Press Change is a 10-day-long youth community journalism project, supporting a small cohort of young people to develop their skills, confidence and agency in raising their voices, whilst exploring local environmental and societal issues across Dundee.
Bethan interviewed people making essential community work happen across the city, from improving access to growing vegetables and reducing food waste to supporting people with cancer in deprived areas. She selected her favourite quotes from her conversations with the people behind these great actions.
About me
I want to be a part of change in Dundee. I want to use my knowledge and talent to make real changes. I have been volunteering at the Maxwell centre, who focus on enhancing the community while tackling issues such as climate change and social inequalities. These issues are important to me on a personal level and I want to adopt them into my professional life as well. I am also passionate about art and about opening it up to as many people as
possible.
I am a member of the Maxwell Centre Youth Council, and my role as a mentor gives me great pleasure and has ignited my passion to help young people with their mental health by using art and creativity. The youth council also has a focus on tackling climate change in achievable ways, by having Fridays for Future events.
Maxwell Centre
“I think the garden and the youth work are something to highlight, to see the young people coming in and seeing them learn about the garden and vegetables is something truly magical. And it's crazy to think, like, when you like an old Facebook photo, what it used to look like and how they've changed it from that to now that's really… It's special.
“Youth Council is another thing we are proud of. We have young people aged from 10 to 16 and we meet twice a month with the aim to try and make a difference in the Maxwell Center whether it's holding a bake sale or a design competition. “
Transition Dundee / Community Fridge
“Some people think it’s just for those in need but it’s for everyone. We need everyone to come. And that’s the thing, people see the queue and think ‘oh, I can’t go because I’m not in need’ but everyone can come. We need people to take all sorts of stuff, vegetables as well as cakes and things. Everyone is welcome!”
Community Wardrobe
“We're trying to make a difference against the climate crisis. That's what we're trying to do, as well as giving out food and giving out clothes, we also want to teach people, um, how they can change the way they live to become more sustainable.”
CANDU
“Why is what you do important? Um well it's important because there's so many people affected by cancer now so the statistics are one in two of us in our life. I might have cancer at some point, which is huge.”
“We're living longer, and it's a disease of ageing, so that's not surprising that more of us will get cancer. But what is surprising is that certain types of cancer for whatever reason seem to be increasing… and in Dundee, cancer is more prevalent in areas of socio-economic deprivation.”
“So, a lot of the people that we work with come from those areas, and don't engage with other support, because we do the outreach in communities. We'll reach out to people that, you know, maybe don't get help from other cancer organisations because often people say, 'oh, there seems to be lots of things for people with cancer', but there's lots of people with cancer who don't engage, whereas we'll go out and meet with those people. So we're kind of capturing a different demographic as well, which is really important.”
Campy growers
“I don't want to make a generalisation, but like, eating vegetables is not something that is maybe accessible to everybody just because of education or income. I guess you have many barriers but making it available and accessible is kind of like making it fun as well. You know, it's dirty, but that’s fine, just give it a go. Wish there was no pressure about cooking. You can just enjoy it. Just be like what people see as a snack, it could just be whatever you have grown in the Polytunnel. So I think it's important. You need some kind of hope around.”
