Brand Story

Shine ALOUD UK C.I.C, started as a sexual health steering group in East London back in 2010, as part of Shine Newham’s NHS sexual health commitment to engage young people in the local community.

The group was managed by two amazing women Tamera and Hannah – who worked for Shine as Development Workers – both of whom were instrumental and pivotal in developing the group, but more importantly providing a safe space for local BAME young people to learn about sexual health, become actively involved in shaping how it was delivered locally and create amazing resources to increase positive sexual health behaviour. 

Rianna, SAUK Founder, Managing Director and active member of the Shine ALOUD youth group, used her creative skills to create Shine ALOUD Magazine in 2011, which she felt helped to document the journey and experiences of her group, but also provide a space for other young people in the community to learn about sex and relationships in a more creative way. Since 2011, the brand has grown from strength to strength, producing 7 issues of Shine ALOUD Magazine, securing funding and running international projects and more..

Because of her continued work and development with Shine ALOUD UK, she managed to  secure funding and support from O2 Think Big, The Alec Dickinson Trust, Starbucks Youth in Action, Arc Business in the Community and Lloyds Banking Group as a result of completing the Business Start Up course with the School for Social Entrepreneurs where she i now a Fellow. In addition to being nominated as a finalist for the JLS Young Person of the Year Award 2013 sponsored by FPA and Brook and featuring in the press in publications such as The Guardian, The Voice Newspaper, The Stratford Recorder, NHS Trust Talk, The Newham Mag and on London Live where. 

SAUK are keen to continue developing as a brand and with the aim of using a range of resources, to empower young people to make informed choices in addition to actively playing a role in shaping the way in which sexual and reproductive health services are delivered long term.

Pillars of Activity

As a business, we are keen to develop our 4 pillars of activity which include Training, Resources, Events  and Research all of which are explained below:

1. Training for targeting youth and practitioners.

We aim to deliver training on a range of topics that create better sexual health outcomes for young people, professionals, parents and carers who work with or come into contact with young people under 25. The training will enable all to feel confident about identifying and managing sexual risk behaviour and having conversations about sexual health and healthy relationships. We also provide participants with the knowledge and skills to safeguard young people, make referrals and ultimately signpost them to other provisions.

1b. International training

Here we coordinate and deliver overseas development work that address health inequalities among young people. At the moment we are working in Europe with Erasmus funding but are keen to expand this work to Africa, Asia and the Caribbean long-term. Through working with NGO’s, charities and small businesses we aim to expose young people to different cultures in addition to given them the opportunity to learn transferable skills that will enable them to develop both personally and professional. Here there will also learn about international health system and access to healthcare abroad with the hope of creating international partnerships and legacies that aim to change the way sex and relationship education is delivered worldwide.

2. Resources and Content

We aim to create, fun engaging, sex positive and necessary resources that can be used in schools and colleges, but also in offices and homes to start conversations and debates about sexual and reproductive health. We hope that by normalising the conversation about sex and relationships, we can encourage those who are most vulnerable to make healthier choices and seek help, advice and guidance when necessary. These resources will be in a range of formats from leaflets, to videos, posters and more, in addition to continuing work with our sexual health publication. We believe that by creating these resources we can help to shape the way sexuality is discussed and received by all.

3. Health conferences and Events

At our health conferences, we organise, coordinate and deliver a day full of interactive sessions dedicated to raising health awareness among young people under 25. At these events speakers and practitioners unite to create a youth friendly, entertain approach to managing health living long-term, looking at sexual health and relationships, physical health, nutrition and mental health and wellbeing. We intend that these conferences are supported and attended by local and national companies that deal with health awareness. 

4. Sexual Health Research

Here we aim to use our programs to collate and body of research to help us create significant impact in the field. From youth, sexual health to substance abuse, intimate partner violence and access to sexual health care we are keen to collect our own data on the process we are making and in turn help to shape policy in the way sexual health care is delivered nationally and internationally now and in the future.