“I would love to relive the night. It was all just a big, fat emotional overwhelm of love” – one teenager’s Oxfordshire Youth experience.

For many young people, youth work is the bridge to a range of important outcomes and achievements: in particular health and wellbeing, educational attainment and employment. Some of the young people we work with come to Oxfordshire Youth after sleeping rough in fields, arriving in this country seeking asylum all alone, or after having been in care all their lives. Others engage with our services to alleviate feelings of social isolation and to support their mental health. 

Nabila was looking for a space to build on her social activism and increase her confidence. Oxfordshire Youth’s ‘Are You Listening?’ podcast seemed like a great place to start, but little did she know she was opening the door to a world of possibilities that would eventually see her on stage in front of an audience of hundreds, presenting an awards show at Oxford’s New Theatre. 

“I joined the Oxfordshire Youth community because of the podcast, and later on I was introduced to the Youth Awards. One thing led to another and I still can’t believe I did it.  It really healed my inner child, because I’ve always wanted to be on a stage and Oxfordshire Youth gave me one… literally. It was just the best night of my life, hands down!

I’ve asked myself, did I always have it in me? I remember being in the OY office with the whole podcast team where somebody mentioned the Youth Awards and I joined the youth committee helping to organise it. And something inside was saying, “I want to be the host. I want to be on the stage”. 

I had never been involved in anything like that before. When I was about 16 or 17  I really wanted to become a journalist and I was in college for a short amount of time doing broadcasting journalism. But then there was a point in my life where I wasn’t in education and was struggling to know what to do. That was when the podcast came into my life. 

Before ‘Are You Listening?’ I hadn’t done any kind of broadcasting. And I loved it. I played a lot of different parts in the podcast – sometimes I would host, sometimes I’d co-host, sometimes I was a guest. When I hosted, I was planning topics and writing conversation starters, after all it’s a conversation at the end of the day, so I would have a few prompts up my sleeve. I also wrote the introductions and I liked to open topics on a positive note, or I would mention something in the news and ask everyone, “How are we feeling about this?”, to make sure the whole podcast crew was getting involved. I love discussion, debates, learning new things. 

I was really proud to host an episode on being British and Asian. That’s my own identity and I’ve been wanting to have this conversation. So when I was given the opportunity, I wanted to sit down and work hard for it. I was enjoying myself the entire time and reading up on the news, seeing what’s going on over on Twitter or TikTok just so that I could include it in the debate. 

Immediately after the Youth Awards, I moved away to London and leaving Oxford stopped me from being able to let it all sink in. I wish I was able to process it a little bit more. But it was just so surreal. It’s a part of my LinkedIn page now and I’ve got pictures up there, but it’s so much more than that. I feel like I carry inside myself this feeling that I was a host of a massive youth awards show. That’s insane! I can’t really describe how that feels, it’s just so special. 

In the aftermath of everything, I’ve actually felt more like how I’ve always been, even when I was a little girl, because I’ve done something I always wanted to do. And I’d sort of lost that sense of myself going into adulthood. It’s very emotional to think about it now. It was one of the biggest highlights of my entire life. So yeah, I can’t ever forget it. And I won’t ever stop talking about it. 

I had never, ever seen anything like New Theatre Oxford. I remember going on that stage and thinking, “Oh, my God!.” But once the Youth Awards kicked off and I was on there and the show actually began, it felt natural, quite comfortable. Coming off the stage and going into the wings is something that I will never forget. The team and the people backstage, their support and the hyping up that I got from everybody was amazing. I was so nervous and it was the small things, like people I didn’t really know complimenting me as I walked past, it all meant so much and it fuelled me. I just could not have done it without the Oxfordshire Youth staff who made me feel so taken care of. It was an amazing night in the end. The performers were great. And the nominees were amazing. The whole night was wonderful. I would love to relive the whole thing, it was all just a big, fat emotional overwhelm of love. 

If someone came to me and said, ‘Hey, I’ve just seen this thing, Oxfordshire Youth is looking for a new podcast crew, and I’m wondering, should I do it?’ I would say absolutely go for it. This is for all kinds of people – introverts, extroverts and everyone in the middle. But genuinely, if you want a platform, if you have something you’re passionate about, then do it. It’s not every day you’re going to get an opportunity like this and Oxfordshire Youth has completely open arms. My experience was almost surreal, but you know, it just felt right.”

If you would like to get involved with our podcast or the Youth Awards Committee, our Youth Engagement team would love to talk to you. For a friendly chat, email becky.critchley@oxfordshireyouth.org