The story so far

It was the first day of Whatever competition. I was very excited. I couldn’t remember if I had ever won a competition before. I felt very important and special.

I got to Prospero House quite early. All I had in my head was that we were going to make a website for Southwark teenagers and the winning team would receive a laptop each. I wasn’t really sure about the roles we were to play.

I waited awhile, and the rest of the team members started to arrive. There was a brief introduction between both the staff and the teenagers. A few people didn’t turn up but there were fifteen of us altogether.

The team

There was Bianca, Bob, Chris, Hayley, Olu, Joanne, Jody, Lara, Marcus, Margaret, Sergio, Syanne, Vanessa, Yossy and Zoe. We were then divided into two teams, Talent Fusion and Winc. We took at lot of time coming up with the name Talent Fusion. We had all sorts of ideas, but in the end we took a vote and chose Talent Fusion.

Day one and a celebrity meeting

The first day was great. We met Miss Black Britain (who is from Peckham) and had a wonderful lunch. We also found out how Whatever came about. Later in the day we were given activities to complete ready for day two: we did reviews on a few websites and got feedback.

By the end of day one, we were all very enthusiastic about what was to come. We started being a bit competitive and secretive about our ideas for the website.

Everyone was looking forward to day two. The majority of us went home together and chatted all the way to our various bus stops.

Building our mood boards

The next morning was a lot busier, there was more work to do. The two teams started working on mood boards which would give the designer an idea of the look and feel we wanted for the website.

Hidden gems in Southwark

The third day was wonderful. Each team chose a place of interest in Southwark to visit and also do a review on. Talent Fusion decided to go to the Design Museum. Winc decided to go to the Whites Grounds Skate Park.

Both teams had so much fun, it was very exciting and interesting. We had no clue that places like those existed in Southwark till then.

Before we knew it, day three was over, it was totally amazing. We were all becoming a little family and felt attached in some way. There was one more day left and we had to get all the last pieces of work together.

Afterwards, we had a trip to the London eye, we had so much fun. It was fantastic. We got a few shots at the top and purchased some more at the end of the ride. It was a wonderful experience.

Campaigning for votes

We then went on a voting battle. Each team handed out cards to teenagers between ages 13 and 19 in Southwark to help increase our chances of winning the competition. The vote was done via the website and the results were pretty close.

The winners (party!)

On the final day, both teams gave a ten minute presentation on why they should win and we had Tim Campbell (first winner of The Apprentice) as part of the judges. We were told it was a difficult decision but Winc was chosen as the winner.

It was a great night. Local young people performed: there was a DJ, singers, dancers and a beatboxer. Both teams got certificates, various vouchers and each member of Winc got a brand new laptop.

It was a special night, we found it hard to say goodbye, but as they say ‘all good things, must come to an end’.

Whatever... it was worth the while.