Social enterprise celebrates two years of funding to bridge the gap for young people to explore music and media

A social enterprise organisation has celebrated a further two years of funding, which will help continue to bridge the gap for young people to explore alternative career paths.

In Music In Media, which gives all young people the opportunity to develop their creativity and self-expression, opened a premises in Northampton town centre in July last year.

The organisation, which particularly supports those in marginalised circumstances, took a significant step forward in establishing its permanent home – made possible with funding from the Youth Music National Charity.

In Music In Media supports a minimum of 200 young people each year from their space in the AR Media building in Gregory Street.

Since opening in July, the building has made music creation, podcasting, film production, graphic design and photography more accessible, with a number of studios, vocal booths and an editing classroom.

Excitingly, In Music In Media recently secured a further two years of funding from the Youth Music National Charity and hosted a celebration event at the end of March.

Daniel Johnson is the founder, managing director and music lead at the social enterprise, and he is partnered with Ashley Samuels-Mckenzie – who leads on the media and video production side.

What In Music In Media does is provide an “alternative route” into the creative industries, based on Daniel’s personal journey and the fact there was not an outlet for his love of urban music and DJing when he was younger.

Talking about the celebration event, which the Mayor and Mayoress were welcomed along to, Daniel said: “It went really well. There was a sense of community and everyone shared the same passion of wanting to see a difference.

“Everyone can see the issues we face and want to make that change. It’s not one person or organisation, it is going to have to be a collective.”

The opening of the premises has also seen holiday camps hosted for young creatives, as well as producer and artist camps for other locals to utilise the space.

What Daniel and the team has noticed is that funding is not a problem while children are at school, it is after they leave that is the concern.

“Once they leave school, there is no funding for them to access programmes like this,” said Daniel. “The new funding will cover the programmes, for anyone up to the age of 25.

“It will equip them with creative employability skills rather than the conventional employability skills they are taught. They are more relevant for young people in today’s digital age, and profile and position them for further creative opportunities.”

With a professional space that still provides a sense of community, Daniel believes In Music In Media bridges the gap between education and the industry.

The hope for the social enterprise moving forward is to create strong connections between young people and those already in the industry, and to secure them sustainable work and career opportunities.

“We use the same people who have been through successful exit routes to support the next generation who will face the same problems,” said Daniel. “They are role models.”

For more information on In Music In Media, visit the organisation’s website here.