We are extremely excited to share the news with you that this week we officially open our latest Changemaker Studios space in London!
This dynamic new educational space for young people is being opened in partnership with our amazing sponsor, global communications organisation Verizon, Westminster City Council and the United Colleges Group. Their commitment to developing and supporting young people and their positive impact on the community has been a major driving force in making this expansion a reality, and we cannot thank them enough for ongoing support.
Based at the City of Westminster College’s Maida Vale Campus, our innovative new Changemaker Studio space will provide young people from across London with a central hub in which to find their voice, build their confidence, and develop the skills and abilities they need for future success.
They’ll be encouraged to speak their truth, explore their aspirations and career potential, as well as reflect on the issues and topics that really matter to them, including how social action can impact effective change.
Changemaker Studios: Westminster will connect young people, schools, entrepreneurs and local businesses from across the capital together, engaging and inspiring young changemakers, and providing them with a greater understanding of the wider opportunities available to them, and around them.
It’s a unique opportunity for young people to have access to the vast range of London’s professionals and specialists across a wide palette of career types.
Working with local schools and colleges, we can enhance and support their existing curriculum and career work, and through our bootcamps, workshops, events and programmes – provide free resources to expand their studies in areas they may not have provision for.
Unloc provide a wide range of short or long programmes on important and current topics such as racial justice, inclusion and diversity, global warming, sustainability, youth violence, equal rights, and social action.
By offering these out to educational organisations it allows them to benefit from the skills, knowledge and experience in these areas that Unloc can bring.
Managing Director of Unloc, Hayden Taylor said:
“We are so excited to share our new Changemaker Studios: Westminster space with everyone. London is not only one of the most important cities in the country, but also on the global stage. It’s the very heart of democracy and decision making in the United Kingdom – the place where choices, policies and decisions are made every single day that impact on all of our lives.”
“Our new hub in the capital will allow young people at the centre of all this decision making to benefit from the wide range of courses, programmes, help and support Unloc offer, creating a generation of changemakers within our capital itself – impassioned to make a difference and impact positive lasting change in the world around them.”
“Each week we meet a wealth of young people with the drive and ideas to succeed, they just need to be heard, to have a safe space to speak up and be supported, empowered to find their voices and develop the tools they need.”
“Our new space will provide London schools, colleges and universities with access to the in-person programmes, courses and support that we provide, allowing their students to benefit and develop their skills as we develop their potential and aid them to become energised young changemakers.”
Stephen Davis, Chief Executive Officer & Group Principal for the United College Group commented:
“We’re extremely excited that this partnership with Unloc will allow us to extend our reach, not just to those young people and adults that come through our door, but also to open our doors to people that might not necessarily walk through them. For example primary school children, so that partnership with Unloc, we believe, is congruent with our mission to be that asset of community value.”
Verizon’s Managing Director for UK & Ireland, Tony Judd said:
“Leadership and entrepreneurial skills, when we look at the next generation coming forward, they’re absolutely critical when you look at the digital world in which we operate in. That fresh thinking, fresh ideas, from people that are born into the digital world. We see this project as accelerating that great innovation that can come forward and make a great difference in the future.”
“For several years now we’ve run early in career programmes in Verizon to get to youngsters and to help create that first step to help get into the corporate world which is extremely difficult, and as part of doing that we’ve tried to be extremely responsible in selecting the people that we enable that first-step to, trying to pull people that don’t often have the advantages of other people, and this whole set-up enables us to do that, to pull on those parts of society, to inspire and motivate youngsters to want to be part of our industry.”
Vanouhi Petrosyan, Project Officer in Westminster City Council’s Careers, Skills & Enterprise Team said:
“It is fantastic that we are able to provide a home for Unloc in Westminster, and we are excited that they have chosen us as their first base in London. We believe Changemaker Studios will be a wonderful space to to allow young people to come together and develop their ideas and their entrepreneurial skills. We are really excited for Unloc to connect with and align with what we are already doing in the north of the borough with entrepreneurship, and this is an exciting opportunity to connect with our upcoming rebel business school.”
At Unloc we have a long history of bringing our skills and expertise to education organisations. Our growing non-for-profit was set up in 2013 by aspiring young entrepreneurs Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling.
Their goal was to empower other young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger, more positive communities and sustainable businesses.
In the eight years since, we’ve gone from strength to strength, and now operate in schools, colleges, universities and health organisations across the UK.
Our new Changemaker Studios: Westminster space allows us to broaden our offer and make it more accessible to young people in the capital.
We welcome schools, colleges, universities and groups in London and the surrounding area to get in touch, become involved with our mission, and to join us in developing the potential of young people.
Stay up to date with all the latest news, offers and updates from Unloc by signing up for our free digital update straight to your inbox each month.
