An absolute joy to be invited this morning. The college specialises in supporting young people with additional needs in getting ready for employment and further training.
Great to meet up with former colleagues and reconnect with pupils who I worked with over the past 10 years while we have been developing 90 Minute Music.
We worked on communication and talked about how we feel when we are out of our comfort zone. Everyone engaged well and showed respect to myself and each other.
The importance of inclusion within the community is sometimes overlooked, but we share the passion of the staff here as they understand the value of giving opportunities for young people to develop into employment.
Big thanks to Team Ridge for inviting us and can’t wait to work with you again soon.
I have always been reluctant to share the awesome!!! work of The ME – Project. I have been working with them over the past couple of years with their Artfully Adapting programme.
It is a targeted programme which practically highlights artistic activities to support specific areas of young people’s lives. I always commend the participants for just turning up. The difficult part of the work for us, is sharing with the public just how much fun it is, while respecting confidentiality of the attendees.
When parents say to their kids “hey go down and try it” it must fill them with dread as they don’t know what they are walking into. I think everyone who joins is pleasantly surprised. The facilities are awesome and I always look forward to returning for a chocolate cookie, they always get the really nice ones.
Kat, Paige and the team are like a family. I think what has made it work so well is that they do it like us, they carry the deep knowledge and experience, which they keep inside like a book on a shelf, while being more focused in the moment of having fun and engaging.
So far every participant has enjoyed it, we have had a lot of fun, and at one point last night we had a 5 minute laughing fit with tears rolling down cheeks as I looked back and shared one of my stories from my school days.
The latest 6 week programme to support 12 to 16 year olds may still have a place left as I write this, check below for details.
A week of delivery around Doncaster and Rotherham completed, again it was a pleasure to work alongside Active Fusion and Rotherham United Community Sports Trust.
We are proud to be supporting committed partners who share our passion for steering positive outcomes in disadvantaged communities.
We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a wonderfully positive new year.
Awesome to welcome the birth of a new group in Highfields this evening. At this time of year its important to offer safe activities for young people, so thanks again to the Well Doncaster team at DMBC for their continued support.
We are proud to welcome our latest volunteer, Emily from Doncaster University Health and Social care. Providing opportunities for young people to develop through leadership is an important part of our ethos.
It’s not always easy to make the connection between health and music. The health benefits of social development around music can be life changing. We add the value of being experienced industry professionals with a strong awareness of current healthcare practices, which we are proud to pass on to the next generation.
We have also been back at Bentley Myplace where we have been finding out about young people’s aspirations and sharing our thoughts on how using music technology equipment could support essential skills for their future.
We will be back on Wednesday Highfields from 4.45pm and Bentley from 7pm
We have been supporting the young people of North Doncaster over the last few weeks.
We began our journey supporting young people nearly 10 years ago at Myplace, which sparked the idea of 90minutemusic. It has been an arduous journey from initial personal adversity, through curiosity about the watermark of potential for marginalised groups, to extensive research and expertise gained which was honoured in 2021 with the proud presentation of the UK Youth quality mark.
We will be offering FREE sessions on Wednesday evenings from 7pm, and a special workshop from 12pm on Friday the 28th of October at Bentley Myplace.
Back at the New York Stadium. Great effort from the morning group with respect and confidence building throughout. It gives us massive confidence in our working practice when we return and see the development in action.
Thanks to Jonathan Allen and the staff at New York Stadium for providing a safe environment for young people to develop and learn new skills.
Recent results on the pitch outline the dedication of the sporting staff, the same ambition is mirrored in the way that the trust engage with the community.
A privilege for us to be asked to return and play our part, looking forward to seeing you again soon.
Hey!! Where are you going? Or who do you think you are?
You have probably been asked these questions, but maybe not in a compassionate way. In the context of our work with young people we don’t ask these questions directly but the answers to them are vital to support positive mental health and development.
Our widespread culture of digital connections centre on watching others go in a “direction” while being exposed to a myriad of “identities”
We offer a unique way of reinforcing who we are by focusing on our positive habits while challenging our negative ones. Being able to accept our mistakes is also a courageous step towards good mental health.
We passionately advocate young people finding their way and following the things that they want to do, while offering advice as to how it can become reality.
Not all young people know exactly what they want to do when they become older, but having conversations and tying ambitions with current interests has a value in itself.
People say to me “I can’t do that.” …. My reply is usually a challenge, “how do you know?” or I may agree “you can’t do that today, but this is the path to be able to do it tomorrow”
In 90 Minute Music we don’t give you anything you don’t already have, we just remind you where it is.
We hold the UK Youth quality mark for working with young people and will be at :
Myplace Bentley from 6.00pm on Wednesdays and Bullcroft Memorial Hall from 4.00pm on Thursdays.
Another busy week with focus on collaboration and inclusion.
After a chance meeting with Sam Siddall MBE, who was awarded her honour for community work, we were Invited to Edlington and were given a warm welcome by Lynn and the team.
We enjoyed an energetic jamming session with a wide age range as mum’s enthusiastically supported their children. It is a always a pleasure to work with children who have additional needs, especially in mixed groups as it adds value to all who attend on a social development level. Great to see lots of smiles and we look forward to seeing you all again.
Myplace Bentley was a little different this week as we decided to write a song based on the positive messages which are artistically written all over the youth hub walls. This presented a couple of challenges which were overcome with some creative collaboration. As always the timing of introducing challenges is crucial to build confidence and develop essential skills. Once again it was the girls who took the lead and proved that music technology is not a male only environment.
Carcroft this week was all about communication and Jamming. We had an increase in numbers due to a bit of canvassing outside the local school. We also welcomed attendees from across town who whole heartedly contributed.
Thanks again to Well Doncaster and Director of Public Health, Rupert Suckling who we met with this week. We look forward to sharing some more detail of our recent success stories.
Bentley Myplace from 6.00pm Wednesdays
Carcroft Bullcroft Memorial Hall from 4.00pm Thursdays.
Recently we have completed a 6 week programme in Askern.
The dynamic of families engaging together has been so valuable. We have been supported by Well Doncaster to provide our sessions free for the participants.
It was rewarding to experience parents getting involved in jamming, songwriting and DJing. At first some were a little bit reluctant to get involved, but after some gentle encouragement they began to flow with ideas and we explored what we liked about the local area, later discussing what we would like to see to develop it.
Although our sessions are about fun, we are able to provide them for free through support from Well Doncaster. They have recognised our focus on health and development through our partnerships with Active Fusion and EXPECT Youth.
Personally it was good to further engage with the homeschooling community. After working with young people for the past 9 years we have come to understand being a teacher and a mum or dad must be a challenge.
Over the course of the 6 weeks we had a couple of real success stories. One of which was one of the mums who had started a new job, received training and was pumping ideas out about growing fruit in the community to support wellbeing.
Thanks to all who attended and Thanks to Isiasha who is passionate about rebuilding the community and is prepared to stand up for local residents.
If you are interested in boosting prospects, promoting wellbeing, and learning skills, We are welcoming young people to our groups at Bentley Myplace on Wednesday from 6.00pm and Carcroft Bullcroft Memorial Hall on Thursdays from 4.00pm
90minutemusic.co.uk 