The Year of the Unexpected Pivot
2021 has been another interesting one, right? For Zest, it’s been a year of big highs, big lows, and unexpected pivots.
Despite it all, we’re still here, we’re still open, and still thriving for the communities we serve. But how?
✅ By creating more space for more young people to be heard.
✅ By embedding young people at every level of our organisation, with 23 young people being paid above National Living Wage to work as Workshop Facilitators or Consultants throughout the year.
✅ And by pivoting in to a wider range of art forms to safely amplify their voices despite restrictions.
Our original plans for 2021 looked very different to how things have actually panned out. In fact, the majority of the projects listed below hadn’t even been conceived this time last year!
But it seems that unexpected pivots can create unexpected results. Amazingly, we’ve engaged more people in 2021 than the combined reach of our entire history. Pre-Covid, Zest reached around 20,000 young people every year. In 2021 alone we’ve engaged 657,000 people!
Yep, that’s right! 657,000 PEOPLE 🤯
Let’s take a look at our 2021 best bits…
Zest’s Youth Advisory Board
We started 2021 by announcing Future Proof! Meeting remotely as paid consultants, this advisory board draws on the diverse voices of young people from 15 towns across the country. Their task? To help us re-imagine the Zest of the future - a future for young people just like them. No area of the company is off limits; from the rewriting of policies through to the conception of brand-new work, they work with us all year round to ensure Zest is Future Proof in years to come.
Virtual Tour of our 2017 hit
The unexpected surprise of the first lockdown in 2020 was the online re-release of What Once Was Ours, our 2017 co-production with Half Moon Theatre. This gave the show a second life, with thousands of people watching at home, for free, in lockdown. The show received brand new critical acclaim, and was also nominated for an OnComm Award. In 2021, the show went on to be seen by even more people when it embarked on a national virtual tour of schools and theatres across the country!
A music video to mark one year of lockdown in the UK
The young people from Future Proof joined forces with Zest to create Never Was a Normal. With lyrics and visuals inspired by their COVID experiences and released exactly one year since the start of the first lockdown, Never Was a Normal captured the resilience of Gen-Z in a world of uncertainty.
A city-wide installation
This was our BIG one for 2021! In March, Zest led workshops with over 800 young people aged 9 – 21 across Lincoln, creating space for young people to reflect on the last year. Then in July, we turned their words into 80 vibrant artworks, ready to be found on posters, windows, banners and billboards in every corner of the city centre over the summer holidays. Refresh Lincoln placed the voices of young people at the heart of the city’s recovery, bringing colour and conversation to this place they call home!
An audio adventure into eternity
Developed with young people from across the country, monolith is an audio-based experience that premiered at Frequency Festival. The piece uses meditation and mindfulness to take you on an adventure just beyond your perception. All you need is a device connected to the internet and some headphones. Look out for further monolith releases coming in 2022!
An installation inspiring school communities
Following the success in Lincoln, Refresh travelled up the A1 to Darlington! Frustrated by being locked down, isolated and unheard, the words of children took over three primary schools across Darlington! In October, Zest ran workshops to gather the words of 120 Year 6 pupils across the Borough. Now their words have been turned into colourful artwork both inside and outside their schools!