“I love bringing him here, it gives him time away from me (mum) and gives him space to be himself.”
So nice to hear one of the mums appreciating the work of Paige and Rachel who share in our passion for supporting young people.
It was encouraging to hear from the ladies that there have been some positive leaps forward today.
Massive thanks to Well Doncaster for supporting us over the last few months and allowing us to work with so many different groups.
The highlight of my day today was just after the photo above, this young fella began to get creative and when he started to do some thing above and beyond, he turned to me and said “high five”
I gave him some skin and we carried on.
Thanks to everyone who who joined us today.
Upcoming sessions this week are.
Woodlands Library from 2.45 Monday, mixed age Askern Shakers from 7.00pm 11 to 16 Monday, Adwick Primary After School Club closed session, Tuesday Bullcroft Memorial Hall from 4.45pm Tuesday 7 to 11 Highfields Boxing Club from 4.45pm on Wednesday mixed age.
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.
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.
Our last week of delivery in Highfields this week. We have learnt about Djing, Production and have discussed many issues Including Identity, Diversity, Home and Family, War, Friendship and of course Sport. Many came from Outlying villages to join us as many do to receive the top class Boxing training and experience of John and Liz Loosemore. The young people have been wide ranging in age, but the culture of respect and communication added value to all. I can’t wait to come back and work with you again, it has been a pleasure.
Great Characters who provided plenty of laughs and support.
We began our long anticipated work in Askern this week. Norbreck Communal Hall is the venue and we’ll be there every Thursday from 5.00pm till 6.30pm. We had good attendance, but we still have capacity for more to join. We worked on aspects of communication and I spoke about how breathing can be useful when playing together in a group. The young people spoke about how music may fit in with tribal culture, which is the basis of all our cultural past. Well done to everyone from 17 all the way down to the youngest, who showed that music is valuable, as a mechanism of bringing us together. There is much more to it of course and I look forward to sharing it with you in the coming weeks.
Pleased to play a small part in the growing number of activities in Askern
Our 2nd new venue this week was Bullcroft Memorial Hall where we will be at 7.15pm every Thursday. We had a small group attending, but they had to leave early as they were aged 11 and an 8.45pm finish is late. There may be an idea of splitting into an older and younger group, we will see who joins us next week and decide. We have had further interest over the last few days, it would be great to see you join us next Thursday.
Industry Standard Equipment isn’t always available to young people.
I met a group of older lads who were passing outside, some were into Djing and knew one of the local MC’s I have been working with, so I told them to check the website because even though they were 17 and older than our usual participants I would not want them to miss the opportunities that we can offer through employment opportunities and further training through our partner organisations like Higher Rhythm.
Thanks to John and Liz at Highfields. Isiasha at Norbreck and Tracy at Bullcroft for Kindly proving the venues.
Massive thanks to Well Doncaster and DMBC for providing funding and sharing support through Doncaster Chamber and the Community Wealth Builder.
Awesome to be asked to return to support Active Fusion on their Easter camps across Doncaster. We delivered to over 350 young people and it was personally rewarding to hear some, who I had worked with last summer relaying information which they had retained from our previous session.
We gave the young people with previous experience a chance to pass on their knowledge, which empowers them and supports confidence building, it was also good to see the Active Fusion staff rewarding this supportive behaviour.
We worked on communication, discipline and explored music from India and South America. 100% engagement. Well done to all who took Part, special thanks to the staff and volunteers who got hands on to make this project successful.
It was great to have 5 new faces to add to the growing group at Highfields this week. Word is getting round about the great work we are doing in our local communities and we will begin Work in Carcroft, Askern and Bentley soon.
We have been using Pro DJ equipment for the last couple of weeks, but last night we began working on music which we will be uploading to Soundcloud, which will give a platform for sharing our productions.
We hope to showcase the amazing work being presented by young people in our local area and hopefully one day bring all our participants together in one venue to celebrate what we have achieved.
We got our hands on professional DJ equipment tonight. I am proud to say that every single one of the group where bang on with their timing and execution of DJ mixing, which comes from the uniquely simple way we look at music.
Rather than showing the group the way that I DJ, I took a leaf out of DJ Methodz book. He is a Hull based DJ who I had the pleasure of speaking with last week. He has recognised the importance of giving young people the room to find their own way to be creative, with a relevance to them. Check out my interview with him by copying the link here:-
We also took turns in speaking about our favourite artists in front of the group, as much to build confidence as to share our musical interests.
Thanks to Liz for once again providing a hub for community activities in Highfields, and thanks to DMBC in partnership with Well Doncaster for providing funding for the development of our young people, who will be the custodians of the borough when we are no longer here.