I’VE been in a few newsrooms in my time, but few of them have pot plants and cream-coloured wood covering almost every surface.

But, then again, this is no ordinary newsroom – just as the magazine produced in this light-filled space is no ordinary periodical.

Welcome to the Carriageworks, the new office space put up in the remains of the GWR Works on London Street.

It’s home to iDare, a new monthly magazine written by Swindon young people for their peers.

Every month, its staff of young reporters and content producers focus on a different topic close to their hearts. They’ve taken on everything from autism and bullying to what it’s like when your father dies of heart failure then you lose your mother to cancer.

Sadie Sharp has the job of editor. The Old Town business consultant, who runs youth scheme The Platform Project, set up iDare earlier this year – spotting a gap in the market for a place where Swindon youngsters could share their life stories and gain valuable business and marketing experience.

She said of the magazine, currently looking for a sponsor to help it fund a larger print run and distribute copies to schools: “It’s to give young people a voice, help them become the best versions of themselves and for other young people who are going through the same issues – so they can think, ‘It’s nice to know it’s not just me feeling like this'.

“The magazine is also there to help the world understand things from young people’s perspective.”

That was one of the reasons why Chloe Butler got involved in the project. Sporting bright pink hair and vivid eyeshadow, the 20-year-old is working on a video about Autism when I visit on Saturday afternoon as the team puts the finishing touches to their third edition of the magazine.

Chloe was diagnosed with Autism aged 15. She said: “People can read what I write and understand what it’s like to have Autism. There are so many people who don’t understand how it affects me. I may not look disabled, but how I look at the world might not be the way you look at the world.”

She writes about her condition because she doesn’t want children with Autism to grow up in a world that “says they’re wrong”.

Fellow writer Jordan O’Brien shouldn’t even be alive. Aged 10, he was in a coma for months and doctors told his parents that their boy wouldn’t pull through.

Now 26-years-old, he’s writing a weekly blog for the iDare website about what it’s like to live with chronic lung disease, cerebral palsy and brittle bones. His conditions see him regularly suffer with lung infections and he has difficulty walking.

Jordan said: “I wanted to get my life out there and to tell other people who I really am. I’m a person trying anything to move on with life.

“Every week I’ll be writing about my condition and how it affects me day to day.”

One of the most moving articles published by the magazine saw 18-year-old Danielle Smith open up about the death of her parents. She wrote simply: “When I was 15 my dad died of a heart attack and six weeks ago my mum died of cancer. As I sit here and write this I have regular thoughts of suicide going through my head. They come and go, by they keep coming back because I simply don’t know how I’m going to grow up without her.”

For all those involved in the project, it’s a chance to expand their experience.

Sadie said: “They’re doing everything, like managing the social media, shooting videos every week, writing content and getting us out there.”

Touring the Carriageworks with her camera and an eye for a story, Ellie Brown, 17, said: “We’re making a video to get more people to know about us and join us. I like the marketing side of things. I thought, as I’m doing photography at college, this would fit in quite well.”

Friend Megan Thomas, 19, added: “I’m here to boost my confidence and I’ve also come here for the experience.”

Relative newcomer William Saull, 16, said: “I’m getting some ideas for videos to shoot next Saturday. I personally really enjoy the art of pointing a camera at something and filming it. It’s art with people.”

iDare is funded by a Wiltshire Community Foundation grant. It is open to all Swindon young people. For more, visit: www.iDare.blog.