Livity’s Brixton offices in a converted piano warehouse are not what you would expect from any ordinary social enterprise. Teenagers who come to join the award-winning youth run publication LIVE don’t expect such a bright, colourful, professional office and clients coming to meet socially responsible youth marketing agency Livity don’t expect a hub of teenagers buzzing about the place.

It’s this blend of youth and experience that has gained the organisation recognition from Gordon Brown, who wrote a chapter about Livity in his book Everyday Heroes,and Channel 4 who commissioned them to make interactive TV show Dubplate Drama.

At the end of the office Shepherd Fairey’s iconic image of Barack Obama hangs just above a gong that is banged when anyone has positive news they want to share. The Obama portrait tells you a lot about what Livity is about - innovation and change - and so does the gong in its own way.

The enterprise was founded in 2001 when, over a coffee, Sam Conniff, 32, a confirmed workaholic with boundless enthusiasm, and Michelle Clothier, 37, a focused and slightly more reserved individual, realised they were working on similar ideas. Three months later, Livity launched.

“We wanted to use youth marketing to achieve positive outcome for young people across the nation beyond just selling products,” says Clothier.

“How could we take the successful techniques we’d created for young people and use them for social benefit? Our social ambitions have grown with our experience and we’ve evolved to create solutions for the on-going challenges that face the young people whose lives we’d became involved with. You could say social enterprise chose us.”

Although involved in a variety of activities, three projects have helped propel Livity from a two-man outfit, to a 26-strong business with a £2m turnover in just eight years.

LIVE magazine - Livity’s first communications project, which became a standalone not-for-profit company in 2004. LIVE works with over 600 young people each year, helping them find careers within print and broadcast media or onto further education courses.

Rhyme4Respect - a sexual health campaign for the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2005, which required young people to write positive lyrics on the subject of respect. The project’s success paved the way for funding from more Government health campaigns, such as the VIP Blood appeal that encourages people of Black and Asian descent to donate blood.

Music4Good - a 6-month paid apprenticeship that gives 18-22 years olds a way into the music industry. Music4Good offers roles (marketing, online, promotion, press, publishing) at various record labels such as Domino, Universal and Sony BMG.

The directors have also turned down several big-time opportunities. “We would not work on a project that we felt we would not be of some sort of benefit to society. We’ve had to say no to some very exciting briefs and budgets because they don’t meet our social commitments,” says Clothier.

Because Livity places such heavy emphasis on youth, it donates 25 per cent of any profits to the Livity Trust, a charity dedicated to help young people into employment and education.

“If we as a society don’t take the responsibility for our young people, we are not taking responsibility for our future” explains Conniff.

“Many organizations that are interested in youth usually hold focus groups. Some might have interns and others invest in trend following research to understand young people, but very few make the time or space just to listen to real young people.

“By opening up our office we were lucky enough to have met young people that trust us and choose to spend their time with us. In return, we share our experience, contacts and opportunities.

“We work with young people who provide an excellent melting pot of experience, which combined with a very broad range of experiences from the adult staff, really breeds innovation.”

Livity is not a social enterprise to stand still. Upcoming plans include getting more record labels on board with their Music4Good apprenticeship scheme, and they are looking to roll out the current LIVE magazine business model to other parts of the capital.

“There’s nothing stopping us,” says Clothier. “We have a clear mission, an absolute passion for what we do and a brilliant team of people to help us achieve our goals.”

Albert Harvey,18, is an aspiring sports journalist and a staff writer at LIVE magazine.

www.livity.co.uk
www.livefutures.blogspot.com