EDGE Liverpool Street partners with Ministry of Stories to empower young voices
As part of a new three-year partnership between EDGE Liverpool Street and Ministry of Stories, this conversation explores a shared ambition to expand access to creativity for young people in East London. We spoke with Laura Perkins, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Stories, about the vision behind this partnership, the growing need for creative support in the community.
In your words, what makes this partnership with EDGE Liverpool Street
meaningful for the Ministry of Stories right now?
Our community in East London is vibrant and diverse. However, persistent structural barriers, particularly poverty and inequality, limit equal access to creative and enriching opportunities. As a result, many young people miss out on experiences that support their personal and academic development.
At the same time, youth support services have declined significantly. Since 2015, the number of youth clubs has halved, reducing access to safe and supportive spaces outside school hours. In this context, the Ministry of Stories provides a vital creative environment where young people can develop their writing, imagination, and confidence.
Research shows that after-school programmes improve academic performance and social development (Tanner, 2016). They also increase school attendance and the likelihood of progressing to higher education or meaningful employment (Centre for Young Lives, 2025).
We are now at a pivotal stage. Demand for our programmes is growing, with waiting lists continuing to rise. Over the next three years, we aim to reach 7,600 young people through expanded community and school programmes.
Support from EDGE Liverpool Street is essential to achieving this goal. With this support, we will increase the number of Writing Labs offered and partner with more local schools.
As one school partner explains:
Ministry of Stories has added so much value to our students’ experience, most importantly by helping them feel that they have a voice and that people care about what they have to say. It has also considerably improved their writing, as evidenced by recent exam results.
— Helena, Head of English
For EDGE Liverpool Street, this partnership reflects a wider commitment to supporting the social fabric of the neighbourhood, working with organisations already embedded in the community to create lasting impact.
How do you boost confidence and self-belief for 150 young people a year (450 total) in practice?
We believe that what young people have to say is important.
Each session is led by professional writers and supported by trained volunteer mentors, offering one-to-one or small group guidance. This combination of creative freedom and personal support helps build confidence over time.
At the end of each term, young people share their work through publications, exhibitions and live events. Seeing their words valued by peers, families and the wider community is often a defining moment, strengthening self-belief and opening up a sense of what is possible.
What will the after-school/Saturday clubs typically involve (examples of
activities)?
Every after-school and Saturday club provides 1.5 hours of dedicated mentoring support for each young person, creating consistent time and space for creativity to grow.
Our workshops follow the rhythm of the school term, with each term built around a bespoke creative project shaped by the ideas of our young people. These projects bring imagination to life in exciting and unexpected ways. Past themes have included Spy School, where participants trained as spies, inventing gadgets and crafting mission stories, and DreamState, where young people explored their aspirations through stories and poems that were later exhibited at Shoreditch Town Hall.
Each session is carefully designed to be dynamic and engaging. Workshops typically begin with a physical game to energise the group, followed by a mix of writing and creative prompts that young people can explore independently or in small groups. Just as importantly, time is always set aside to share, listen and celebrate each other’s work, fostering both confidence and a strong sense of community.
How does the 1:1 mentoring element work, and why is it so effective?
A key part of our work is providing one-to-one and small group mentoring within a creative, supportive environment where every child feels heard. Our mentors engage reluctant writers, support young people with additional needs or neurodivergence, and offer feedback that builds confidence and self-belief.
How do you measure the difference you make to young people and your community?
We have supported over 20,000 young people in our community in East London since we were founded 15 years ago. It's important to us that we keep learning and developing what we do, and measuring the impact we have on young people’s lives is a key part of that. To help us do that we evaluate our impact three times a year through end-of-term surveys. These measure outcomes aligned with our theory of change, including young people’s confidence, sense of pride and achievement, creative writing ability, and feelings of safety and belonging.
We also survey parents annually to understand the wider impact of our work, including changes in school attainment, and complement this with in-depth termly case studies of our young writers.
Our programmes are greatly valued by young people within our community with each young person typically staying with us for over 2 years, with some staying for up to six years.
We are proud that 92% of young people say they feel safe at the Ministry of Stories, 75% feel their skills have developed such as writing, and 87% grow their self-belief and feel proud of what they have created.
Ministry of Stories makes me feel capable of being the best I can be!
— Olamiposi, age nine
How do you see this partnership contributing to the local community beyond
the participants themselves (families, schools, neighbourhood)?
Over the next three years, with support from EDGE Liverpool Street, we aim to deepen our impact in the local community by reaching more young people and exploring a move to a larger, nearby space.
Our programme directly benefits young people while also supporting their siblings and families, who take part in our events and use our library. We engage local residents as volunteers and employ staff from the surrounding community, strengthening local connections.
We work closely with teachers, particularly English leads, as well as local schools and partners across the area, including businesses and charitable organisations. Above all, we provide a trusted and welcoming safe space for the community in Hoxton, something that is deeply valued by those who live there.
