ABOUT SIRLUTE
Rebuilding the community with love & care.
Sirlute is a youth-led creative charity in East London. We give young people who would never normally get near the creative industries a real way in and the support to stay in.
Who we are
Sirlute is a youth-led creative charity founded in 2019 by J.R Josephs. We deliver free creative learning, mentoring and training to young people aged 5 to 25 from under-resourced backgrounds across London, acting as a gateway into the creative industries (music, multimedia, fashion and gaming), for young people who would not normally have access to those opportunities.
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We are led by people with the same lived experience as the young people we work with. That is not a line in a funding bid. It is the reason young people trust us, and the reason our programmes are designed the way they are.
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We work in partnership with the organisations already supporting these young people: schools, pupil referral units, youth offending teams, local authorities and voluntary sector services.
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You know who needs the opportunity. We build and deliver the programme.
Our vision, mission and values
Vision
A more equal society where all children and young people can thrive regardless of their backgrounds.
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Mission
To ensure young Londoners from underrepresented backgrounds access quality creative opportunities and receive the support they need to reach their potential.
Values
Empowering: we empower and uplift each other.
Inclusiveness: our approach to diversity and inclusion means we champion everyone, regardless of their background.
Discipline: we model the behaviour we expect to see.
Legacy: our reputation for doing good will surpass us.
Love: everything we do, and those around us.
Our charitable objective and governance
Sirlute is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, charity number 1188822.
Our objects, as set out in our governing document, are:
"…to act as a resource for young people up to the age of 25, living in London, by providing advice and assistance and organising programmes of physical and educational nature and other activities as a means of:
(a) advancing in life and helping young people by developing their skills, capacities, and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals; and
(b) advancing education."
We are governed by a board of trustees, to whom the Chief Executive reports. Our accounts are independently examined and published annually.
Registered office: Unit 16, 21 City Island Way, London E14 0QE Studios: 7 Botanic Square, Leamouth Peninsula, London E14 0LG
Annual reports and accounts · Safeguarding policy · Charity Commission register
The need
The door is closing, not opening
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Britain tells young people that the creative industries are a meritocracy. The evidence says otherwise, and the gap is widening rather than narrowing.
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Among creative workers born in the 1950s and early 1960s, 16.4% came from working-class backgrounds. For those born four decades later, that figure had fallen to 7.9%, less than half. (ONS analysis, University of Manchester)
In film, TV, video, radio and photography, just over 8% of the workforce identify as working class. Across arts, culture and heritage as a whole, 60% of workers grew up in a household where the main earner held a managerial or professional job; across the whole UK workforce that figure is 43%. (Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre)
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The creative industries employ around 2.4 million people and are one of the fastest-growing parts of the UK economy. They are being built by a narrowing slice of the country. A young person in Newham with genuine talent is not competing on ability. They are competing against a network they were never introduced to, unpaid internships they cannot afford to take, and equipment they have never touched.
The support that used to catch them has gone
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Between 2011 and 2021, London boroughs cut more than £240 million from youth services. The capital's combined youth services budget fell from roughly £145 million to £42 million, and at least 130 youth centres closed. Across England, local authority youth provision funding fell in real terms from just over £1 billion to around £408 million in the same decade. (London Assembly; Hansard; National Youth Agency; UK Youth)
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Newham, one of our core boroughs, was among the worst hit, losing the majority of its youth centres in a single decade.
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The consequences are measurable. Research from the University of Warwick found that offending among 10 to 15-year-olds rose by around 10% in the London boroughs most affected by youth centre closures between 2010 and 2019.
What that means on the ground
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The young people who come to Sirlute are dealing with more than a lack of opportunity. Many are managing poor mental health, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Many are in the care system or supported by social services and family intervention. Some are known to youth offending teams. Most are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and low-income households, in boroughs where families spend most of what they earn on rent and food.
They are not short of talent. They are short of access, equipment, a safe space, and one adult who takes them seriously for long enough to matter.
That is the gap we exist to close. Not with a six week project and a photograph, but with a free programme, industry standard kit, real professionals, and aftercare and a personal development plan lasting at least twelve months.
"Before this I didn't think I had anything to offer, but now I know I can lead a project, record my music, and help others too. It's changed how I see myself." Sirlute participant, 2024/25
Our Partners
