Tom Beasley, Voice Editor It has been a delight to welcome two excellent Guest Editors – Elisha Pearce and George Straw – over the summer months, exploring LGBTQIA+ identity in a pair of insightful and heartfelt editorial series. Moving forward, we’re taking a look at the complex art around masculinity in our next series: ‘Man Down’.  We have also welcomed […]

VOICE TRAINING & OUTREACH Judy McFall – Creative Pathways Manager & Participation Lead Voice Collective 2025 Our first ever Voice Collective event took place in April at the Ikon gallery in Birmingham, bringing together our community of young people to further their skills in reviewing and learn from industry professionals. We were joined by the wonderful Helen O’Hara of Empire […]

ON THE MAGAZINE Tom Beasley, Voice Editor AI is arguably the most pressing issue affecting the creative industries today, so it was a delight to tackle it with our recent editorial series: ‘Artificial/Intelligent?’.  Across 10 pieces – three of which enabled our young writers to receive a paid commission – we explored the ways in which this new technology is […]

Judy McFall, Voice Company Manager and Participation Lead I’m thrilled and proud to become Voice’s Company Manager and can’t wait to drive the team forward and continue leading the fantastic participation and pathways programmes we’ve established and continue to grow.  We have three successful Local Reviewer groups, in Mansfield, Shropshire and Stoke, collaborating with some great theatre and museum venues, […]

Diana Walton, Director, Upstart Projects / Voice Magazine, 10 year milestone Staying Alive is the theme tune for many small arts charities at the moment, so it felt great to reach Upstart Projects’ 10th birthday in August. A moment to celebrate and also to look to the future. To mark the milestone, we decided to shift all our projects and […]

Thinking about the climate crisis can be daunting. Certainly, in the wake of recent news from the other side of the Atlantic, there’s a sense of hopelessness when it comes to the existential threat to our planet.

Voice’s ‘Kick Some Class’ series shines a light on the barriers faced by young people from working class backgrounds when entering the arts and media world.

Upstart Projects is changing name. We’re moving all our work behind our Voice brand.

In the first half or so of 2024 we’ve had lots of change in the policy and governance world with a new government and a real uptick in genuine interest in supporting young people’s voice in organisations.

Our newly established local young arts reviewers group have been busy going to events and performances across Shropshire!