We are looking to commission up to five Queer Disabled content creators or artists.
The theme for this content is: 'Celebrate what makes you, YOU'.
We chose this theme to reflect young people’s desire to make space for joy and to authentically represent their experiences. Anything you create could reflect on your own mental health journey, joy and celebration, identity or anything you think would help Queer Disabled young people feel supported with their mental health.
Although the theme focuses on celebration, we know it’s also important for Queer Disabled young people to hear about what people are going through, and that includes the downs as well as the ups. So, you may also want to share the more difficult kinds of experiences, challenges, and honest stories that you are comfortable sharing.
Take a look below for more information on the type of content we're looking for.
While this project is aimed towards the young Queer Disabled community, we want to be clear that the content you create can speak to all aspects of your identity. Whether that’s your culture, religion, interests, class, or hobbies, as well as your sexuality, gender identity and disability. We want you to know that all aspects of your identity can and should be celebrated.
We know we will never speak to every unique and complex experience, but the content you create should help Queer Disabled young people relate to your experiences and provide them with a sense of hope.
We're looking for content that is honest and authentic, sharing the fluctuating nature of being Queer and Disabled, showing the highs and lows, impact on mental health (the good, the bad and the in between), and that no one day or experience is always the same.
For example, speaking about a specific topic while doing an activity. Here’s an example from Sylvia.
For example, speaking about a particular experience or sharing some advice using BSL. Here’s an example from Charis.
A video sharing a day in your life. Here’s an example of a day in the life of Nyrobi, a Disabled artist.
Join us for an episode of our podcast alongside other Queer Disabled creators. Here’s an example of a podcast episode we recorded with Simi, Femi and Jaleel about being Black, Disabled and proud.
For example, a spoken word video, rap or dance. Here's an example of a spoken word piece from Femi and a rap we commissioned from Josiah.
Write or tell a story about your personal experience or through a fictional story. This could be a digital comic book or short story. Here's an example of a short story of Black Disabled empowerment from Simi and a digital comic from Jaleel.
Authentic representation of real-life experiences from Disabled young individuals is really important.
When I was younger, and sometimes now I always kind of feel like I’m by myself [...] Show me [...] there’s other people like you going through the same thing. I feel like that’s very, very important.
Young people want to see content that acknowledges the intricate identities of Disabled folk, and stories of how people identify and relate to the different parts of their identities.
So I am a Black, working class, trans masc, non-binary artist. I also have borderline personality disorder and I’m awaiting an autism diagnosis [...] I’m a northerner as well, I’m very proud of that [...] and I identify as chaotic good.
This community wants others to understand the dynamic nature of disabilities and how it can vary day to day, and no experience is the same.
My disability gets better, well more manageable, and then it gets less manageable and that ebbs and flows. It’s not a constant state. I think that’s a narrative that’s missing in the media.
You can send this to us in the following formats:
Below we have outlined some important information about eligibility criteria for this project. Please read this carefully.
Yes, this work will be paid. Deliverables and fees will be discussed as part of the contracting for this work. All commissioned artists and content creators are responsible for paying their own tax and National Insurance contributions through self-assessment.
Applications are open to individuals aged between 18 and 27 years old. The content you create will be used to serve young people between 11 and 25.
Yes, absolutely. What matters most to us isn’t the size of your social media following, but if you’re able to create content that responds to the themes we’ve outlined on this page.
We also feel strongly that all creators and artists, especially those from racialised communities must be paid fairly for their work. To do this, we have base fees that we use for digital content commissions. This means we are still able to pay less established creators a fair fee for their work and time. For established creators (over 10k followers on your main social media account), we do offer a small additional supplement fee.
We are aiming to get back to everyone by the end of October. Further contracting discussions will then take place from January 2025.
We are hoping to go live on our channels with the content from February 2025. So, we’d ideally receive final versions of content between January 2025 and March 2025. However, the deadline is something we are more than happy to discuss with you. It’s important to us that you feel comfortable with the timelines.
Yes, we’re only able to work with UK-based content creators for this project.
Yes we have. Throughout 2024, we worked closely with a group of 12 Black Disabled creators and artists. Take a look at their content.
We are looking to go live with the content on our channels from February – April 2025, but we’ll continue to post pieces of content throughout the year.