Young people from our Youth Just Us and Inside Out have coproduced a powerful video on legal representation with Clan Childlaw and the team at Braw Talent. 

“Alright?’ is an exploration of an individual’s struggle to find his place within a complex web of rights, laws and support systems. Malcolm identifies the significance of small yet impactful details that could improve the process of navigating the legal system, focussing on the individuals working within the support network and how their approach could be refined to better serve the needs of individuals like himself.

 

This powerful animation reflects on what it is like to be in their shoes. It shares young people’s experiences of legal representation and articulates what they want from their lawyers. It contains an important message about the need for lawyers who care about the young people they support. Young people want lawyers who are able to communicate and connect with them, and are highly skilled at upholding their rights.

The animation builds on a scoping study about the legal needs of children and young people who are in conflict with the law, which involved engaging with young people. Some young people from the Youth Justice Voices participation groups were interested in working with us further to share the messages from this study and we decided to produce an animation together.

Braw Talent were commissioned to work with young people on the production of the animation based on the themes identified through the research.

“Alright? is an important call to action from young people about what they want from their lawyers. It highlights a significant gap between what young people want and what they often experience. Children and young people need better support to identify when a lawyer may be able to help uphold their rights, and where this is the case, they need easier access to highly skilled lawyers. Achieving this requires systemic and cultural change, and greater resourcing” (Claire Lightowler – Clan Childlaw)

 

 

“The Rights In Justice project has been a key feature of Youth Justice Voices work. Young people involved in the project have been able to articulate what they need and want from lawyers. Alright? is a powerful output, it was co-produced with young people and really brings to life the importance of relationships, time and what lawyers can do to uphold children’s rights. We hope that greater training is provided to ensure that support is age appropriate and children and young people understand the decisions or processes which impact on their lives” (Ruth Kerracher, Youth Justice Voices)

 

 

“In our initial sessions with the groups, we reflected on the scoping study, drawing inspiration from real-life experiences and with the expert guidance of Clan Childlaw and STAF. The groups then crafted character and story ideas before collaborating with the talented screenwriter, Lisa Keddie. Together, we wove these conversations into a script.

Subsequent sessions refined the script, shaping its message and tone to resonate with young people. We reviewed storyboards, considered the visual look of the animation, and participants even performed the voiceovers for the characters in the animation.

This project was truly inspiring. Participants were open, honest, and exceptionally creative throughout, which is evident in the final film. It helps deliver a powerful message that we hope can be a catalyst for change.” – Braw Talent, Commissioned by Clan Childlaw to support young people in animation creation)

 

A Spoken Word version of ‘Alright?’ is available here:

 

For a Behind The Scenes look, Braw Talent have provided us with a look at the animation in development: