A camper van pulls up outside Gosford High School. Inside, it looks more like a professional studio than a vehicle: cameras, microphones and a mixing desk all surrounded by soundproofing. This is the DigiVan, a mobile studio where young people on the Central Coast learn to make podcasts, films and other digital media.
The van is at the centre of In My Shoes, a program that gives young people the equipment, skills and support to tell stories about their lives and communities.
Gosford High student Anannya Bandaru was one of them. She used the DigiVan equipment to talk about issues she saw affecting young people in her community.
“I see that a lot of young people have to choose between rent or food, which I think is crazy. That really should not be the case for a young person who is still finding who they are and their potential,” Anannya said.
She also spoke about students struggling with mental health and being reluctant to seek support.
“There’s a stigma attached to mental health issues, people don’t want that to become their whole identity,” she said. “And despite the support services available at schools, they avoid seeking help.”
Anannya is also the young organiser of local food charity Kalpa Vruksha, a Sanskrit phrase meaning ‘wish fulfilling tree’. Since graduating from school, she has continued working with In My Shoes on a short film about how the charity began, her journey to medical school and the experiences of her family and community.
“I’m very grateful to be part of In My Shoes,” she said. “It’s shown me how powerful it is when young people voice their opinions.”
In My Shoes is run by youth support organisation The Skill Engineer. Creative Director Mike McCarthy and CEO Maggie MacFie developed the DigiVan idea with young people in 2022 before launching the van in 2023 with support from Multicultural NSW’s COMPACT Program.
Since then, more than 500 young people have used the van’s equipment to produce podcasts and short films. Projects include The MobPod, a First Nations youth podcast, as well as interviews and other content recorded at Central Coast youth events.
In schools, In My Shoes runs eight-week filmmaking and podcasting workshops, usually with eight to 10 students working together in small groups.
“Kids are thrown off by the word ‘course’,” Mike said.
Instead, students spend one day a week working with media professionals and using the DigiVan’s equipment to develop their own films and podcasts. Their finished films are screened at the end of the year.
Suddenly they were happy to sit in front of camera and be interviewed themselves. That’s the way with young people, “set them up and step away.”
Mike said the emphasis is on getting students to use professional equipment themselves rather than simply teaching them how it works.
He saw the difference with a group of students at Gorokan High School who initially wanted nothing to do with the camera.
“They were all friends with each other, they knew each other very well and they didn’t want to be on camera … we got them using the microphones and the high-end cinema camera around the library,” Mike said.
The students began by interviewing one of Mike’s colleagues.
“They interviewed Daniel my colleague who is from Mexico: suddenly, they were happy to sit in front of camera and be interviewed themselves. That’s the way with young people, set them up and step away.”
For Mike, moments like that are one reason the program puts professional equipment directly into students’ hands.
“We bother because we see how much confidence students get from being able to use the equipment. It’s not just for the listener but for the students having the conversations.”
In October 2025, student-made documentaries and short films were screened at Cinema Paradiso in Ettalong as part of the In My Shoes Film Festival.
The program included work from students at Wyong High School, young filmmaker Erika Peterson and a film about a young Syrian family settling on the Central Coast with support from volunteers at Coastal CRISP.
The films are part of a broader collection of content produced through In My Shoes. Young people’s work is also shared through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and DigiVan’s social media channels.
We see how much confidence students get from being able to use the equipment. It’s not just for the listener but for the students having the conversations.
The Central Coast is home to a growing number of residents born overseas. In My Shoes uses storytelling to connect young people from different cultural and religious backgrounds with each other.
For local videographer Amro Mohi, who is of Sudanese heritage and has volunteered with In My Shoes, telling these stories can also change how people see communities they know little about.
In My Shoes brings young people of different cultural backgrounds together, pictured here at a Harmony Day Lunch at the My Hub youth space on the Central Coast. Photo: The New Point Magazine.
“You meet someone who initially seems weird to you because they’re dressed differently, they have an accent, or maybe they don’t even speak English,” Amro said.
“You meet someone who initially seems weird to you because they’re dressed differently…but then that humanity is sparked.” -Amro Mohi, Digi Van volunteer
“Bu then that humanity is sparked.’”
That exchange between people from different backgrounds is also part of the program’s work in schools. Students interview people they might not otherwise meet and decide which stories they want to pursue.
For some participants, learning to make those stories can also introduce them to working in media.
Mike believes that matters on the Central Coast, where young creatives have traditionally had fewer opportunities to work locally.
“More and more there’s a groundswell of being able to live and work here so I’m hopeful that there’ll be more opportunities for creatives in the future.”
For students stepping inside the DigiVan, that starts with learning what they can do with a microphone or camera when someone hands it over and lets them use it.
Listen
Listen to an interview between In My Shoes hosts and Janice Rodrigues, Australia’s Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2026.
In My Shoes is a COMPACT Partnership Project led by The Skill Engineer in partnership with the Central Coast Community Council and Central Coast Council. The project is funded by the NSW Government under the Multicultural NSW COMPACT Program.
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