About Us

Second Wave empowers young people's creativity and activism through engaging young people as performers, writers, lyricists and technicians - developing new productions and youth-led creative outreach projects in the community.

Our Values
Second Wave's Youth Led Practice
Second Wave Youth Arts

First Floor, Deptford Mission Building
1 Creek Road
Deptford, SE8 3BT
Phone: 020 8694 2444
Email: info@secondwave.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1024836
Company number: 2841537

Our Purpose

Second Wave empowers young people's creativity and activism through engaging young people as performers, writers, lyricists and technicians - developing new productions and youth-led creative outreach projects in the community.
A registered charity, Second Wave has been working with young people and developing new plays for young audiences since 1982. The company has developed the careers of many young writers, performers and educators.
As an independent charity, Second Wave raises income to support an ongoing programme of work with young people.

Second Wavers running workshop for their peers
Second Wavers with MP Vicky Foxcroft in Parliament
Visiting MP Vicky Foxcroft in Parliament
Our Impact

In June 2021, Second Wave received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service for the work of our young volunteers.
In 2015, Second Wave’s Community Development Worker was awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of ground-breaking work to build trust between young people, the police and the wider community.
In 2024, Second Wave's Jessica Davey was awarded a BEM for her work in supporting young people.
Young leaders from Second Wave have been invited to the House of Lords to contribute to policy debates around policing of young adults.
In 2023, they visited our local MP Vicky Foxtrot in Parliament to discuss issues of importance for young people. In 2014, Second Wave was nominated for the Mayor of London Peace Awards for youth engagement addressing the growing issue of knife crime.
In 2007, a Metropolitan Police Service Commendation was awarded to Second Wave for services to young people and the wider community.
The University of Greenwich is currently working with Second Wave on a research project examining our model of creative leadership practice.

Our Legacy
40 years of Youth Led Practice

Second Wave was established in 1982 by a group of local young women to address the under-representation of working-class young women in the arts. They created a series of innovative programmes which strengthened young women's participation in the arts as performers, playwrights, musicians, and producers.

In the 1990s, Second Wave registered as a charity, expanding its mission by creating programmes for both young men and young women which challenged under-representation, and supported their wider creative ambitions.

Over the last 40 years, Second Wave has commissioned new writers, produced original plays, films and anthologies, developed bespoke accreditation, toured extensively, developed ground-breaking partnerships, placing youth voices at the heart of decision-making.

Members of Second Wave are curating a wide range of archive materials to share this history with the public. This includes a series of podcasts, play-readings, outreach workshops, exhibitions plus an online gallery of remarkable photographs detailing our history over the last 40 years.

If you are an alumni or supporter of Second Wave, and would like to share your stories with us, please consider getting in touch.

cast from england is de place for me
Second Wave Writers:
Children of the Windrush Generation

Second Wave Team

Our Trustees
Second Wave is registered charity and we are governed by a board of trustees.
Cheryl Brown
Cheryl Brown (Chair)
Natashan Matthews
Natasha Matthews (Treasurer)
Dana Pinto
Dana Pinto (Vice Chair)
Mary-Anne Bamfo
Mary-Anne Bamfo
Denise Dickenson
Denise Dickenson
Naomi Gregory
Naomi McConnachie Gregory
Nickesha Grant
Nickesha Grant
Dimples Vadher
Dimples Vadher
Our Trustees
Second Wave is registered charity and we are governed by a board of trustees.
Our Trainee Workshop Leaders
We run a youth trainee programme for young people who are interested in developing their skills in facilitation and youth work
Anthony Matondo
Anthony Matondo
Precious Garuba
Precious Garuba
Peace Ejedenawe
Peace Ejedenawe
Josh Megbo
Josh Megbo
Sia Musa
Sia Musa
Our Trainee Workshop Leaders
We run a youth trainee programme for young people who are interested in developing their skills in facilitation and youth work
Our Youth Arts Facilitators
Jessica Davey BEM
Jessica Davey BEM
Safi Koffi
Safi Koffi
Kareem Harris
Kareem Harris
Evan Likound
Evan Likound
Asiya Belaidi
Asiya Belaidi
Devane Boyd
Devane Boyd
Femi Wilhelm
Femi Wilhelm
Timothee Kayembe
Timothee Kayembe
Tagz Chambers
Tagz Chambers
Our Youth Arts Facilitators
Our Senior Practitioners
JB Rose
JB Rose
Hannah Griffiths
Hannah Griffiths
Tamsin Kayembe
Tamsin Kayembe
Angela Ekaette Michaels
Angela Ekaette Michaels
Our Senior Practitioners
Other Staff Members
Following members support day-to-day running of the Centre:

