Sir Ian Livingstone has become the official ambassador for Mythic Minds‘ initiative Young Dragons, and has given Geek Native the exclusive low-down on the story.
A project that first came to life under The Role Play Haven, and founded by David Coulter and Garry Harper, Young Dragons is a relatively new initiative for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
They offer tabletop role-playing games that meet their needs, whether through specialist sessions or young people’s clubs.
Already working in partnership with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster local authorities, having Sir Ian Livingstone now onboard to carry the flag (so to speak) seems like the next big win for the initiative.
Here’s what Mythic Minds cofounder Garry Harper had to say:
We’ve talked many times about working with Sir Ian Livingstone and soon as we told him about the latest project of Young Dragons with Mythic Minds he said ‘Yes’ before we even finished our sentence. Ian has a massive passion for helping young people, so much so he has his own school. Young Dragons is a nature fit for an industry hero trying to help the community.
Having only launched in June, Young Dragons seems to be going from strength to strength, with many well know large publishers pledging their support to the project.
When asked about its success, Harper told us:
With every new company you establish milestones and create a 10-year plan, but every time we sit down to compose this, we’d already hit that goal. We are moving very fast due to the amazing support for the community that we now trying to take a moment to walk a little.
It’s very important for us we now focus on establishing the foundations of the company, make sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed. Take important research and understanding with the clients we about to work with before we move forward and set more goals down.
There’s an increasingly strong body of evidence to support the benefits of tabletop roleplaying for young SEND people, which include promoting creativity, enhancing problem-solving skills, and fostering teamwork and collaboration among participants.
Other benefits include improving communication abilities and encouraging empathy and understanding of different perspectives.
So, what’s next for Young Dragons? According to Garry:
“We have a number of events across London working at local libraries with Neurodiverse Young People starting next month. We also have starting our first program with After Schools Clubs, Children at Risk of Exclusion and two more that I cannot go into details about yet. For international games week, we will be running Young Dragons across Libraries in London, these include; Brompton, Victoria, Maida Vale, Paddington, St John’s Wood and Queen’s Park.”
And that’s not all; Young Dragons are also looking for storytellers (in other words, GMs) to help make a difference to young people and join Young Dragons – and, it’s a paid gig!
What do you think of the latest news about Young Dragons and Ian Livingstone coming on board as official ambassador? Comment below.
