Crowdfund Salford has provided £100 of match funding
Get Salford Young People to the Commonwealth Games
Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
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Aim
We're going to the Commonwealth Games and we need your help to get our young journalists there.
Why we're crowdfunding (and why this is a first for us!)
This is the first time we've ever run a crowdfunder. We're used to finding funding through grants and partnerships, but these games, the usual support isn't there, so we're trying something new, and turning to the people who know us best to help.
Our young journalists have earned their place at the Games. The accreditation is confirmed. What's missing is the £3,500 we need to actually get our team of 12 there, fed, and housed for the duration
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Who we are
We're The Reporters’ Academy, a team of 12 of us has been assembled, including 8 brilliant young people aged 18-20, they have been working with TRA to develop various skills and they are now ready to implement these at their first major event. They've been hand-picked for their drive, their commitment, and their genuine love of telling stories that don't usually get told.
Over the years young people have come to us from social housing organisations, the King's Trust, and through our outreach work at MediaCity. Collectively young people put in thousands of volunteer hours, evenings, weekends, school holidays, to build real skills in journalism, storytelling, and media production.
And now they've earned something extraordinary: official media accreditation to report at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The TRA team L-R: Katy Atkinson (CEO), Rosie Ogunade (Technical Lead), Hope Gorton (Director of Youth) and Sarah Jone (Director of Operations)
TRA crew in action!
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What they'll be doing
Every day at the Games, our young team will be interviewing international athletes, many from the Pacific, many from under-represented communities, and giving them a platform to share their stories in their own words. Stories that often get missed by the big broadcasters. This is what we’re brilliant at!
Through our media network, built up over a decade, these interviews and stories will reach audiences across the world, and across the home countries of the athletes themselves.
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How we'll spend your money
We've kept this lean:
- Travel
- Basic accommodation
- Food
- Our staff are volunteering their time
That's it. £3,500, no frills, all of it going toward getting our young people there and covering all their costs while we all do this wicked work.
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The impact, on them, and on the athletes
For our young people, this is life-changing. They'll work alongside professional journalists, on the world stage, in a supported environment that simply doesn't exist anywhere else for young people. It'll transform their CVs, their confidence, and their sense of what's possible.
We've seen this before. Five young people from Trafford were accredited to report at the London Olympics. Today, they're teachers, producers, and managers, leaders who still talk about that experience as the moment their world opened up. We have successfully replicated this delivery over the last 14 years with many major events attended and many many young people being given these extraordinary experiences.
And for the athletes, often from communities whose stories rarely make it into global media, this is a chance to be seen, heard, and celebrated by people who genuinely want to listen.
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How you can help
Make a pledge, however small. Every donation gets us closer, and early momentum really matters.
Spread the word. Share this page with anyone who might want to back a group of young people doing something brilliant.
This is a small campaign for a small, mighty team, but the ripple effects, for our young people and the athletes they'll meet, will last for years.
Thank you for being part of our story.
If you make a donation of £50 or above and would like to be invited to our celebration event, please email us on [email protected].
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 2nd October 2026 at 11:59pm