A brilliant week with Compass School students! They explored shutter-speed effects and took part in a photographic scavenger hunt, producing some fantastic and imaginative images. Here’s a look at what they created 📸💡

📸 New on the blog: our @artswork.bsky.social  Breakthrough Admin & Comms Assistant blogs a Compass School session with DSLR cameras 🎨 See the amazing photos and reflections from the workshop 👇 https://www.infocusedu.co.uk/2025/11/14/photography-scavenger-hunt-session-with-compass-school/

New blog post from our @artswork.bsky.social Breakthrough Programme Admin & Comms Assistant, Dylan! They document their first experience at In Focus meetings and our Youth Leadership Group, where we had guest speaker Daniel Crow! https://www.infocusedu.co.uk/2025/11/14/team-meeting-youth-leadership/

It’s #LivingWageWeek! We are proud to be an accredited living wage employer by @livingwageuk.bsky.social    !🎉⁠  We join employers who are taking ‘A Step beyond’ by becoming Living Wage accredited and paying a real Living Wage. Find out more #LivingWageFoundation

It’s @livingwageuk.bsky.social  Living Wage Week! 🎊 And to mark it, we had a go at photographing #logosinthewild!    We’re proud to join 16,000 employers making a difference - because everyone deserves a decent standard of living.  Find out more: www.livingwage.org.uk #LivingWageWeek

🎄Christmas shopping Sorted ✔️ Our 2026 calendar is ready for pre-order! This A4 wall calendar features work made during all of our sessions with talented young artists! 🧑‍🎨📸 Please note this calendar is a pre-order shipping no later than 5th Dec for delivery before Xmas! infocusedu.co.uk/calendar

Half term’s coming up! 🍂🎨📸 Join us at In Focus for photography, writing & collage for ages 10–17. 💸 £30 per day or book Oct + Feb & get April half price! 📅 Wed 29 Oct, Network Eagle Labs, Southampton 👉 Book: https://tr.ee/infocushol #Southampton #HalfTerm #CreativeWorkshop #YouthArts

👋 Looking for half term plans? Ages 10–17 in Southampton can dive into photography, creative writing, collage, mixed media + more. 💷 £30 a day – or plan ahead: book Oct + Feb and get April half price! 📍 Network Eagle Labs, Portland Terrace, SO14 7SJ 🎟 Book now: https://tr.ee/infocushol

Who has the best team ever? 👋 That’s us! Last week we had our In Focus team day - sharing ideas, getting creative & even a collage workshop led by one of our young #DSLR1625 participants. Grateful for this inspiring bunch 🤍 More to share soon!

It’s #InternationalDayofCharity 💙 Usually we share young people’s creativity, but today we’re asking for your support. Every donation helps us break down barriers so young people can access creative opportunities. Thank you! https://www.infocusedu.co.uk/donate/

✨ On 13 June, young people from In Focus’ DSLR programme unveiled And Everything In-Between: their latest group exhibition. See the full feature + video here: https://www.infocusedu.co.uk/2025/08/14/and-everything-in-between/

🤯We can’t believe it’s been a whole year since 'They Will Not Take You Seriously' at God’s House Tower! The young LGBTQIA+ artists continue to amaze us today🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 One of the standout pieces was a powerful poem written and performed by the group, take a minute to watch/listen 💖

We had such an amazing time at #southamptonpride over the weekend! You all looked fabulous in our photobooth! Thank you to those who came and had a chat, and struck a pose! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🥳 #southampton #southamptonevents #pride #pridesoton #sotonpride

We are proud to be celebrating a year of being an accredited living wage employer by Living Wage Foundation!🎉⁠  ⁠ We join over 15,000 other employers in the country in a voluntary scheme committed to paying our employees a wage that reflects the realities of working life in the UK.⁠

👩🏽‍💻BORDERLESS📸 In Focus is proud to support this project, continuing our commitment to creative community spaces 💛 Borderless is a virtual photography exhibition created with and by migrant and refugee communities in Southampton.

✨ Join our FREE Photography & Creative Workshops! ✨ Explore your creativity, connect with others, and learn new skills in a safe, relaxed and inclusive space. Open to ages 16-25! Perfect for young creatives in Southampton / Hampshire who want to build skills in photography and art.

