications Network (YCN), which was set up by Richard Horscraft in 2006 as a Community Interest Company. He wanted to empower young people to promote themselves to the community as a ‘force for good’.
Richard’s way of making this happen is through a magazine put together by teenagers, writing about the things that interest them. ‘It challenges negative perceptions by showing young people in constructive activities and as thinking individuals, not just people who hang around and do nothing’ says Richard.
The magazine is popular with young people and has around 15 volunteer writers at any one time. YCN prints 5,000 copies per issue, which are distributed to venues as varied as libraries and under-18 dance events.
However, Youth Live is also read by adults who appreciate the views of the young people and their passion for challenging negative stereotypes. Richard remembers one occasion when a retired university researcher found the magazine in a library and then trekked all the way across town to the office to pick up some back issues.
The magazine is popular with sponsors and advertisers too, which is how it makes most of its revenue. ‘Our two main sponsors are Aimhigher, which encourages young people into higher education, and a housing organisation, Arena, which has a strong community focus,’ explains Richard, ‘Both sponsors like to be associated with things that are positive and support young people,’ YCN also receives grant income, which is linked to particular projects, for example they are currently working on developing the photography skills of their young editorial team.
Richard has a wealth of experience writing for and working with young people. A previous youth magazine, with which he was involved, folded after four years of production. But this experience led Richard to believe he could have more success by putting the community at the heart of his enterprise. He chose the CIC structure due to its flexibility. ‘We wanted the freedom to make a profit but also attract appropriate grants,’ says Richard.
So far the combination has worked well. Just as impressive is the fact that, in the three years it has existed, YCN has empowered around 120 young people, forged links with local schools and the youth charity, Connexions.
YCN isn’t resting on its laurels, however, and is currently undertaking a review of its products. ‘We’ve had a lot of advantages that a private company wouldn’t have had’, says Richard, ‘and the fact that we are still trading, given the credit crunch, is a big achievement.’