Today We Don’t Settle closes its doors.
We are proud of the We Don’t Settle community and what we have created together. From Poetry Jam (the platform that started it all) and Don’t Settle (the project we grew out of), to taking our open-mic storytelling on the road and reaching new communities, we have platformed the voices of minoritised young people.
Despite efforts from the team, and enthusiasm from our supporters, we have not been able to find a way to fund our work to amplify unheard voices and platform untold stories in the longer-term.
A combination of factors happening in quick succession, including postponed funding rounds and changes to funder priorities, created a perfect storm that we have not been able to find a way through. Without sufficient core funding, we cannot continue operating.
Every young person should not only feel included but empowered to lead change. We still believe that arts and heritage are powerful tools to help shift power. Together we have amplified hundreds of unheard voices, fuelling young people to be the change they want to see. We have re-imagined engagement with university collections in Africanize, city museums with We are Birmingham and built new narratives through Tracing Glass; sparked meaningful conversations on complex issues linked to heritage and identity with a range of partners over Lunar Campfires; and taken our approach global to co-create arts exhibition Ne Keo Gopotse in Botswana. Take a look back at how we began.
Thank you
A special thank you to the staff team and board (past and present), our Youth Steering Committee, partners and funders, and you – the wider We Don’t Settle community for your creativity, dedication and passion over the past three years.
We are a small organisation with a mighty legacy thanks to you all and hope that you will continue to use champion and build on our resources to grow your own creative practice, and influence approaches to co-creation and co-curating with young people across the arts and heritage sector (and beyond). You can also access our latest report, Young People Accessing Funding 2025 exploring barriers, challenges and opportunities that young people face when accessing funding for arts, heritage and community projects.
The website will remain live until the end of March 2026 and we have published a non-exhaustive list of other organisations supporting young people to cultivate creativity and lead change.
Poetry Jam will continue. Follow B:Music for updates.
For updates on Africanize, follow Sipho Ndlovu, long-time collaborator and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Birmingham.
We hope to see you at Poetry Jam on Thursday 4 September to honour the legacy of We Don’t Settle.
Thank you,
Rachel Noel and Chris Sudworth
Co-Chairs of We Don’t Settle, on behalf of the whole board and staff team
