B Sharp Busking Festival

B Sharp would like to celebrate our annual Busking Festival and share a short video that reflects what it means to young people.

Back in 2007, young people were stopped from playing music in the streets and seafront of Lyme Regis. The Town Council thought it intrusive and unwelcome. The local youth club had closed down and was going to be auctioned for private development. Young people had been waiting for a skate park for more than 30 years and were banned from street skating. They were saying there was little to do after school, and Lyme was looking bleak for them. B Sharp formed as an organisation in response to this situation, determined to do something about it. We had a mission to give young people a voice, organise creative activities and counter the bad press they were receiving.

Six years on, with the support of Youth Music, things look very different. B Sharp and young people have worked together to achieve some fantastic things, with several long term outcomes. The culture of the town has become far more supportive. The Lyme Regis Development Trust bought the derelict youth club and with the support of the community and lottery funding, renovated it into a thriving youth facility called The Hub which has become B Sharp's centre of operations. A skate park site has been agreed and a new Town Council has pledged up to £150k towards it.

B Sharp has also run an annual Busking Festival for the last four years. It is now part of our Young Music Leadership programme, where YMLs help plan and publicise the weekend. The B Sharp Busking Festival is open to all and young people take full advantage of it. The Town Council now has a positive policy on busking, and music is a frequent part of the street scene throughout the year. This September we asked James Philpott, a young student film maker to capture the feel of the Busking Festival and what it means to young people. Watch his video here:

Profiling young people's enthusiasm and musical talents in such a public way really makes a difference to attitudes throughout the communtiy. Most of all, it makes a real difference to young people themselves.