About SIMPLICIOUS CIC

SIMPLICIOUS - Youth • Creativity • Place

SIMPLICIOUS is a Community Interest Company (CIC) developing creative programmes with and for young people, using art, culture, movement and participation to support personal development, wellbeing and stronger connections between young people and the places they live.

Our work is rooted in the belief that young people should not simply be consulted about their neighbourhoods, communities and public spaces; they should have opportunities to shape, interpret and creatively influence them.

We work with schools, youth organisations, artists, cultural institutions, community organisations and public-sector partners to develop programmes that connect young people with creativity, culture, heritage and place.

Our approach draws on extensive experience of working across high streets, town centres, housing estates, parks and open spaces, public realm and heritage environments. We understand the importance of creating opportunities for young people to engage with these places as spaces for learning, expression, creativity and belonging.

Creative Practice & Youth Development

SIMPLICIOUS uses creative practice as a tool for learning, confidence-building, cultural exchange and personal development.

Our programmes can include:

Dance and movement
Film and photography
Visual and textile arts
Music and sound
Performance and storytelling
Heritage and local history
Creative writing and discussion
Public art and creative interventions
Workshops and participatory projects
Cultural events and festivals
Research, pilot projects and creative commissions

We work with leading practitioners and emerging artists to give young people meaningful opportunities to learn, experiment, create and present their work.

Young People & Place

A particular area of our work is exploring how young people experience and understand the places around them.

Our experience of schools, high streets, town centres, estate renewal, parks, open spaces and heritage programmes has demonstrated the importance of creating environments in which young people feel that they have a genuine stake.

For example, our work with Avonmore Primary School and Normand Croft Community School contributed to engagement and ideas informing the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Public Realm Improvement Programme, exploring how children's experiences and aspirations could contribute to the development of their neighbourhood.

Similarly, through the Francis Road High Street Improvement project, we worked with Newport Primary School to engage children in thinking creatively about their local high street and its future. The project involved the commissioning and management of Jan Kattein Architects, connecting architectural practice, community engagement and children's perspectives to the development of the neighbourhood.

These experiences have informed our approach to youth engagement: young people are not simply participants in a consultation process; their observations, imagination and creativity can contribute directly to the design and identity of places.

SIMPLICIOUS therefore develops projects that can:

Give young people a voice in conversations about their neighbourhoods
Explore local history, heritage and cultural identity
Encourage young people to reinterpret public spaces creatively
Connect young people with artists, designers, architects and cultural practitioners
Develop confidence, communication and collaborative skills
Create opportunities for young people to produce and present their own work
Strengthen connections between young people, communities and local organisations
Introduce young people to creative careers and professional networks
Support young people to imagine new possibilities for their communities and futures

Our International & Cultural Learning

Our work also recognises the value of cultural exchange and learning across different cities and communities.

Through Progress (1968), SIMPLICIOUS facilitated a dance and movement workshop with Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Peckham, commissioning Adriano Olivera to work with participants to explore the experience of Brazil during the period of dictatorship in 1968.

Progress 2020 extended this approach internationally, bringing together young creatives and artists in different cultural contexts. In Bremen, young creatives from the University of Bremen participated alongside artists, community leaders and a local politician in a project exploring race, identity, gender, citizenship and experiences of the city.

In Bologna, young dancers and performers contributed to a creative exploration of cultural identity, heritage and duality, working with local filmmaker Raffaello Pettirouge and performer Dece Seck, facilitated by a fantastic local partnership with the University of Bologna, and the Santa Cristina della Fondazza

In Maputo, Mozambique, the project engaged young textile artists and creatives, exploring the relationship between artistic practice, cultural identity and place.

These experiences demonstrate our belief that young people can be creators, researchers, storytellers and cultural participants, rather than simply audiences or recipients of activity.

Schools, Communities & Cultural Organisations

Our work with schools and youth organisations provides an important foundation for connecting creative activity with wider community development.

Our experience includes working with schools as part of public realm, high street and neighbourhood regeneration projects, enabling children's perspectives to inform discussions about the places in which they live, learn and play.

This includes:

Avonmore Primary School — engagement informing the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Public Realm Improvement Programme
Normand Croft Community School — engagement informing the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Public Realm Improvement Programme
Newport Primary School — creative engagement as part of the Francis Road project, alongside the work commissioned from Jan Kattein Architects
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts — dance and movement activity connected to Progress (1968)
University of Bremen — engagement with young creatives as part of Progress 2020
Bologna — engagement with young dancers and performers as part of Progress 2020
Maputo — engagement with young textile artists and creatives as part of Progress 2020

We can work with schools and educational settings to develop projects that connect curriculum learning with:

Local history and heritage
Place and the built environment
Arts and cultural practice
Identity and citizenship
Environmental awareness
Community participation
Careers in the creative industries
Personal development and wellbeing

We also work with youth organisations, cultural institutions, local authorities, community groups and creative practitioners to develop programmes that respond to the specific needs and opportunities of a place.

Heritage, Culture & Place

We are particularly interested in the relationship between young people, heritage and contemporary cultural expression.

Historic buildings, parks, estates, town centres and public spaces can become places for young people to discover history while creating something new.

Our wider cultural practice has explored this relationship through projects involving public space, heritage buildings, music, film, dance, photography and performance. This experience informs our youth work and allows us to develop projects that connect young people's creativity with the histories and identities of their communities.

We believe heritage should not simply be preserved or observed. It should be experienced, interpreted and reimagined by new generations.

Our Outcomes

Through our programmes, we aim to:

Increase young people's participation in creative and cultural activity
Develop confidence, communication, teamwork and leadership
Support physical and emotional wellbeing through creative activity and movement
Increase awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage
Develop young people's understanding of their local communities and environments
Give young people meaningful opportunities to influence and interpret place
Encourage cross-cultural understanding and exchange
Connect young people with artists, cultural organisations and creative professionals
Develop pathways towards education, employment and creative careers
Strengthen relationships between young people, communities and institutions

Ultimately, SIMPLICIOUS aims to create opportunities for young people to move, make, explore, question, connect and create.