Join Wellcome Collection Youth Panel to experience the museum behind the scenes, produce original and inspiring work, and build skills that will support your professional and personal development.
Wellcome Collection Youth Panel
RawMinds Ambassadors group from 2018. © Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
What will you do?
We are recruiting 18 young people who are keen to share ideas, collaborate with others, and make the museum an interactive space for young people. The panel will run from October 2022 to August 2023. Your group will choose a project that links with the exhibition ‘Genetic Automata’, which explores racial identity in an age of video games and avatars. You will decide what you want to achieve, and work together with our support to do this.
You will:
- Meet twice a month on a Thursday, 17.00–19.00, at Wellcome Collection Youth Studio. Food, drinks and London travel costs (zones 1–6) will be provided.
- Visit Wellcome Collection and get to know the staff, our exhibitions, and each other.
- Go on visits, hear speakers, attend private views of exhibitions, and end the year with a festive social.
- Build transferable skills like project management, researching, teamwork, event management, CV writing, and interviewing.
How do you apply?
If you are an enthusiastic young person aged 14 to 19 (or up to 25 if disabled), you can apply to join our Youth Panel. The deadline for applications is 17.00 on Monday 19 September 2022.
Complete this form to apply, or send us your responses in an audio or video format under five minutes long. If you need to respond in a format not suggested, please let us know.
The form asks for key details about you and has questions about why you want to apply and what you hope to get from being involved. We are keen to hear about your interest in this project and will not judge applications on your past experiences or quality of writing or speaking.
We would like you to attend as many sessions as you can, but we understand if that is not possible. Please let us know in your application if you know in advance that there are some sessions you will not be able to attend.
You will receive confirmation that we have received your application. We will make a shortlist in early September and tell you whether your application has been successful. We cannot offer feedback on applications.
We are committed to creating a safe and positive environment for young people to come together and learn, and express their ideas and skills, whatever their sexuality, gender, ethnicity (including race, colour or nationality), disability, or neurodivergence. You can read about accessibility at Wellcome Collection and get in touch with us if there are ways that we could make participating more accessible for you.
What have youth panels done before?
- Developed an online event, ‘Changing Our Planet, Changing Our Minds (PDF 1790kb)’, as part of a project about climate change, inspired by our gallery ‘Being Human’.
- Co-produced a private view of ‘Being Human’ (PDF 320kb) exclusively for young people.
- Created a Game Design Project, which was featured in the ‘Play Well’ exhibition.
Being a Raw Minds ambassador for the Wellcome Collection helped me further and extend my artistic skills and creativity.
What happens later?
At the end of the programme, you can choose to join our alumni group. This includes previous Youth Programme participants. As part of the alumni group you will:
- get invitations to private views of exhibitions, with opportunities to network
- hear about paid job opportunities with us and across the museum sector.
[Being in the Youth Panel] really helped demonstrate skills and experience applicable to other areas… I will always be grateful for the doors the Youth Programme has opened for me, both in and out of Wellcome Collection itself.
More ways to get involved
If you’re interested in participating in our other events, keeping up with what we do, and being the first to know when we’re recruiting for our next panel, join our mailing list.