Community Projects
Second Wave works with a diverse range of local organisations and services to empower young people as the next generation of community leaders.
Find out more about our projects
Young Women's Empowerment
This project challenges the under-representation of young women in positions of influence and leadership in their communities and careers.
At a time when online hate, misogyny, knife crime and violence against young women and girls is at its height - we are dedicated to fundraising to sustain and develop our programmes of work with young women and girls. Second Wave see it as a priority to offer young women a safe creative space to meet locally, make friends, gain support, build solidarity as well as develop their confidence, skills and leadership potential.
Shadow Games
A drama-based outreach programme for schools, colleges and community settings.
We have developed our Shadow Games project in Lewisham and London since 2016.
This project takes a drama and film-based approach to issues of grooming, radicalisation, violent extremism and hate crime.
Our Shadow Games film and learning resources are available to schools, colleges and community organisations.
Brilliant, original, engaging workshop by Second Wave Youth Arts on the issues around vulnerability and extremism...
Ian Paish
Find out more
Deputy Headteacher, Deptford Green School
Challenging Hate Crime
Second Wave helped to establish Lewisham's Hate Crime Working Group in 2012. Our staff team and young volunteers are avtively involved in raising awareness of Hate Crime in all its forms including that impact of racism, homophobia, misogyny and violence against women and girls in our communities.
Critical Encounters
This arts-based project build relationships of trust between young people, police officers and the wider community.
Regular youth-centred workshops which include the participation of local officers have been organised and delivered at Second Wave since 2004.
This initiative strengthens the voices, activism and leadership skills of young people.
Legacy Project
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.
Research Partnership
We continue to develop our creative research partnership work the University of Greenwich, London Bourough of Lewisham and Metropolitan Police.
The focus of this work addresses community sfaety issues, methods of neighbourhood policing and youth leadership initiatives.
This includes community forums and symposium events.
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.
Support Our Work
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.
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.
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.