About Us

FreeRadicals was established in May 2009 in response to alarming levels of political disempowerment among the young, poor and marginalised. It is a registered not-for-profit company (Company No: 6904845), that works to charitable aims.

FreeRadicals aims to serve as a catalyst for grassroots organising and movement building, particularly focused on working with young people (aged 16-25) fighting for social and racial justice, equality and youth rights.

The founding belief of FreeRadicals is that the answers to the problems facing society lie in the experiences of ordinary people.  Those experiences are the key to grassroots power and potential for radical social change.

Over thirty years ago, the educationalist Paulo Freire published Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a radical approach to social education aimed at empowering and equipping the dispossessed and the marginalised of the Global South with the self-belief and political consciousness to overcome oppression and inequality. Today, more than ever, a new pedagogy of the oppressed is essential to transform the political voice of the disempowered of the planet from the estates of Bradford to the Barrios of Sao Paulo.

The global economic collapse has revealed the failure of the neoliberal economic system and market-driven politics of the last thirty years. Inequality has grown, civil liberties have been eroded and an increasing sense of political disenfranchisement pervades Britain. But it is in working with young people in some of the most deprived areas of Britain that you get a real sense of disaffection. Powerlessness that is rooted in poverty, discrimination and an unprecedented level of hyper-consumerism is creating a ‘culture of silence’ amongst many young people. Stripped of the belief that they can make any change in their community – let alone believe another world is possible – many young people are depoliticised and consumed.

The institutions, such as trade unions, churches and political parties, which have in the past given people access to political ideas and activism, are in decline. Consumerism has sapped many people’s belief in the transformative ability of politics. This is no more so apparent than with young people, for whom a target-driven education system and ‘outcomes’-focussed youth work agenda leave little room for empowerment. Citizenship education is becoming more about national identity than political ideas.

Despite these barriers, there are youth workers, community activists and teachers who are challenging the status quo. Committed to working in partnership with young people to build their consciousness and political awareness, programmes for action and campaigns are being established across the country. And they are having an impact. Young Muslims and non-Muslims are leading campaigns to challenge anti-terror legislation. Young asylum seekers are fighting deportation. Others are challenging their council to recognise the underlying causes of youth violence, educational exclusion or the rise of the BNP. Many are simply struggling to get their voices heard. All of them are united by frustration at a political system that does not want to let them have a voice. But each has a strong desire to make a difference. Many of these campaigns and projects, however, remain isolated.

They are unaware of similar projects across the country and beyond, increasingly fragile as they are often dependent on the commitment and dedication of a few committed volunteers or workers and often isolated by a political culture that wants young people to understand consultation but not empowerment. As result, the potential power and impact of campaigns and projects locally, nationally and internationally is reduced and the potential for the young, poor and excluded to be agents of change is diminished.