🎨 Your Stories: Free Jane Austen-inspired workshops in Southampton to share your story through art 💬 Your work joins a digital + public exhibition before her 250th birthday 🎉 🧃 Free snacks 📍 Southampton 📅 11+ (U18s with adult) https://tr.ee/yourstories In partnership with @artswork.bsky.social

📺 We’ve been awarded support by @artscouncilengland.bsky.social  & The National Lottery @tnlcommunityfund.org.uk   for our programme Develop Skills Learn and Reflect (DSLR16-25)!!🎉 Which means more continued creativity for incredible young artists! Thank you so much to ACE & The National Lottery! ⁠

🚨 18-25 years? In Focus & @artswork.bsky.social are offering a Traineeship Administration & Communications Assistant role through the Breakthrough Programme! 📍 Southampton ⏳ 25 hrs/week 💸 £12.60/hour 🗓️ Deadline: 11:45pm, 17 August 🧭 Start date: 29 Sept 2025 – 28 March 2026 tr.ee/infocusbreak...

We’re finalists for a Community Organisation LGBT Award at the National Diversity Awards out of 85,000 nominees! We’ve been recognised for our inclusive, creative work with young people. This is huge for us, and for the communities we serve. 💫🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 👉https://tr.ee/EuXJgm #InclusionMatters #Southampton

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️We took some of our young participants to meet with MPs at UK Parliament, following recent impact on the trans community. Thanks @laboursatvir.bsky.social Darren Paffey & Lorna Fielker for hearing us and making it happen As #PrideMonth ends, read their powerful reflections: 🔗 tr.ee/zCEgCYBscs

🎉 DIY Southampton x In Focus present: And There It Was… For the Curious! A free, friendly creative writing group for all, no experience needed, just curiosity! ✍️🦊 📅 2nd Weds monthly, 7:30–8:45pm 📍Network Eagle Labs, Southampton 🎟️ Just turn up, it’s FREE!

🎨📸 Know a creative young person aged 10–17? Our Photography & Arts Workshops are back this summer! Wednesdays at Network Eagle Labs, Southampton. 🪶 Book by 30 June for early bird discount! 🎟️https://tr.ee/TOqqPz

🏆We’re thrilled to be finalists for the National Diversity Awards as a Community Organisation Award for LGBT! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Thank you to everyone who voted. At In Focus, we’re proud to create inclusive, empowering spaces where young people can truly be themselves 🥳

🚨 Last chance! ‘And Everything In-Between’ is only on until tomorrow (Sunday 22 June) at God’s House Tower! 🗞️ Grab a free newspaper while you’re there; packed with work from the next generation of great artists!

The launch night of 'And Everything In-Between' was magic!  An exhibition of work made by young people in our DSLR workshops supported by Arts Council, TNLUK, Quilter, Blagrave Trust and Quakers. On display at God’s House Tower until Sunday 22nd June!

Thank to yahoo! news for sharing our new exhibition! Have you headed down to God's House Tower yet? 👀

🚨 Exhibition launches TONIGHT 🕕 6pm | 📍 God’s House Tower, Southampton 🎟 Free entry We’ve been busy installing And Everything In-Between : a bold exhibition by young artists exploring identity through photography and words. Come see it first! 🆓🎟 eventbrite.co.uk/e/1335263813009 🗓 On until 22 June

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We had an amazing time at Urban Wild yesterday! Huge thanks to everyone who popped by our photobooth 📷 it was a joy meeting so many inspiring stallholders, artists, conservationists, musicians, volunteers, cyclists, and creatives of all kinds!

📖 Our CEO @cankristianne.bsky.social is featured in The Daily Echo and Southampton Forward’s SO: Cultured today! 🎉 They share insights into their journey, and more on In Focus' exciting projects! Read more 👉 southamptonforward.org.uk/stories/arts...

We’re at Urban Wild TOMORROW! 🌿☀️ Join us and loads of other brilliant groups and orgs on Southampton Common for a day full of nature, creativity, and fun! 🙂Say hello 🌳 Explore nature 📷 Snap a pic at our photobooth ☀️ Soak up the sun (and the fun!) 📍All the info: www.southamptonnpc.com/urbanwild

Calling creative 10–17 year olds! Summer Holiday Photography & Arts Workshops in Southampton! 🎨📸✂️ 🗓 Wednesdays 🕥 10:30am–3:30pm Photography, creative writing, collage & more! Early bird + bundle deals available. 📲 Book: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/infocuseducationanddevelopmentcio/1594090

