Comics Youth CIC

Who we are

Comics Youth is a youth-led, trauma-informed creative health organisations using comics, storytelling and publishing to support mental wellbeing, belonging and recovery.

We work with young people aged 8–25 who are often excluded, underserved or misunderstood by traditional systems — including those who are neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, care-experienced, disabled, or living with complex trauma.

We publish anthologies.
We hold space for difficult stories.
We sit alongside young people when systems haven’t.

We believe creativity is political.
We believe access matters.
We believe care should not be a luxury.

Our culture and values

Comics Youth CIC exists to shift cultural power towards young people.

We believe that young people — particularly those who are working-class, neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQIA+, care-experienced or otherwise marginalised — should not only participate in culture but shape it. Our work centres youth leadership, creative authorship and decision-making authority as fundamental rights rather than optional extras.

Youth Authority

We are committed to redistributing power. Young people hold real influence within our governance, commissioning and programme design. We recognise decision-making, editorial judgement and cultural leadership as skilled labour and pay young people fairly for these roles.

Equity and Access

Access is designed into our work from the outset, not retrofitted. We use co-produced Access Riders, hybrid delivery and flexible structures to ensure participation is responsive to individual needs. We challenge unpaid labour, informal gatekeeping and exclusionary cultural systems.

Creative Integrity

We treat comics and visual storytelling as serious cultural forms and powerful tools for literacy, identity and civic expression. We prioritise lived experience, experimental voices and narratives that are underrepresented in mainstream publishing.

Care and Accountability

Our practice is trauma-informed, transparent and reflective. We create structured support systems for young people and staff, ensuring safeguarding, wellbeing and ethical working standards. We learn publicly, adapt responsively and hold ourselves accountable to the communities we serve.

Collaboration and Sector Change

We work in partnership with museums, festivals, publishers and community organisations to build long-term infrastructure for youth-led cultural practice. Our ambition is not simply to deliver projects, but to influence how publishing and cultural institutions operate.

At our core, Comics Youth CIC believes culture should be shaped by those whose lives it represents.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Comics Youth CIC is committed to ensuring fairness, dignity and respect across our workforce and wider community. We actively oppose discrimination, harassment and exclusion in all forms.

Our Commitment

We believe that equitable access to opportunity requires intentional action. We are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where staff, freelancers, young people and partners are treated fairly, valued for their contribution and supported to thrive.

We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, care experience, neurodivergence or any other protected or marginalised characteristic.

Inclusive Recruitment and Progression

We aim to reduce structural barriers within recruitment and progression by:

• Using transparent role descriptions and clear criteria

• Advertising opportunities widely through diverse networks

• Paying at or above Real Living Wage for governance and freelance roles

• Offering flexible and hybrid working options

• Recognising lived experience as valuable expertise

Where possible, we use positive action measures to encourage applications from underrepresented groups.

Fair Pay and Working Conditions

We challenge unpaid labour and speculative work. All staff, freelancers and youth governance members are paid fairly and promptly. We are committed to ethical contracting and clear communication about expectations and responsibilities.

Access and Reasonable Adjustments

Access is built into our practice. We use co-produced Access Riders to identify individual communication, sensory, pacing or support needs. Reasonable adjustments are made wherever required to ensure full participation.

Culture and Accountability

We foster a culture of care, openness and accountability. Concerns can be raised safely and confidentially, and complaints are handled through clear procedures. EDI practice is reviewed regularly by leadership and youth governance structures to ensure it remains active rather than symbolic.

Our aim is not only to avoid discrimination, but to contribute to wider structural change within cultural and publishing systems.