by Author SoundConnections

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What do young people want and need from organisations providing projects and opportunities?

Over the past year, Sound Connections staff and Wired4Music ambassadors have been out and about across the UK to meet and consult with musical young people.

As part of our growing consultancy offer we have been working with Newham Music, Bristol Plays Music, Make Music Gloucestershire and SoundCity (Brighton) to speak with the young people each Hub is working with about their musical journeys, experiences and needs. We’ve also spoken to students at six schools in East London via funding from UBS and in partnership with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham Hubs.  Both staff and participants at our Musical Journeys sessions have been inspiring and informative, and, alongside our ReWired research, this work has helped us to develop a really strong picture of the kinds of support young musicians need, not just in London but across the UK. Our key findings so far suggest that:

  • Young people across the country desire more opportunities to perform, not just at school concerts but to their peers, in a safe and friendly environment.
  • Young people should be empowered to advocate for improvements to their own music-making opportunities and services.
  • We must help enable young people to become more confident, gain improved communication skills, and become more engaged as citizens and agents of social change.
  • We need to find ways to help young people improve their transferable skills, including music, leadership and decision making.
  • We must improve the offer to children and young people through effective understanding of their needs and current progression opportunities.
  • It is important to identify future areas of development for youth voice in the three boroughs.

We will be exploring just how organisations and young people can work together to create opportunities such as these when we host our fourth annual Rising Futures event next week. The event will see over 50 UK organisations and the under 25s they work with come together for a day which explores the theme Make it Happen. If you’d like to find out more about Rising Futures, email Jess:jessica@sound-connections.org.uk