SiFly #SEND, DJing, health and education, music production

Phab Doncaster

We were blown away by the effort when we were joined by young people in Warmsworth.

Our initial inspiration for developing 90 minute music came from working with young people with additional needs.

We had a lot of fun and the adults were as enthusiastic as the young people.

We used Ableton Live to take part in DJ jams and we used hand drums and melodic drums to create an eclectic mix of positivity.

Thank you so much to Laura for inviting us, we had intended on working with Laura just before the COVID pandemic hit and it has took us five years to get round  to working together, we look forward to working with you again soon.

To find out more visit our You Tube page for more Music and Health nuggets. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJEjhcPa4vIDWBNWBN2klQ

SiFly #SEND, DJing, health and education, music production

Woodlands Community Library

A few years ago I gave up the best job I had to go full time with 90minutemusic.

That is where I met this fella. Ryan is 25 now and has had more challenges than most of us in his young life. He always has a smile on his face and I’ve heard he makes a legendary cuppa.

When I saw him working in the Library I asked  Liz if I could provide a free session. Although we have no funding currently it felt like the right thing to do.

I also got the chance to talk with ladies from the councils mental health support team who had a jam.

SiFly health and education

The Sky is the Limit!!

Yorkshire Air Ambulance fundraiser with Great North Medical

We have known for years that music and sociability are a vital support to our health, so it was a no brainer to support this event at Woodlands Library today.

We met Richard who is partially sighted who shared that he had a small drum kit as a young lad but wasn’t allowed to play it because of the loud noise.

As always whole hearted engagement from young and older participants.

Thanks to Emma from GNM for the invite, and all the community who got involved.

SiFly health and education

Rotherham United Community Trust

We were dreaming of weather like this as we joined the trust this week.

Unfortunately it was persistent rain and there were flooded roads all around, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm from the young people we worked with.

We explored the building blocks of Music through looking at rhythm and language as we noticed the difference between English, Nigerian and Romanian inflections.

Rhythm is closely connected to language development and is reflected in the way music is created in different areas of the world. Music which is local to the country of origin tends to adopt the rhythms of the language of the country.

It is our pleasure to play a part in the health and development of young people in Rotherham.

Thanks again to Jonathan Allen for inviting us to return.

SiFly health and education

Go Swimstars

It was our first visit to Go Swimstars last week. They work from several venues and specialise in swimming coaching.

Supporting young people on the winter HAF programme, it was good to meet new faces and re connect with some that we had worked with before.

We were joined by one of our volunteers Denis, who we first met as an attendee at one of our sessions around 3 years ago. He is now gaining valuable knowledge and experience to support his college education.

He has ambitions of going on to further education and it is a privilege for us to share his journey.

Thanks to Sue for inviting us, and her staff for giving us a warm welcome.

You can find further information about Go Swimstars here:

https://www.swimstarsanddolphins.com/

SiFly health and education

Children’s Ward Doncaster Royal Infirmary

The core of our work is about improving health using music. We were asked to return to the children’s ward to support young people and their families who are in difficult and challenging situations.

As a parent who has had to deal with having a couple of children in hospital over the years I have an understanding of how distressing it can be.

Music can help with reducing anxiety when operations and procedures are on the horizon.

Music making can play a key part in building friendships and can help cure the boredom of being stuck in hospital.

Music can in some cases aid in pain reduction by up to 40%, although a degree of knowledge and experience is needed to be successful.

The video above is of staff members experiencing a taste of what the kids had done, it is so fulfilling to see smiles on faces.

Thanks to Jill Edwards for inviting us back and we are looking forward to seeing you again on the 6th of December.

SiFly DJing, health and education, music production

Future Pathways Alternative Provision

Good to be back with young people in a local School for young people who have experienced issues with mainstream education.

We had open discussions on places they would like to visit and what the attraction of those places were.

Amsterdam and California were some of the areas mentioned, so we discussed how much they were looking forward to the Tulips and Cali sunshine. We used this as an inspiration to create.

We had lots of laughs as we did the Speed Boat Ride excercise, which brings us out of our comfort zone and focuses us on being creative with what we have, whether our resources are limited or not.

There were a couple of young people who showed a real feel for the DJ elements of 90minutemusic and I look forward to to our paths crossing again in the future.

I was really pleased that the young people were open about challenges they faced with reading, writing and ADHD. It gave me an opportunity to share some of my personal experience and knowledge on the subject.

Thanks to Lauren for inviting us to a great facility in a good central location in Doncaster. Thanks again to Well Doncaster for their continued support.

SiFly health and education, music production

Brownies, Guides and Rainbows

Over the past couple of weeks we have been supporting one of the local groups.

My parents encouraged me to join the cubs as a young lad and it proved a good way to mix with other kids and learn about the outdoors.

Working in St Michael’s church in Skellow was a pure joy as we explored songwriting and beatmaking along with some electro acoustic Jams.

Thanks so much to Gemma and Fiona for inviting us. We met at a local Community gala organised by Well Doncasters’ Lauren Beaumont.

We met some young people who we had worked with previously and it meant a lot to us to witness them flourishing.

When parents get their children to participate in out of School activities they are giving them an opportunity to widen their social circle snd boost opportunities to develop support networks. This is increasingly valuable from a mental health perspective.

So a big thanks to all the parents out there who are putting the effort in, you will be rewarded with healthier more resilient young people.

SiFly health and education, music production

Activ8 Summer Camps 2023

Over the 6 weeks holiday we were asked to support Activ8 Coaching who provide sports activities to schools.

We had 100% engagement from the young people and we also had particular interest from the support staff.

We heard how some had no access to creating music using the 90minutemusic way, and didn’t fit into classical music training and had to opt to take another choice at secondary education level.

This was my personal route, not believing there would be a place for me in a very competitive environment.

Nearly 25 years later I’m now in a position to mentor young people into finding their way.

We were proud to give our long time volunteer Denis some valuable experience and he had a good rapport with the young people as he took a lead role in delivery.

Thanks to Owen for inviting us to support and thanks to all his staff for making us welcome especially Will who made a great cup of tea.

Looking forward to working with you again soon.

SiFly health and education, music production

Doncaster Royal Infirmary Children’s Ward

Big respect to all the staff who joined us
Instruments from South America and Germany

A real pleasure to be asked to to join young people on the Children’s Ward. Our studies over the last 10 years have been focused on how music and music technology can positively affect health

We were supported by staff on the ward and their experience shone through as they engaged in the session.

Time passes slowly for young people in hospital so a one off session like this breaks up the boredom and also provides an activity which can be shared with parents and staff.

The technology we use provides an opportunity to engage on a level playing field regardless of age or ability.

We had very young people exploring the musical instruments from around the world and it was a highlight to see them engaging with the technology.

“absolutely fantastic”

After the session the staff told me that they thought the session was “absolutely fantastic” which was great to hear.

Thanks to Jill for inviting us, we look forward to working with you again soon.