SiFly health and education, music production

Adwick Primary, Askern Shakers, Woodlands Library.

Supercharging development in young people who don’t always engage is an important part of what we do.

At Askern Shakers youth club we worked on communication and respect. The mixed age group worked well. We talked about our connections to music and examined how music can support brain development. Our first visit to Shakers and what an asset for Askern, thanks to Mitchell for inviting us and thanks to Isiasha from Heal Me Happy for passing on our details.

At Woodlands Library we were joined by a group of 10 who had come from the Outwood Academy next door. They wanted to produce a Darkzy style tune, We identified the sounds and techniques and began emulating it using the technology. I explained to them that there would be a challenging journey ahead, but we use state of the art music production equipment, so coupled with our 25 years experience, we are able to get them there fast.

Week 4 of 6 and the Adwick Primary group are coming along as we expected, the initial shyness has become a burgeoning confidence and their coordination physically and socially is an achievement we are proud to play our part in.

The Charity Hub

We have also found time to update our level 3 safeguarding and visited The Charity Hub this week where we met with some local and national organisations and got to share our experiences while learning from theirs. Thanks to Vicki Beevers from The Sleep Charity and Nathan Kennedy from D. I. C. E. for guest speaking. And Brett Riley-Tomlinson and Clynton Johnson for inviting us.

And finally awesome to see our volunteers developing fast and getting a real insight into the research and skills which back up what we do, so big thanks to Dennis and Matt.

Upcoming workshops đź‘€

Me Project from 2.15 on Sunday Woodlands Library from 2.45 Monday, Askern Shakers from 7.00pm Monday, Adwick Primary School from 2.55 Tuesday, Bullcroft Memorial Hall 4.45pm Tuesday, Highfields Boxing Club 4.45pm Wednesday

SiFly health and education

The ME-Project

A quick selfie!!

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.

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Active Fusion Summer HAF Camps

Another milestone for us as we surpassed our previous weekly delivery record with attendance of over 250 young people.

Our philosophy is to make music as accessible as possible from the first moment, then show a pathway to progression into the more challenging elements of Music Production and DJing.

We saw many new faces who were introduced to the start of their 90minutemusic journey, while those returning, went on to take part in playing music from around the world to support the commonwealth games.

An overall highlight, was having a group that I had not worked with for a year remind me of what they remembered from the previous session together and went on to produce their own quality track, experimenting with FX and mixing.

Over the course of the Summer camp we had visits from Pro photographer Gavin Joynt, Lindsy James from Active Fusion and MP Nick Fletcher, who all got hands on and joined in on the sessions.

As usual thanks to the staff from Active Fusion and all the caretakers and school staff who allowed us to work alongside them as they prepare for the new school year ahead.

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Leaving, Breathing, and Roads to Achieving.

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.

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R.U.F.C. & H.B.C.

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.

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Active Fusion Easter Camps 2022

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.

SiFly health and education

Highfields Boxing Club

Back to School week and another great turn out. As always it is great to have young people from the local area attend. I must give credit to the parents travelling from Adwick and as far away as Warmsworth to get their children to our sessions.

I think we were all feeling the back to school blues this week. Good to see some new faces that told us that if we weren’t there, then they would be just kicking around on the streets.

When we were younger kicking around on the streets was Hide and Seek, British Bulldog, Double Dutch and of course Football. It is a different world now and we are proud to play our part in providing safe activities for young people to do. Thanks as ever to Liz for providing the venue.

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A Dynamic Contrast

HIGHFIELDS BOXING CLUB : A busy day of delivery yesterday, building numbers in the group at Highfields with some new additions. Everything we do is focused on using music as a tool for development with communication and discipline at the core. Thanks to everyone who shared on social media and the parents for travelling from outlying villages.

ME PROJECT : We began our long anticipated work with ME PROJECT last night. Our usual all action hands on session was sprinkled with open group conversation as we explored how music can be used as a tool to reduce anxiety and cope with the increasing pressures of adolescence. Big thanks to all who attended and the staff for joining in and supporting. The due diligence and meeting of professional guidelines for developing this kind of workshop is massive. Utmost respect to Kath and Paige for getting to where they are.

ATLAS PRIMARY : We were back in the centre of Town for this one. Bringing together young people from different cultures and backgrounds. The starting point for this one was chaotic and challenging for every one of us. Our training in recognising SLD’s was helpful as we steered the group into respect, communication and genuine dynamism. We do this work because we know it can be challenging, but we also trust in our understanding and experience to bring out the best in everyone and the young people grew into it with gusto and enthusiasm. Thanks again to the staff for their support.

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Highfields Boxing Club

Exploring what we have around us and visualising what may come in the future, recognising family, pets and pastimes as inspiration and support.

We put pen to paper to creatively explore rhythms and the building blocks of Music. The group responded well to more use of the technology this week.

Sometimes my role in 90minutemusic stems from the youth work which started the journey 9 years ago. Back then some of the kids just needed another adult around as a role model, and sometimes to remind them what is good in their lives. I think we did a little of this tonight.

Thanks again to Liz for the venue, the Parents for travelling from outlying villages, and of course the young people themselves, fantastically creative!!!

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A Touch of Class

It was a great experience to work with the pupils of Windhill Mexborough just before Christmas. Fantastic engagement and a warm welcome from the staff made it a rewarding day for all.

We were blessed to be joined by professional photographer Gavin Joynt. In recent sessions I have asked parents to help me out with taking some pictures and to be fair they haven’t done a bad job, but in my experience getting a professional in can really make a difference. Rather than go on about how much of a nice bloke he was and how he anticipated the shots without getting in the way, I’ll just show a few of his pics to give you an idea.

You can find out more about Gavin and his great work at: http://www.gavinjoynt.co.uk/

Credit to Lindsy at Active Fusion who hired Gavin who was friendly, professional and kept up the positive energy in the room which is vital for us.