Reflection on Beat Routes from 'Apprentice Sal'...

Beat Routes Apprentice, Sal (18), is a spoken word/poet and creative writer. Here she describes her experiences with Beat Routes and what she thinks the impact of our projects has on the young people. 

Beatroutes is centred around community. It engages, inspires and motivates young people into coming together and channelling anything, from mental health struggles to relationships in a positive way. I have been so proud over the last six months watching these young people grow from task to task, taking anything in their stride no matter how alien it may appear at first and simply just rolling with it to create something they are proud of, something many adults are still unable to do. We’ve come together as a group, staff and youth alike to create a community, where despite your background you feel as though you belong, a safe space to be able to be yourself, without fear of judgement. Not many places offer such a warm surrounding.

As a spoken word artist/poet myself, I feel privileged to work with young people with such a creative flair, and who truly inspire me to write and continue to help creating platforms for them, so the wider community can be dazzled by their excellence just as I have been.

Young people often are stigmatised for lack of engagement, not being stimulated and appearing apathetic towards things, but I wholly disagree. These young people have shown their consistency in their excitement and dedication to music, poetry and spoken word. If you are ever looking for a group of excited millennials then our songwriting workshops would be a good place to start, whether we are having a jam session or immersing ourselves in words there is an eagerness and willingness to create something great, something to be proud of and something to be excited by. The talent we have, the passion we show and the creativity we possess is not to be unrecognised.