Making some noise!

As I write this, I’m looking ahead to a busy final two months of the Sing Out Project where young people will see the results of their creative work through recording and performance. It’s very exciting! And I hope this will be the start point for many participants to continue writing music and getting their stories heard.

I have been a youth worker for many years alongside being a musician, and this type of project had been bubbling away in my brain for a while. The opportunity to apply for some funding came up not long after joining the Chorus and I was thrilled to get the support needed from the LGMC and Mosaic to apply for it – and even more so to be successful! The young people at Mosaic have been fantastic. They have been very open in discussing some difficult issues and have worked hard together to create music which says something important. Over three Sundays in November and December 2015, they worked together to explore topics such as bullying, discrimination, coming out, heroes and mental health. This has resulted in a group of songs which will add to the conversation on equality, and one which we can record and release as a fundraising tool for the group. And at the end of a creative few weeks, the young people were given the opportunity to watch the LGMC in action at The Big Gay Swing show – they approved!

I want to say a big thanks to Lukasz and Kathryn at Mosaic for all their support, drumming up the interest in the project and fitting us in to their fantastic jam-packed programme. Thanks also to Chorus boys Ben, James, Mark and John for sharing their stories and working with the young people in the first songwriting workshop, Andy for putting together the page on the website, and to Simon for continued support and mentoring throughout. And of course, thanks go to Sound Connections for seeing the potential in the project – can’t wait to show them what the young people have created!

Next stop, the recording studio!