Wonderful to be back with Rotherham United Community Trust.
Always good to work with familiar faces who we have been with over the past couple of years, but a few new one’s too.
We also branched out to a new venue at Parkgate Astro. We gave an opportunity to our volunteer Denis to take the lead and demonstrate the skills he has been building up over the last 6 months of training.
Once again thanks to Jonny for inviting us to support and all the young people from the Trust who deserve credit for their role in delivering the much needed HAF programme in Rotherham.
We were back at New York Stadium in Rotherham today. We delivered in the RUFCST Museum, aside of learning of the first ever penalty to be scored in a match against Darlington and various facts of play off victories and football memorabilia our focus was on health and development.
We got really useful feedback from one of the participants today. I was told that the workshop was really easy to understand and that our core work, which we always begin with when working with new people, was a clear path to songwriting and composition.
After 10 years of honing and development this wasn’t a surprise, but hearing it from a young person was special.
Thanks to Jonathan Allen for looking after us again and good luck for tomorrows 24 hour #walkforrio which is a fundraiser for the son of Tommy Spurr, who used to play for Doncaster Rovers.
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.
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.
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.
All about creation this week. We start with nothing and work together to create something by focusing on goals and finding creative ways to get there.
Following on from our work of recognising the value of others and an introduction to the building blocks of Music, we created some beats and looked at how rap music uses syllables, and the relationship to phonics in school.
The facilities at the New York Stadium are great and provide a positive environment for young people to develop. It was rewarding to see young people gaining confidence, by finding their voice through our informal youth led approach.
We were also back at Highfields Boxing Club for our penultimate session. We took part in a challenge to create a full arrangement and song within the time frame of the session.
Incredible focus and team working. We produced an original song with 4 different sections, music and used audio effects to support the production. I’m really proud of the way this group have developed and also the way they have introduced new comers to the group.
As always thanks to Liz and John for allowing me to use the Boxing Club as a venue, also thanks to Jonny at Rotherham United for supporting grass roots providers such as 90minutemusic.
90minutemusic.co.uk 