In February 2023, Media Cubs mini reporters Olive, Muzaynah and Arabella took a special trip to Stvisit to watch Ugly Duckling by Northern Ballet, a special show for children.

In March 2023, Media Cubs mini reporters from Wigan Youth Zone created a special news report to warn people about the dangers of loan sharks. They had been working on the project for six weeks and enjoyed a special premiere to celebrate.

The digital pack they created amassed over 10,000 views online in total and was picked up by the local publication Wigan Today, sharing the success of their project and highlighting the important work done by Stop Loan Sharks.

In April 2023, our online reporters hosted a press conference with Maria Romanenko, a journalist, editor, and writer from Kyiv, Ukraine, who is now living in Manchester. 

Having fled the war in 2022, Maria continues to work as a journalist and translator and has worked with the BBC, ITV, ABC News, and Sky News.

In May 2023, four of our mini reporters head to the opening night of The SpongeBob Musical UK to chat with the cast and grab some audience reaction – their video has been viewed on YouTube close to 50,000 times!

In June 2023, our mini reporters created a video for The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster to help promote their outdoor performance of Around the World in 80 Days. The reporters had been invited back from creating videos for them the previous year!

In July 2023 our mini reporters visited Go Ape Delamere for a totally bananas day out!

Della Moorhouse​, Head of Marketing Campaigns & Partnerships at Go Ape, said: “We loved working with Media Cubs! The content they produced was brilliant, but most importantly we found them super easy to work with.

“They took onboard our content objectives and the team on the shoot were very professional. We would wholeheartedly recommend them.”

In the same month Media Cubs also partnered with Northern Heart and Soul CIC to run a community project within Beech Hill Primary School. We worked with YR6 over four weeks to create a short film which was shown at a special premiere event.

We also ran a series of outdoor workshops with Northern Heart & Soul CIC across the Summer.

Gill Wright from Northern Heart & Soul CIC said: “Working with Media Cubs did not disappoint, they were flexible, friendly and really listened to what it was we wanted to achieve.

The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in all the different activities but more importantly, had an opportunity to create, direct and have their voices heard.”

In August 2023, alongside a cohort of new summer staff, we upskilled over 1200 children in Greater Manchester in media skills during HAF (council-funded ‘Holiday Activity and Food programme’) clubs and camps across the region.

Feedback from the sessions, all of which were free to attend, included “very creative” and “lots of fun” – encouraging new skills, new friends and a boost of confidence.

We were also busy capturing the HAF programme across Wigan for Wigan Council.

The programme provides healthy meals and enriching activities for thousands of children and young people aged 5-16 across the borough during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays.

In September 2023, three of our talented mini reporters, Nickita, Eddie and Julie, were invited to spend a day out in London courtesy of Big Bus Tours.

They experienced the best bits of the city from the top deck and were able to hop on and off throughout the day to check out all of the iconic landmarks, and to enjoy a pit stop at a cosy cafe.

In October 2023 our mini reporters were invited by Manchester Literature Festival to watch a show that they have funded as part of a series of events this Autumn/Winter 2023.

Award-winning storyteller Danyah Miller brought best-selling children’s author Michael Morpurgo’s I Believe In Unicorns to life at Z-arts in Hulme, Manchester.

In November 2023 we visited the Our Child Friendly Manchester Discovery Day 2023 to run workshops. Mini reporters Ben and Cecelia went along to report on the event.

Our intergenerational project, Stretford Storytellers, in collaboration with Lostock High School, also came to a close with a special exhibition event at the local mall.

In December 2023, our mini reporters were invited to enjoy a magical day out at Stockeld Park which boasts one of the country’s biggest winter light shows, Santa’s Grotto, an ice-skating rink, festive theatre, giant snowflake maze, an indoor and outdoor play centre and much more!

WOW! We’ve had a busy year. Thanks to all of our amazing partners – we can’t wait to see what next year brings… and where it takes us!

Find out more about Media Cubs, the media production company led by young people, powered by video experts.

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