🎨✨ Tuesday’s Compass School session magic! Students created incredible responses to artist postcards - the results were amazing and loved by all! 💌💥

📝 Join us for And There It Was… with DIY Southampton – a free, laid-back creative writing session for all levels!⁠ 📅 Wed 11 June, 7.30–8.45pm 📍 Network Eagle Labs, SO14 7EN 🎟️ Just show up – it’s free & all materials are provided! #Southampton #creativewriting

🚨 May bank hol is nearly here! Know a creative 10–17 y/o? Book them onto In Focus’s Photography & Arts Workshops in Southampton! 🎨📸 📅 Tues 27 & Weds 28 May 📍 Network Eagle Labs 🎟️ Book: https://bit.ly/infocus-may Summer dates also live!

Today is #IDAHOBIT. We know that right now, many people are unsure where they’ll be safe. To every LGBTQIA+ person: nothing at In Focus has changed. We’ll always challenge discrimination and build safe, joyful spaces together ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

🌿 We’ll be at Urban Wild Fest on Southampton Common, Sat 18 May! Come find our photo booth and enjoy a full day of nature walks, creative workshops & family fun 🌊🌳 🎟 Free entry! 🔗 https://community.nationalparkcity.org/events/urban-wild-on-the-common

⏳ One month to go! ⏳ DIY Southampton Eleven Saturday 14 June — a whole day of music, poetry, stories, stalls, workshops, good vibes and more! 🎶📚🎨 📍 Planet Sounds, Southampton 🕛 12–7pm 🎟 FREE entry for all!  🩵FB event: https://fb.me/e/2EnPIjQts

Dev’s on holiday but couldn’t miss the chance to say… voting closes TOMORROW! We’re up for a National Diversity Award as an LGBT+ Community Organisation. It takes 10 secs to vote! 🏳️‍🌈🏆 👉 Vote here: https://f.mtr.cool/ohuzcldslo

The face of a man chuffed to be a newly qualified first aider! 👏 Huge thanks to Debbie from Train and Gain (train-and-gain.co.uk) for making the course fun, engaging, and a big success. And a massive well done to Devin for absolutely smashing it! 🙌🩹

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO VOTE FOR US!🏆🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈We are so proud to be nominated for a National Diversity Community Organisation Award for LGBT in the National Diversity Awards! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏅Nominations and voting close 14th May! 👉 Vote here https://shorturl.at/rXCJM

✍️✨ ‘And There It Was…’ is back! A free creative writing space by DIY Southampton—no experience needed. Join us every 2nd Wednesday at In Focus Creative Space, Southampton. 🦊 Next: 14 May | 11 Jun | 9 Jul | 10 Sept, 7:30–8:45 PM. No booking—just drop in! #CreativeWriting

Our Compass Schools Thursday group made the most of the sunshine with a park photography session 🌿📷 exploring close-ups of nature and portraits in black & white vs. colour. We love the prints they picked and arranged!

Sarah, whose son attends our LGBTQIA+ DSLR group, shares: “He makes his own choices thanks to this group and this charity.” We’re nominated for a National Diversity Award (LGBT Community Organisation)! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Voting closes14th May. Just a few clicks to vote! 👉 https://shorturl.at/rXCJM

🏆🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈We are so made up to share that we are nominated for a National Diversity Community Organisation Award for LGBT in the National Diversity Awards! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏅 Please vote for us it take 10 secs! 👉 Vote here: https://shorturl.at/rXCJM

More snapshots from our Isle of Wight adventure last week! We checked out Department’s new exhibition with Steve from Aspire Ryde, then explored Ventnor Exchange, Quay Arts, and Breakout Youth 🏳️‍🌈 We had a bloomin' lovely time!🎨

✨ Unleash your creativity during the May & summer school holidays with our Photography & Arts Workshops! (10-17years) 🎨📷 Explore photography, writing, collage & more at Network Eagle Labs, Southampton. Early bird & bundle deals! Book now: https://shorturl.at/tltUi

On Tuesday we welcomed Oscar Hoyle, CEO of Blossom LGBT, for a brilliant evening with our LGBTQIA+ DSLR group 🌈✊ Oscar shared the history of protest signs before we made our own. Thanks Oscar for a fun, hands-on session! Learn more at blossom.lgbt 💥

💿You all loved our DSLR groups' recreations of album artworks- so we asked our Isle of Wight Breakout Youth Group to give it a whirl! What's your favourite? 👀