The Centre - Getting to the Heart of Youth Centres

Mentivity, "The Centre", Youtube, 6:14, posted by 'Spotify', 1st August, 2024, youtube.com/watch?v=J-F94bxCAfE

A labour of love and devotion to their community. A call to action. A bullet train. These all describe the work and art that the inspiring duo at the helm of Mentivity House pursue. Founder and CEO Sayce Homes-Lewis and director Adeyemi Michael have joined forces on different occasions throughout their friendship and now do so with Spotify for the documentary 'The Centre'. This short film calls attention to the work of Mentivity, which is "dedicated to providing tailored support, nurturing innovation, and offering inclusive spaces where young people can learn, grow, and succeed."

'The Centre' highlights the positive impact of youth spaces through a star-studded cast of British artists. Among them are Ms Banks, Ezra Collective's Femi Koleoso and Young T & Bugsey, who recount their experiences in these nurturing spaces that Mentivity House strives to reclaim. With 750 youth spaces closing since 2010 in the UK, Adeyemi and Sayce have gotten to the heart of the issue in their film and continued advocacy.

How do you feel youth spaces impact the development of young people and their opportunities?

Sayce: The key aspect of these spaces and youth work is helping young people from dependence to interdependence. And that's what we're trying to facilitate with youth workspaces. We need these spaces. We need to reclaim these youth spaces to actually support young people on these journeys.

You've obviously led the charge on that with Mentivity. But I'm curious about the documentary: What do you hope that viewers take away from watching it?

Sayce: This generation of young people over the last 14 years haven't had youth workers, haven't had those experiences, haven't had spaces which they can call their own. That's why they're congregating on the streets, and when they do that, they're seen as negative people in society or labelled as gangs. So we need to reclaim these spaces for young people so that they can reclaim them in their minds as well. We need these safe spaces like Mentivity House to allow young people to be free and explore their own boundaries within a creative and supportive environment.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges you faced in trying to create that space with Mentivity House?

Sayce: Every single thing. From funding to navigating the complex nature of working with corporates or understanding local authority jargon. There are so many different things that I've had to learn myself. It taught me a lot, and I've grown through this process by understanding what needs to be done to get to this point. And it's not been painless. It's been a real struggle if I'm totally honest. But having the support of Spotify and our other corporate partners has helped us plug that gap. But we've had to be very innovative. We started as a limited company, then had a CIC (Community Interest Company), and now we have the charitable arm. So we've done it that way to ensure we're sustainable because, unfortunately, charitable entities by themselves just disappear.

How did this collaboration come about?

Adeyemi: He (Sayce) basically said he's doing this film and would like me to be part of it. And then we jumped on a call, and then the rest is, as they say, history. We've known each other a very long time, since my early 20s. I used to be a youth worker and ran my own football team for about five seasons down in Peckham. We used a space in Peckham called the Damilola Taylor Centre. Sayce used to work there, and that's where we crossed paths. We've collaborated in different capacities - for example, an episode in 2018 for BBC's Panorama about one of the young people he used to work with. And so when this came about, he was just like, "Look, if anyone's going to do this, he's going to holler at me to do it because he knows what I'm on."

What do you feel has been reflected in the documentary from your personal life?

Adeyemi: The film isn't about trying to get money to create the (youth) space - they've done the work. Sayce knows what my mission is, which is to uplift ourselves. I came from southeast London, and as a filmmaker, I feel I owe it to the area. I owe it to the people around me to bring my expertise and serve my community. In the same way, Sayce is servicing the community through what he's doing.

You've had a few artists on the project, like Ms Banks Femi Koleoso (of Ezra Collective). How important did you find it to have those voices on there?

Adeyemi: It's really helpful to bring this narrative and story to more people than would probably know about it if we just made it about Mentivity. But what really rings true is hearing people talk from a personal perspective and how these spaces within their own narratives have changed their lives and essentially helped build them careers that have made them massive, selling artists or working in the music industry in some capacity. They've not forgotten that (these spaces) are the bedrock on which they stand. And to a degree, it was like that for me, too. I didn't engage with the youth spaces as much as a kid because I was the kid looking out at the window, watching everyone play. But when I got the chance to engage in those spaces (as a youth worker), it really did change my life. The young people I was engaging with changed my life. So it was a joy for me to work on and collaborate with the artists, Sayce, and everyone on it. We had some serious time constraints but managed to pull it off.

I'm so glad you said that. Are there any behind-the-scenes moments you can share that are particularly memorable from this documentary?

Adeyemi: There's a couple for me. I grew up in the same one-mile radius in Peckham in Elephant (and Castle) and whatnot, but I just walked through the estate and thought, rah, we put this thing together. You've got all these people coming through the block, the estate, and we're just making this thing, and everyone's on board with it. And then the second one was, there was a moment in an interview where I almost broke down because I was listening to Femi (Koleoso) talk, and he sounded like me when I was younger. And I thought "Where's this guy been?" Sometimes, you're on this journey, and you feel like you're on your own. So just to hear someone where he's at within his career, speak with such vigor and authenticity. I was like, "This is, this is incredible."

Sayce: From a different perspective, when we were filming at the Mentivity House, there was a moment, and you captured it Yemi, in one of the stills. I'm just standing with my hands on my hips, with my Mentivity jumper on. I had a crazy sense of pride because I know what it's taken for me personally and the team as an organisation to get to this point. I realised we are documenting something in ends. This is my area. I've worked here for the last 26 years, and creating this new space when all these (youth) spaces have disappeared was crazy for me.

Being interviewed was also a really surreal moment because I know Yemi, but in that moment, the room was so still, and I couldn't just really communicate what I felt, and the emotions were overwhelming. Because, like you said, sometimes it's very lonely in this space. People don't really understand the vision at times. And you see this in your mind, and you don't know how you're going to get there, but you're going to make it happen. And that's what we do. We manifest these things, and we want to bring that to our community so that we can manifest change on a wider scale for the next generation and the present generation of young people.

Why do you feel it's important for brands like Spotify to invest in Mentivity House? And what would you say to other brands thinking about taking that and supporting spaces like Mentivity?

Sayce: It's a massive part to play for brands like Spotify, and it's not just about the funding. It's also about young people's pathways to organisations and corporate entities like Spotify. We need to focus on on social mobility, but also economic equity - unfortunately regeneration and gentrification is extracting so much from those communities. So there's a part to play for Spotify, because young people love music; they have a civic duty to give back to those young people, especially, and help us create these opportunities to diversify the employment pipeline into these organisations and raise awareness. The community is now disjointed, so we need to give back as adults and corporate entities.

Adeyemi: I mean, he did it. What more am I gonna say? Sometimes, you gotta know when it's been said. I just want as many people to engage with this story and see themselves within it. We've all been young. I know some people's engagement with you spaces aren't the same, but you know, we have all had a mentor or moments that helped root where we're headed in our lives. So I hope that (this film) can reach as many people as possible to trigger that thought process to see how important of an issue this is and how we can support organisations like Mentivity further.

This is more than a short film; it is a call to action to ensure these nurturing youth spaces do not go gently into that good night and remain visible and sustainable to support future generations. You can participate by donating £1 to Reclaim the Block, Mentivity's fundraising effort to raise £1,000,000 through 1,000,000 million people to provide youth services and mentoring at Mentivity.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.