Yorkshire Youth and Music is providing summer, music-based activities for young people in Kirklees in partnership with the Kirklees Youth Justice Team. We are delighted to announce that these sessions will be supported by the Thornton and Ross Anti Knife Crime Fund (provided One Community Foundation). We've received £5000 in funding that was collected from Thornton and Ross by our very own Becky Pugh.

YYM is providing summer holiday sessions for young people who have offended (or are at risk of offending), through music-making activities. We have been working with a small group of young people, put forward by the Kirklees Youth Justice Team, on a pilot project in recent weeks and because of its positive impact (and the support from the One Community Foundation), we are looking to extend over the summer holidays.

To make it as accessible as possible, we will be delivering weekly workshops in both Batley (at the Young Batley Centre) and Huddersfield (Bryan Jackson House). Two of our Music Leaders (supported by a Youth Worker) will be working with the young people using a range of music technology and creative activities to support them in producing their own music.

Our Music Leaders are flexible, responsive and multi-skilled professionals who are trained and experienced in working with young people who are vulnerable or challenging; they are supportive, encouraging, are from diverse communities and are strong positive role models for young people. We have a wide range of professional standard equipment to work with in sessions to give young people choices, and so they can increase their digital skills.

The project will give weekly music sessions over the summer for at risk young people. Delivery will be 1:1 with high-risk participants and in small groups for lower risk participants. Sessions will include learning to use free phone apps so that participants can practise between sessions. Youth Justice staff will support the project with transport, encouragement and detailed case and group management.

Activities are led by the young people themselves, and the music they're interested in. The sessions will explore different styles of music so that young people can widen their horizons and preferences and choose their own pathway, experiencing all the uses and usefulness of music (e.g. as background, foreground, to improve mood or express difficulty). The emphasis will be on making products (songs, beats, raps and instrumentals) that express and regulate feelings and views, and on developing engagement, persistence and goal-setting. Yorkshire Youth & Music has twenty years' experience of working with the most vulnerable and challenging young people, both in the secure estate and in community settings, using music to build skills, confidence and self-esteem and learning to express feelings in a controlled and creative way.

Thank you so much to One Community Foundation and the Thornton and Ross Anti Knife Crime Fund for supporting these young people on their musical journeys!