Our Story
We started life in 2003 as a temporary project funded by Coventry City Council, and spent 10 years in the north east of the city running funded youth sessions. After the threat of closure due to funding cuts, we went it alone in 2013 and set up as a not-for-profit company.
Thanks to crucial funding from Youth Music, Coventry City Council Connecting Communities, Heart of England, City of Culture trust and the Positive Youth Foundation, we’ve been able to run inclusive music and media sessions, empowering young people aged 8-25 years old, free of charge.
Opportunities
In 2021 our current home, the Daimler Powerhouse, reopened its doors as a newly refurbished creative hub. Alongside our professional recording studio, the building is equip with a range of creative facilities, including a dance floor, aerial rig, artist studios, vertical dance wall and maker spaces. We share this amazing building with fellow resident companies Imagineer Productions, Highly Sprung, Talking Birds and Open Theatre.
At Media Mania we’ve been able to plan and run our own events; we have coordinated the main stage for Coventry Welcomes International Refugee Week celebration, held live music nights at the Old Grammar School, featured in music videos, and much more - all of which were planned, arranged and delivered by the young people in our steering group.
We've run music tents at Coventry’s Godiva Festival with a full weekend of live performances, both with our members and with established local artists - building strong links and working together with the community lies at the core of what we do. We also have strong links with other youth organisations in Coventry and beyond such as Aptitude, CYA, Grapevine, Prism and the National Youth Orchestra.
People who have joined us have gone on to expand their own professional skillsets; some who originally joined us as young people have now become youth mentors, and some have earned their first qualifications in youth work practice.
Diversity and Accessibility
We are proud to call ourselves a safe space. As a community organisation, we are committed to running sessions in which diversity is celebrated, and to ensuring our young people are given the tools to counter discrimination of any sort, and to be understanding of one another as individuals.
We have always strongly believed that music should be accessible by all, without exception. That’s why we have made it our mission to keep sessions strictly free and open to all young people who wish to join us.
All of our sessions are built on the foundation of supporting each individual, celebrating our differences and creating opportunities for our young members, while growing solid and valuable skills in the process.
You can read more about our policies here.
Meet the Team
Our work wouldn't be possible without the support of our amazing team of staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to ensure our programmes run smoothly and safely. Their dedication, commitment, and hard work make a real difference in helping us deliver meaningful opportunities and support to the young people and communities we serve.
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David Mills
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Luke Weaver
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Joe Beesley
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Ross Walter
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Lily Smith
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Grace Boylin
The Board
Our trustees are appointed to the Board based on a diverse array of skills and ideas they bring to the table. They are responsible for the overall strategic development of Media Mania, and ensure that we keep to our aims in delivering new and exciting prospects for our young people.
Each Board member specialises in their chosen field; representing Media Mania we have youth workers, politics graduates, communicators, safeguarding professionals, musicians and community leaders.
The Board is responsible for maintaining quality content and ensuring safeguarding across all of our sessions and projects alike. We are serious in our belief that young people must have an active voice in the direction of our projects. We aim not just to be transparent, but to be proactive in involving our young people in these processes. If we all have an active say in Media Mania’s direction, we will all benefit from the decisions we make as a group.
