Ambarin, Shannagh and Lauren are three volunteers for the £10million Kick the Dust programme supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. As part of a young people's takeover day, they visited our London offices and got a glimpse behind the scenes of the heritage world.

Follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and read on to find out what heritage means to them:

Ambarin Quadri

My name is Ambarin Quadri and I am from the Hope Street festival in Lancashire. We want to inspire all age groups to feel welcome but also to help them believe that they belong. We are currently designing a festival which is taking place next year to make sure everyone has something to look forward to no matter what cultural or financial background they come from. I joined The National Lottery Heritage Fund because I wanted to help everyone’s voices be heard. This festival is for everyone to feel loved and hope for the impossible.

I wanted to come today to Takeover Day to see how everyone works across the project, not just my own.

Shannagh Strudwick

I’m Shannagh Strudwick. My project is part of the Ignite scheme in Yorkshire. In this I am building a "Bodges lodge" with a group of young people, which is going to be used as storage for all of our heritage projects. In the future we are also going to get someone to come and help us put in stained glass windows.

This is part of bringing heritage to young people. It's good because it is fun and enjoyable for young people to take part in and see that heritage isn’t just all about going to museums and looking around them, as many young people think it is. It is also about seeing how things used to be made and what used to happen in the past.

I wanted to get involved with the Takeover Day because I thought it was a good way to see what goes on behind the scenes and see how everything gets put together.

Lauren Dennis

My name is Lauren Dennis and I am 20 years old. I am from Leicester and I am part of Y Heritage which is a group for young people. 

"The whole point is to engage young people, putting them in the position of actually being in control and having responsibility. It made me feel so powerful." 

We have been given the opportunity where a few young people are placed on a panel very similar to Dragon's Den where local heritage organisations can bid for funding. It helps to engage young people and give them the chance to gain experience and life skills, preparing them for the future and going into adulthood yet also linking that in with heritage.

Our aim is to make young people understand that there’s so much more to heritage than just buildings and artefacts. It is also about the young people expanding their understanding and knowledge of their heritage.

The whole point of the Y Heritage is to engage young people from The Y, putting them in the position of actually being in control and having responsibility. It made me feel so powerful. 

Find out more

Find out more about what we have learned from working with young people and get inspired by all of our young people's projects.