The University of Salford has announced a new, fully-funded, hands-on National Saturday Club for teenagers to explore social justice issues through podcasting and documentary filmmaking.
Taught by the university’s professional tutors at the MediaCity campus, the 15-week programme will aim to equip 13 to 16-year-olds from Greater Manchester with in-demand digital skillsets that they can use for storytelling, self-expression and social change.
Titled Unfiltered: Stories for Social Justice, the programme will run every Saturday from 28 February, before participants then present their podcasts and films to an audience at the National Saturday Club Summer Show in Somerset House, London in July.
They will be guided through the full creative process of podcasting and filmmaking, from researching real-world issues and developing their ideas to recording, filming and editing their finished work.
The club has been made possible thanks to a generous donation from the Salford-based telecoms infrastructure provider Cellnex UK.
Jimmy Ewing, a lecturer in media production at the University of Salford and project director of the National College Podcast, is coordinating the project.
He said: “As a lecturer here at Salford, I am really passionate about ensuring greater opportunities for those who live here in Salford and the thriving creative industries on their doorstep at MediaCity.
“The reality is that 9% of all employment opportunities in Salford are in the creative industries yet there is a real challenge in getting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into this sector. There’s a real disconnect between them and this world of employment that is on their doorstep.
“That’s one of the key things we’re keen to address with this course. For example, we know that podcasting is the fastest growing digital medium in the world, and that young people are now more likely than ever to know what a podcast is.
“By learning how to make their own and engaging in the theme of social justice, participants will be provided with a platform to open up conversations, work collaboratively together and build up their confidence in their own voices and ideas.”
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The weekly three-hour sessions are designed to be accessible and collaborative, with no previous experience required.
Participants will learn practical podcasting and filmmaking skills, explore themes such as representation, voice and fairness, record interviews and audio stories, film and edit a short documentary and gain insight into potential progression routes within further education and in the creative industries.
Jimmy will be supported by workshop leaders and Salford alumni Harry van Daalen and Jonah Hall to deliver the programme. Both graduated from the BA Television and Radio Production course and have since gone on to carve out careers in the creative industries.
‘Unfiltered: Stories for Social Justice’ forms part of the University of Salford’s commitment to widening participation, creative education, and supporting young people to see higher education and media careers as achievable future pathways and will also support the collective aim of providing pathways to employment in the creative industries for Salford’s young people as part of the new three-year Cultural Education Strategy from Salford Cultural Education Partnership and Salford City Council.
The National Saturday Club is a UK-wide initiative designed to inspire and support young people by providing free opportunities to explore subjects they are passionate about outside of the school curriculum. The University of Salford STEM Saturday Club is part of a national network that had 127 Saturday Clubs during the 2024-25 academic year, reaching more than 2,300 young people.
