YOUNG HACK
Young Hack is our year-round programme for young people in Medway offering opportunities to develop entry-level skills in creative technology, making it a fairer place to get into the creative industries regardless of background.
We offer projects for those aged between 7-25, exploring a range of practices including storytelling, digital drawing, set and character design, game engines, 3D models, understanding audiences, 360 photos, sound and music, animation, film, virtual reality, augmented reality and AI.
We offer projects for those aged between 7-25, exploring a range of practices including storytelling, digital drawing, set and character design, game engines, 3D models, understanding audiences, 360 photos, sound and music, animation, film, virtual reality, augmented reality and AI.
Digital camps
For 11-16 yr oldsUse creative technology to uncover the entertainment history of the Old High Street Intra! Join us in February and April 2025, for a special series of Young Hack digital camps for 11-16 yr olds at Sun Pier House, Chatham. Get to interview local cultural figures and uncover their living memories of the area. Use iPad voice recorders and 3D scanning apps, whilst analysing digitised photo, VHS and archive newspaper records. What new stories will you uncover? There will be chance to also dabble in animation, VR and augmented reality as ways to retell these stories.
18 February - Digital camp 1 19 February - Digital camp 2 8 April - Digital camp 5 9 April - Digital camp 6 Book onto Digital camps here. |
For 16-18 yr oldsUse advanced creative technology techniques to uncover the entertainment history of the Old High Street Intra! Join us for a special series of Young Hack digital camps for 16-18 yr olds at Sun Pier House, Chatham. From the lively theatres and cinemas to the rich music, punk and LGBTQ+ scenes, what we uncover and capture digitally will lead to the making of interactive animated hoardings and an augmented reality 'zine, launching in October during Electric Medway Festival. Work created by young people may feature, where they will individually be credited.
20 February - Digital camp 3 21 February - Digital camp 4 10 April - Digital camp 7 11 April - Digital camp 8 Book onto Digital camps here. |
More opportunities
During 2025 we will be piloting Digital camps for 7-11 yr olds.
Details to be announced here soon.
Details to be announced here soon.
Live productions
Forest KeepForest Keep is a fictional digital story, currently being developed with young people in Medway. It is set in a future metaverse woodland at the public grounds of Rochester Castle, exploring the idea of ‘home’ amidst the climate crisis. The public will be drawn into an AR story trail via mobile, unravelling an interactive multi-path plot leading to the Keep at the castle. There are opportunities for young people aged 11-18 and students aged up to 25 to get involved. Help us create 3D models for the woodland, write parts of the story and make new AI characters.
February-April - new workshops planned. Get involved with Forest Keep. |
Medway FighterMedway Fighter is a new game being co-created with Medway residents, including young people. Taking inspiration from Street Fighter and historical Medway figures, players will be immersed in levels created in retro pixel art. Medway Fighter is a research project led by Canterbury Christ Church University in collaboration with Electric Medway, exploring how technology can be used for engagement. There are opportunities for young people to create fighting characters, suggest ideas for the narrative, and to learn about game design.
Details on how to get involved with Medway Fighter coming soon. |
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Student opportunitiesOur live productions can offer opportunities for students including work experience hours and setting project briefs. For example, in 2024 we worked with University of Kent's iTeams Business Challenge, where students pitched ideas about how we could use VR at heritage sites in Medway.
See our Opportunities page for more information. |
School projects
XR SchoolsXR Schools is a groundbreaking research project led by Electric Medway exploring the impact of immersive technology on the learning of year 7 students at two Medway schools. During 2024, we undertook a series of mini-projects with students and teachers at Leigh Academy Rainham and Hundred of Hoo Academy, using digital techniques to create work within the art and history curriculum.
Led by professional artists, students used a range of creative technologies including painting in VR, clay modelling on iPads and a 3D scanning using photogrammetry. Working with our research partner, iCCi at University of Kent, we will be seeking to understand how these digital-physical interactions can foster enhanced learning outcomes. Our findings will be published soon. Read more about XR Schools. |
Enrichment offerNew! Electric Medway's 2025/6 Enrichment offer for schools, libraries and museums will be published soon.
Our activities are mapped to the curriculum at KS2-4. We are trained to deliver Arts Award Bronze and Silver and are an official Artsmark Supporter. We are an active member of the Medway Cultural Education Partnership (MCEP). More details coming soon. |
Teacher opportunities
Our Hack programme offers opportunities for Medway teachers and artist educators to upskill and embed creative technology in their practice.
See our Hack page for more information.
See our Hack page for more information.
Acknowledgments
Young Hack is currently funded by UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund, Medway Council, Heritage Fund, Henry Smith Charity and Colyer Fergusson Charitable Foundation with partner support from Canterbury Christ Church University.
Last year, we were funded by UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund, Medway Council, Docking Station, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England, with partner support from Screen South, Ideas Test, Medway African and Caribbean Association, Historic Dockyard Chatham, Leigh Academies Trust and University of Kent.
Last year, we were funded by UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund, Medway Council, Docking Station, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England, with partner support from Screen South, Ideas Test, Medway African and Caribbean Association, Historic Dockyard Chatham, Leigh Academies Trust and University of Kent.