  • Janay Mwanza, Programme Administrator
  • Hena Chowdhury, Projects Manager
  • Ann Considine, Artistic Director
  • Phil Turner, Community Development
  • Carrie Harvey, Associate Researcher
  • Jamie Pickard, Finance & Accounting
Janay Mwanza
Janay Mwanza
Hena Chowdhury
Hena Chowdhury
Ann Considine
Ann Considine
Phil Turner
Phil Turner BEM
Carrie Harvey
Carrie Harvey
Other Staff Members
Following members support day-to-day running of the Centre:

  • Janay Mwanza, Programme Administrator
  • Hena Chowdhury, Projects Manager
  • Ann Considine, Artistic Director
  • Phil Turner, Community Development
  • Carrie Harvey, Associate Researcher
  • Jamie Pickard, Finance & Accounting

Supporters

In Kind Support
Second Wave values the support and advice of the following people:

  • Prof Rosana Pacella, Director of the Institute for Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich
  • Prof Jill Jameson, Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Greenwich
  • Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney, Director of Environment & Climate Change, London Borough of Hackney
  • DCI Ahenkora Bediako, Metropolitan Police Service
  • Iain Paish, Deputy Head Teacher, Deptford Green Community School, Lewisham
  • Steve Bullock, Deputy Lieutenant, London Borough of Lewisham
  • Caroline Burgess, Designer & Art Therapist
  • Sarah Ainslie, Photographer & Researcher
  • Pete Pitfield, Technical Advisor
  • Heulwen Ostler, Production Advisor
Prof Rosana Pacella
Prof Rosana Pacella
Prof Jill Jameson
Prof Jill Jameson
Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney
Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney
DCI Ahenkora Bediako
DCI Ahenkora Bediako
Iain Paish
Iain Paish
Steve Bullock
Steve Bullock
Caroline Burgess
Caroline Burgess
Sarah Ainslie
Sarah Ainslie
Pete Pitfield
Pete Pitfield
Heulwen Ostler
Heulwen Ostler
In Kind Support
Second Wave values the support and advice of the following people:

  • Prof Rosana Pacella, Director of the Institute for Lifecourse Development, University of Greenwich
  • Prof Jill Jameson, Professor of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Greenwich
  • Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney, Director of Environment & Climate Change, London Borough of Hackney
  • DCI Ahenkora Bediako, Metropolitan Police Service
  • Iain Paish, Deputy Head Teacher, Deptford Green Community School, Lewisham
  • Steve Bullock, Deputy Lieutenant, London Borough of Lewisham
  • Caroline Burgess, Designer & Art Therapist
  • Sarah Ainslie, Photographer & Researcher
  • Pete Pitfield, Technical Advisor
  • Heulwen Ostler, Production Advisor

Recognition

King's Award For Voluntary Service

For our contributions to youth arts, education, community engagement and social justice benefits in Lewisham, we were awarded the King's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest honour a charity can receive in UK.
In this video, our volunteers tell you more about the award and what volunteering means to them.

Our policies
Read our policy statements

Second Wave is managed by our trustees and staff who take responsibility for the functioning of our organisation.
We have a set of policies that ensure our participants, staff and volunteers who work with us feel safe and respected. We are committed to taking any and all concerns seriously and seek resolutions to the best of our ability at all stages.
Please click below to see our list of policies around keeping young people and staff safe, data protection and user privacy.

Read our policies
Number of post-its on a glass mirror

Support Our Work

young women at community event

We know that these are difficult times and we are working tirelessly to ensure young people have access to high-quality arts provision. All your contributions will go directly into keeping our venue and programmes by the youth for the youth.

Get in touch

Send a message to the Second Wave team
If you’d like to speak to someone, please call 020 8694 2444. Alternatively, please use the contact form below.
Thanks for your message 😊
Someone from our team will get back to you soon!

You can always call us on 020 8694 2444 if you like.

girl creating grafitti

Stay in touch

Join our mailing list
Like to know what's coming up?

Receive emails from Second Wave Youth Arts with information about our programme and how you can get involved.

Thank you!

Look out for our welcome email.
If you dont receive it in some time, be sure to check your spam. Any problems, please call us on 020 8694 2444.

Follow our socials
Stay updated

We use Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Linkedin social media platforms.
You are welcome to follow our profiles, we keep our programme up to date on our website and our platforms.

You can read our social media community guidelines to find out more about how we manage our platforms.

young people socialising