Shout Out UK (SOUK) is a non-partisan social enterprise, based in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to strengthen democracy by providing training and programmes on

media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect and take action, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the w ...

and political literacy. Shout Out UK was formed in August 2015 by Matteo Bergamini, whilst studying at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

. Shout Out UK have gained media attention for running the 2015 Youth Leaders' Debate, in partnership with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and their collaboration with UK Drill artist Drillminister to encourage young people to vote in the 2019 general election. The

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

have named Shout Out UK's political literacy course as one methods of reviving political education in the UK.

Youth leaders' debate

Shout Out UK gathered all of the youth leaders of the seven major

British political parties The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties lists the details of political parties registered to fight elections in the United Kingdom, including their registered name. Under current electoral law, including the Registration o ...

in one place to debate politics and youth issues in front of a studio audience and

live-streamed Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

through All4, an online platform owned by

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

on 28 April 2015. The project was in partnership with

and received UK wide coverage. The Youth Leaders Debate, hosted by Fatima Manji from

, differed from the main 2015 leaders' Debate by introducing buzzers. Seven themes were presented to the panellists, each had one chance to 'buzz in' and have one minute protected time for one question only. Representatives from all the major UK political parties took part in the debate.

Political literacy

After winning a local business competition called 'The Harrow Business Den 2016'. Shout Out UK's work shifted to

and political literacy training programmes in schools and colleges. Shout Out UK's political literacy course covers an introduction to the

politics of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the head ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

(including brief overviews of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, debating and public speaking. The course ends with a Speech Night, during which students deliver speeches on issues they are passionate about in front of their parents/carers and local/regional/national politicians hosted at the school. The organisation aims to enhance students’ ability to influence local policymaking, to engage in activism and to build their overall Emotional Resilience and Confidence. With the decline of citizenship education and no GCSE on Government and Politics, the political literacy course was noted by journalists at the ''New Statesman'' and ''National Student'' as signaling a revival of political education in schools. Shout Out UK was awarded the Harrow Business Den award in 2016. Due to its work in schools, Shout Out UK's founder Matteo Bergamini was asked to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Citizenship and Civic Engagement Committee, alongside Voter Registration charity

Bite The Ballot Bite The Ballot (BTB) is a party-neutral movement and registered youth democracy charity, based in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to empower young people to evolve UK democracy. BTB was formed in April 2010 by business studies teachers David ...

that led to the report 'The Ties that Bind'.

National democracy week

On the 5 July 2018, Shout Out UK ran an event to ‘hack’ the problem Parliament has with the lack of representation of women, particularly those who are BAME or LGBTQ+. Despite 2018 marking the centenary of some women being allowed to vote, only 32 per cent of the House of Commons identifying as female that year. The event was hosted by Alexis Wieroniey, an American comedian and women's rights activist. Speakers included Milly Evans; founder of Our Progress Project,

Valerie Vaz Valerie Carol Marian Vaz (born 7 December 1954) is a British Labour Party politician and solicitor serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall South since 2010. She served as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 2016 to 202 ...

, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and

Andrea Leadsom Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (; ' Salmon; born 13 May 1963) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Northamptonshire since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Environme ...

the then leader of the House of Commons.

PoliFest 2019

On 25 June 2019, Shout Out UK hosted #PoliFest, a festival bringing together politicians and young people to play sports and debate politics at

. PoliFest aimed to bring politicians and young people together through playing sport and to break down the barriers between Britain's youth and the ‘Westminster Bubble’. The event was attended by both young people and politicians from across different political parties, including MPs Johnny Mercer, Nigel Huddleston and Tom Brake amongst others.

#NoVoteNoVoice & Political Drillin

For the 2019 General Election, Shout Out UK partnered with Drillminister, a UK Drill music artist who first appeared on

for his track entitled 'Political Drillin'. Drillminister and Shout Out UK created a campaign, entitled #NoVoteNoVoice, to encourage young people to register to vote and ultimately vote. The collaboration involved the creation of a track and music video entitled 'Peoples Vote'. The track was released on the YouTube channel Mixtap Madness. It later featured on SBTV and UniLad Sound. The project ended with a concert held at Fairfield hall in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

on the final night before voter registration closed. That day it was estimated that over 600,000 people registered to vote, including over 250,000 under 25s.

References