Aviva Community Fund has provided £175 of match funding
Gloucestershire Inclusive Community Music Hub
Gloucester, England, United Kingdom
Aim
We are seeking funding to kit out Gloucestershire's first and only inclusive community Music Hub for young people.
VISION
In 2021, we hope to launch Gloucestershire's first and only fully inclusive community music hub (The Hub) for young people. It will be an iconic destination that’s shaped by the community, where young people can take part, be supported, inspired, empowered and learn to make positive choices in their lives. It will focus on young people living in challenging circumstances and will have specialist equipment and a sensory music room so that all young people can make their own music.
We believe, that one of the positives that has happened from covid-19 is the coming together of communities and neighbourhoods and we have seen this in many of the young people we work with. There are, however, some young people whose home life is very chaotic and this time has been very hard for them and we are seeing rises in domestic violence and mental health issues. For many, we are the only service that they are engaging with and it makes us realise now, more than ever, that there is a vital role for The Hub to play in supporting young people and providing them with a safe but exciting space to come together.
Based in Gloucester, we expect more than 2,000 young people from across the county and beyond to use The Hub, coming to meet other like-minded young musicians as well as industry professionals. It will provide opportunities to make music from first access through to supporting emerging talent into the industry. It will be a regional learning centre for inclusive music and studio engineering best practice; training up a new generation of young, cultural leaders who will be at the heart of The Hub's development and growth.
The Hub will offer 680m2 of inspiring, eco-friendly and professional space comprising:
- Two premium recording studios
- Two commercial-grade production suites
- A sensory music room with specialist equipment for disabled, deaf and hearing impaired young people
- 2 practice rooms
- A learning room
- A chill-out area with kitchen and reception
- A flexible events area
- Office space
WHAT WE WILL OFFER
The studio will offer weekly sessions, seven days of the week, based around five strands:
- After-school, evening, weekend and holiday activities: providing much-needed activities for children and young people outside of school hours, we’ll offer a range of drop-in and first access structured programmes for children and young people looking to build their skills. This will include band development sessions, Digitalise iPad/GarageBand music sessions, vocal sessions, music production courses, drop-in sessions, and our Youth Voice steering group activities. We will do outreach work in communities across the county to support the confidence to come into our city-centre Hub.
- Targeted provision: We’ll work with partners Youth Support providing one to one and group music mentoring sessions with young offenders or those identified at risk of offending, as part of our national award winning programme ‘Making It’. Through our Key Changes music mentoring programme we’ll work with a number of local services such as: Families First, Alternative Provision Schools, Gloucestershire Hospital Education, and Young Carers to support young people in challenging circumstances. We’ll offer specialist activities for disabled children and young people using equipment such as soundbeams, stick operated DJ consoles and systems which use igaze (eye-movement detection) to create notes and sounds.
- Artist development/progression routes: We’ll develop young, local people as artists and leaders and support them to gain new skills and local experience in a high-quality professional music environment. Our current talent development programme ‘UPSURGE’ will be delivered from The Hub providing high quality experiences for emerging artists.
- Community performances: We’ll provide various platform opportunities for young people involved in our music programmes to perform in front of local audiences, at events such as Summer of Music and Culture, Gloucester Rooftop Festival, Strike a Light festivals, King’s Jam Festival and Youth Voice events.
- Commercial hire: The venue will offer space for artist, band and DJ rehearsals as well as multiple production rooms, a broadcast room, and two recording studio rooms available to hire at low cost to ensure a sustainable model. Our in-house studio engineers will be available throughout bookings, and to run sessions.
MAKING A DONATION
Because this is a community Hub we want as many people as possible to be a part of making it happen. Any size of donation is welcome and will be really gratefully received.
THANK YOU
This project successfully funded on 22nd July 2020