Our creative young people’s programme, Base, brings home the awards in 2025

Base, Octavia’s young people’s programme, offers a wide range of innovative, inclusive and fun activities that encourage young people to develop their creative skills and confidence in a safe supportive environment.

At Base, members have access to industry standard digital media equipment and take part in projects in areas such as filmmaking, photography, art and design music production and more. 

Last year was a superb year for both Base members and leadership, with multiple awards won for their brilliant projects and for individual successes.  

Base’s Programme Manager, Conor Lynch, was one of the two out of 15 nominees across the sector to be awarded in the Youth Worker of the Year category at the Young K&C Youth Work Awards in July. This is a well-earned recognition of the time, impact and dedication he gives to the programme, and the young people involved, every day.  

At the RBKC Young Leaders Awards in November, Ronel Mesfin – who has been a Base member for 6 years – won the Growth & Resilience Award, beating 12 other nominees. Ronel first joined the Base Juniors group in 2019, before going on to attend daily Base at Home sessions during lockdown and then progressing to the Base Productions Seniors’ group, where he works on innovative filming projects using the skills he has developed in 6 years, whilst studying for his A levels.  

The Base Juniors also took home the Group Achievement Award for their community-focused creative projects, such as their A La Carte De Base pop-up restaurant, where they turned The Reed into a restaurant for one night and served over thirty members of the local community.  

A huge congratulations to the winners and to everyone else involved for such a brilliant year.  

Want to find out more about Base? 

BASE is completely free, making it an accessible and affordable way for young people to try new things, make friends and develop skills that can last a lifetime.  

Sessions are run every Monday to Thursday during term time and are held in Octavia's multigenerational community Hub, The Reed, located a short walk from Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road in London. 

BASE also takes commissions for real film and digital projects, helping members see the value of their creativity and explore future pathways into film and media. 

Take a look at some of BASE’s previous work  here. 

Get involved this half term 

Base is running a free February half-term programme of creative activities for 10–13-year-olds. The programme includes: 

·                  A creative mini project, held at our mixed-age community space The Reed between Tuesday 17 February and Thursday 19 February, 11am to 4pm.  

·                  An offsite trip (location TBC) on Friday 20 February, 11am to 5:30pm. 

There are 15 spaces in total for this programme, and they are allocated on a first come, first served basis – so if this sounds like a programme your child might like, don’t wait to sign up! You can find the form here, as well as a membership form which you will need to complete for your child.