Thurrock’s future is full of possibility, powered by the talent, ambition and creativity of its young people.
Frame the Future was created to give 18-to-25-year-olds who live, work or study in Barking & Dagenham, Havering or Thurrock a platform to share their experience of the Thames Freeport region and their aspirations for its future. Entrants were invited to make a film of up to one minute and 30 seconds using whatever creative approach worked for them, filmed, animated or AI-generated. No professional equipment or previous filmmaking experience was required: just an authentic perspective and a strong idea.
We are proud to share Our Future, the winning film in Thames Freeport’s Frame the Future competition, created by Joseph Agunbiade.
Watch the video here
Joseph’s powerful short film brings local voices to the screen and asks a simple but important question: what could young people achieve if they had the support, facilities and opportunities needed to fulfil their potential?
Our Future explores the hopes, dreams and aspirations of talented athletes growing up in Thurrock, told from the perspectives of a boxer, footballer and football coach. The film highlights the challenges faced by each athlete, such as access to sporting facilities and opportunities in the area, while showcasing the talent and potential that exists within the community but despite these challenges, each continues to pursue their ambitions and find ways to develop their craft and support others in doing so. Through their experiences, the film asks what could be achieved if people in the community had the support needed to fulfil their potential, offering a hopeful vision for the future of local sport.
What makes the film so compelling is its balance of honesty and hope – it does not ignore the barriers young athletes can face; instead, it shows the resourcefulness, resilience and generosity with which they respond. They continue to practise, improve their craft and create opportunities for others and their experiences offer a confident vision of what local sport could become when individual determination is matched by meaningful, sustained support.
Frame the Future Competition
Participants explored their vision for the area in ten years, the stories and spirit that make their communities distinctive, the ambitions young people want to pursue, and the changes that could make the region better and Joseph’s winning entry brings these themes together with clarity and warmth. By focusing on sport, it reminds us that aspiration is rooted in real places and everyday experiences and that local voices can help shape decisions about infrastructure, skills and community development.
Congratulations to Joseph on winning Frame the Future and on the premiere of Our Future at the Thurrock Film Festival. It is an outstanding achievement and an inspiring contribution to the story of the region and his success also demonstrates the strength of emerging creative talent across Thurrock and the wider Freeport area, as well as the power of film to make local aspirations visible, memorable and difficult to ignore.
Thames Freeport local, inclusive growth
For Thames Freeport, this is about more than celebrating one competition, we are shaping a next-generation growth zone where business and communities can prosper together, by connecting global trade, advanced industry and local opportunity across Thurrock, Barking & Dagenham and Havering, we are helping to develop the industries of the future while creating pathways into the jobs, skills and opportunities the region needs now and for generations to come.
Growth has the greatest impact when local people can see it, shape it and share in its benefits and that is why skills, apprenticeships, digital inclusion and social value are built into our approach from the outset. Supporting the talent already present in our communities helps residents access good work, enables employers to build a skilled and resilient workforce, and strengthens the region as a place where people can turn their aspirations into meaningful opportunities.
Our employer-led Skills Programme works with colleges and specialist providers to build routes into construction, logistics, clean energy, manufacturing, digital careers and employability. AI Unlocked is helping businesses, leaders, students and young people aged 16 to 24 develop practical AI skills and confidence for a changing economy. The Community Skills Fund supports locally delivered projects that remove barriers to training and employment, while school and college outreach, apprenticeships, mentoring, work experience and employer partnerships make future careers more visible and accessible.
Our support for the Thames Gateway Youth Zone in Tilbury is another important investment in long-term social infrastructure and by giving young people access to sport, creative arts, skills, employability support and safe spaces in which to develop, it reflects the kind of enabling environment at the heart of Joseph’s film. Talent can be found everywhere, but it flourishes when people have places to practise, trusted support, positive networks and clear routes forward.
Programmes such as Frame the Future ensure young people are not only prepared for the region’s future but also have a voice in shaping it and Joseph’s film captures why that matters. It asks all of us, businesses, educators, community organisations and local leaders, to recognise the promise in front of us and consider what more becomes possible when investment in industry is matched by investment in people.
Watch Our Future, celebrate Joseph’s achievement and share the film to help put Thurrock’s voices, talent and ambitions centre stage. Together, we can champion a confident, creative and inclusive future for the whole Thames Freeport region.
