The Catalyst Slough Youth Festival took place at Slough Museum, marking the public launch of the Beacons of Light outreach initiative founded by Vaania Faisal. The event brought together more than thirty young people under the age of thirty-five, alongside youth workers, practitioners, and national contributors, for an afternoon focused on civic participation, creative engagement, and practical dialogue. Through workshops and discussions, attendees explored topics such as decision-making, policy reasoning, digital literacy, and creative expression.
One of the programme’s highlights was the session “Are You Smarter Than a Politician?”, hosted by VoxPopuli, which encouraged participants to move beyond criticism and engage directly with policy thinking. The discussion demonstrated young people’s capacity to navigate complex civic issues, with participants — including a twelve-year-old — confidently contributing ideas and testing policy proposals. The festival also featured an extended conversation with spoken-word artist Hussain Manawer and artist Anyway Tha God, who spoke candidly about creativity, perseverance, and the realities of artistic careers.
Interactive experiences, including virtual reality activities supported by Salthill VR, and contributions from youth leaders and national collaborators helped create a dynamic and collaborative atmosphere. Catalyst served as the starting point for the wider Beacons of Light programme, which will continue through follow-up workshops, training sessions, and resource sharing across Slough. The initiative aims to equip young people with practical tools and opportunities to navigate education, employment, and civic life while strengthening engagement between local organisations and the town’s emerging generation.
Following the festival, Beacons of Light will release a short findings report by the end of March, capturing key observations, questions raised by participants, and the practical frameworks tested during the sessions,. Organisations, youth workers, and stakeholders across Slough will be able to request access to this report by contacting vaania_f1@gmail.com