One in five 11 to 19-year-olds in the UK believe they will amount to nothing. One in four think people do not believe in them and this will hold them back in life, and almost half think they will struggle to find employment. These are horrifying statistics that The Prince’s Trust, the UK’s leading youth charity, wants to change.

The Prince’s Trust’s study into the confidence of young people was conducted by Censuswide, across a sample of 2,224 young people aged 11 to 19, who took part in an online survey between the July 13 & 29 2017.

CHI&Partners has created the campaign to achieve The Prince’s Trust’s goal – Youth Can Do It. The campaign spotlights the hardships some young people face, and explains how drive and confidence and a helping hand can empower them to rewrite their own futures.

Paul Brown, director of marketing & communications at The Prince’s Trust, noted, “The survey results we reveal today show just how much work still needs to be done to ensure every young person can achieve their full potential.  That’s why our new campaign, Youth Can Do It, aims to speak directly to young people with a message of hope and optimism. We hope this campaign will inspire young people to discover the confidence and determination they need to achieve their dreams. And we want to tell the world that everyone in The Prince’s Trust Community is here to help them find that confidence and turn their lives around.”

The agency has teamed up with American Honey director, Andrea Arnold, to create the TVC that will spearhead the campaign.

It is the first ever commercial for Arnold, whose 20-year career spans films including Oscar-winner and Academy Award-winner, Wasp (2004), and three Cannes Jury Prize winners, Red Road (2006), Fish Tank (2009) and American Honey (2016).

Arnold, known for her scenes of gritty realism, chose to work with the charity because of her passion for youth empowerment. The film was written and performed by young people who have themselves overcome adversity, and hopes to have a genuine impact on youth culture because of its authenticity.

Yan Elliott, joint executive creative director at CHI&Partners, commented, “From the moment Andrea agreed to work with us on this campaign, we knew it would be something special. Rather than preaching, we wanted to show Youth Can Do It in action – using Maya’s incredible poem as the script, and working with a real-life cast and with youth choir Inner Voices on the music. We couldn’t be more proud of the result, and hope it touches the lives of young people everywhere.”

The script is a poem, Bulletproof, written and performed in the film by 16-year-old Maya Sourie, a winner of last year’s national youth poetry competition, SLAMbassadors. Sourie spent large parts of her own childhood in foster care.

Sourie’s poem, and the montage of scenes that illustrate it, spread the message that “pain is nothing but fuel to reach my full potential” – speaking for all young people born into difficult circumstances.

“I’m really proud to have been part of this project,” Sourie commented. “It felt extremely important to spread the message that any circumstance you may have found yourself in should never be allowed to act as a limitation, but as a way to learn and discover the power you hold within – that happiness is a mindset and begins with loving yourself for who you really are.”

In order to make the film as authentic as possible, Arnold cast young people whose lives and circumstances reflected those in the script, filming the scenes in their own homes and dressing them in items from their own wardrobes.

The soundtrack is a raw and uplifting choral piece, performed by inner-city youth choir, Inner Voices, and composed specifically for the film by Simon Bass.

The TVC will be supported by a print and out-of-home campaign.

Credits

Brand: The Prince’s Trust

Paul Brown: Director of Marketing & Communications

Georgie Mew: Head of Marketing Partnerships

Agency: CHI&Partners

Executive Creative Director: Yan Elliott

Creative Director: Danny Hunt

TV Creatives: Angus Vine, Toby Brewer & Danny Hunt

Print Creatives: Jon Coates & Josh Welton

Head of Art: Marc Donaldson

Designer: Richard Forder

Head of Art Buying: Emma Modler

Planning Partner: Sarah Clark

Planner: Paulina Goodwin

Business Director: Charmaine Murray

Account Managers: Lucy Almond & Jess Franklin

Agency Executive Producer: Charles Crisp

Agency Producer: Emily Hendrey

Director: Andrea Arnold

Film production: Park Pictures

Executive Producer: Stephen Brierley

Producer: Kat Mansoor

Co-Producer: Freya Silk

Cinematography: Robbie Ryan

Editor: Bill Smedley @ Work

VFX: Gold Crest & Big Buoy

Colourist: Rob Pizzey

Sound Editor: Jamie Roden

Sound Design: Neil Johnson @ Factory

Poem Author & Performance: Maya Sourie

Music Composition: Simon Bass @ Pure Soho

Music Vocal Performance: Inner Voices Choir

Casting: Lucy Pardee

Print Photographer: Adam Hinton

Cast Co-ordinator: Emily Fortune

This is the poem, Bulletproof , by Maya Sourie:

Despite the trials in my life,

I decide that only smiles and happiness should reside here.

Laughter lifts this room beyond reality

Because happy is all I care to be.

Confidence and true identity shines bright as the moon.

This type of pride is bullet-proof so shoot all you like –

I’ll never have to physically fight for what’s mine

So long as love holds it tight.

Anger has no place here.

Refuse to let the roots of the past restrict my growth.

Begin to reach for the fruits of the future.

Finally put to use that power deep within

That’s been itching to break loose.

Understand that pain is nothing but the fuel to reach my full potential.