Camden youth arts scheme creates £3.7m in social value

The Roundhouse music and arts venue in Camden generates more than £3.7m in social value each year through its youth arts initiatives, according to research carried out by Social Change UK.

The organisation calculated that the social value created by the venue's film and digital projects was £2.88m, while £890,000 was generated through audio projects.

Roundhouse spends around £85,000 yearly on its broadcast and digital programmes for young people, including workshops, masterclasses and longer-term projects across film, TV, live streaming and digital. The organisation also has its own in-house audio platform, Transmission Roundhouse, which creates podcasts.

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In addition, the venue runs a youth programme that provides music and performance opportunities for more than 8,000 11- to 30-year-olds, including freelancers and entrepreneurs, at a cost of around £3.3m annually. The organisation hopes to increase the number of young people it reaches through the scheme to 15,000.

Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an evaluation methodology that uses an activity’s outcomes to understand and quantify the economic, social, and environmental value it creates.

Assessing the SROI of Roundhouse’s Broadcast and Digital Programmes, Social Change UK conducted surveys with past project attendees and tutors and analysed national valuation databases to generate a financial representation.

The research found a range of positive outcomes, including young people having evidence for their showreels (worth £816), applying technical skills (worth £796), taking pride in their completed work and having self-belief in their creative ability (both worth £172).

Value was lost in some areas because of negative outcomes experienced by young people, including the stress of the projects, managing a variety of deadlines, and stepping out into freelance opportunities without the relevant administrative knowledge and skills. As a result, Roundhouse has committed further time and resources to the programmes.

Roundhouse Head of Broadcast and Digital Derek Richards said: “These incredibly high values show the phenomenal impact creative projects can have on young people – from self-belief to securing work.

“We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of young people having access to creative opportunities at every stage of their development. When everyone has equitable access, we can raise the creative potential of the whole of the UK and generate millions of pounds worth of social value.”