It's fun to work with the YMCA

Joanna Ing from BBC Radio 5live volunteered to work with a group of young adults to produce a short film celebrating the work of the YMCA in Bolton. The charity offers young people a choice of learning, social, and physical opportunities ranging from an onsite gym to international social exchange projects.

'The young people had some powerful stories to tell'

This project reminded me how important it is to get out of the office and talk to people. I was attracted to volunteering on this project for two reasons. The first was being keen to learn more about filmmaking and the second was a rare chance to get out and see projects like YMCA Bolton and the people who run it. My day-to-day role in radio is putting together an hour-long TV review show and making sure our content gets online. With YMCA Bolton, I was mainly encouraging the group to think about what they wanted from the film and then interviewing them.

I ran a workshop where we encouraged the participants to develop ideas for the look and feel of the film and then gained a general consensus on its structure. The young people had some powerful stories to tell of why the charity meant so much to them. For example, one young woman said attending YMCA Bolton was crucial to helping her gain more confidence which eventually led to her securing her first job in a supermarket.

We helped them unlock the fact that they had a story to tell about one of their staff members who started off as a visitor to the centre and is now part of their support team. We all wanted to make the film as vibrant as possible even though we were filming in a basement. We included shots of our young stars playing snooker, socialising and eating together. Above all, we wanted to get across the fact that the centre is a welcoming, safe place where the young people can feel at home, meet new friends, receive support, all in a social setting and just like one big happy family.

I was partnered with a BBC self-shooting researcher, which was great as I was able to learn a bit more about filming. And it freed me up to be able to chat to the YMCA members in much more depth than I might have been able to do otherwise. I found this incredibly useful to hear what the young people thought about the latest phenomenon that is Pokeman Go, to hearing their concerns about leaving the European Union as we sat and chatted over a cup of tea with the BBC News Channel on the TV in the background.

It is voices like this that you don’t often hear on mainstream media.

We also used the day as a chance to be as creative and innovative as possible – we positioned a wide-angled GoPro camera on a shelf to get a bird’s eye view of the young people in the centre, which will be speeded up in the edit.

One of the most difficult parts of the project was working out exactly what they wanted from the film. Luckily they were engaged and enthusiastic about taking part. As the young people didn't have a fixed idea of what they wanted we had a certain amount of freedom. We made sure we talked everything through with them, so that they would be happy with the finished project.

I found the young people who attended YMCA Bolton incredibly open, they were willing to share their stories with very little encouragement and were happy to take direction.

I spent two days on the project; on the first day we developed their ideas and filmed some straight interviews; and on the second day we filmed a narration and some extra footage of the day to day activities at the YMCA.

I have shared details of this particular organisation with our News Editor who is keen for me to keep in contact with them. I also discussed the possibility of doing an outside broadcast at the centre. One of the young people had an interest in radio so I suggested they visit the BBC Radio 5live studios later this year. I really enjoyed working on this project, as not only do I have fond memories of the day, but know I can continue to develop my positive working relationship with the organisation moving forward.

YMCA Bolton was a successful applicant through BBC Outreach's Community Doorway scheme which offers community and voluntary groups and charities the opportunity to apply to work with BBC volunteers on mutually-beneficial projects.