'MANCS' is a
magazine which I delivered to local sixth form colleges and schools.
Students from different schools and colleges form creative, design and
editorial groups and are trained in various aspects of photography,
digital imaging and desktop publishing. Some of the issues have been
funded by MANCAT and formed part of the enrichment studies for sixth
form students. One issue was funded by the �Big Boost Fund, which was
part of the National Lottery and Arts Council of England, this
particular issue was designed completely by Manchester Settlement
students in East Manchester.
The themes that the creative teams deal with are as diverse as life
itself and can be anything from an anti smoking advert to write ups
about local and/or national issues which will be of interest to other
students. MANCS also includes fun stuff like latest music, gigs, puzzles
and informative information which helps advise students. Most of all,
the magazine is a vehicle for the creative output of students. Once an
issue of MANCS is designed and printed, it is delivered to other
colleges and schools and made available to students free of charge.
The MANCS magazine is designed to help and advise young people on
issue-based topics such as alcohol abuse, anti smoking, anti drugs,
discrimination etc. MANCS is inclusive and brings young people together
through the production of a small-scale magazine. Some of the articles
have been research based and the production of our pages has been based
on the real life experiences of young people. We will keep the
identities of anyone portrayed anonymous.
Those young people, who take part in the
production of MANCS, also take part in issue based workshops. We feel we
can pass on this information, through creativity, to other young people.
As an example of one of these issues that we have publicized, look at
the issue-based adverts and storyboards below. One of the storyboards is
an alcohol abuse piece and the other a bullying piece. These two
examples show the negative side of drinking alcohol and of bullying. The
imagery that we have produced for both of these pieces is put into
context by using a text, which warns young people about the dangers
involved in bullying or alcohol abuse. MANCS has provided an extended
learning opportunity for students and undoubtedly enriched student
communities.
