Venn

venn is an initiative bringing together two organisations working with young people, from different parts of the country, to create and perform new music.

venn offers an opportunity for young people to explore different communities in the UK, get to know each other, share their stories and experiences and create new music to be performed in each of their hometowns. The project also aims to unlock potential, help build confidence, grow skills and offer real opportunity to build a career in the music industry, for young people facing challenging circumstances from areas of low arts and cultural engagement around the UK.

The first venn, venn21, funded by Youth Music, took place over 7 months between April and October 2021 and brought together 18 young people from The Warren Youth Project in Hull and The Midi Music Company in Deptford, London. Through a series online and in-person sessions at both locations, the participants made new friends whilst collaborating on songwriting, recording and performing.

The results of this first partnership exceeded everyone’s expectations and, from the feedback we have gathered, made a huge, positive impact on the participants, especially following 12-18 months of limited access to creative opportunities and well-being support due to Covid-19. Venn21 culminated in two outstanding live showcase performances by the participants at 229 The Venue in London and the New Adelphi Club in Hull.

FROM THE PARTICIPANTS

'Personally I’ve been inspired since the programme to write, record and demo my own work as a continuation from the project, which has made me feel very fulfilled creatively.'

‘The venn 21 programme has given me some great opportunities to collaborate and introduced me to lots of fresh ideas as a songwriter, giving me an incentive to write again, which has been a struggle over the last 18 months.’

‘I have made some lifelong friends and music contacts from this project. Absolutely ecstatic! Feeling invigorated, challenged, satisfied.’

‘Best time of these 2 years.’

‘It's lit - the best thing that happened to me this year.’

‘It is so heart-warming witnessing what we've all been able to achieve in a collaborative effort. It will be interesting to see what happens in future cohorts.’

‘An amazing vibe, amazing people.’

‘It's been the most electrifying thing I've done in a while.’

‘I am thankful for the opportunity to have expanded my musical abilities. I have felt really thankful to have met everyone and had the chance to perform.’

‘It is so heart-warming witnessing what we've all been able to achieve in a collaborative effort. It will be interesting to see what happens in future cohorts.’

FROM THE PARTNERS

'I feel great about the project - I've done this kind of project before, but never with the amount of success that this project has achieved. The young creatives have all got on so well, there's no competition where there are often ego's...and they have created some incredible work. It's not just about the social interaction, it's also about the artistic achievement so I'm really delighted'.

'Whenever you bring young people together in a creative space, amazing things can happen. In the case of venn, you're bringing together young people who might not ever ordinarily meet together in a creative space and you're almost guaranteed, as this project proves, that amazing things can certainly happen. Thats why the venn project is so important, so successful and such a joy for us to be involved with.'