We believe every young person will benefit from meeting regularly with a mentor. Experience has taught us that engagement with a positive role model will improve confidence and give youngsters a listening ear to which they can ask questions and share experiences. Music provides us with an additional medium to encourage creativity and self expression.

Music Mentoring began as a pilot in June 2017 under the name ‘tbsongwriting’. Our founder, Dan had seen the direct impact of 1-1 mentoring through his years of experience as a youth worker but he was interested to see if offering music as part of sessions could help. In partnership with Shoebury Youth Centre, Dan sought out referrals from the lcoal authority. They were mostly 15-18 yrs old and ‘NEET’ (not in education or employment). Dan found that incorporating music and songwriting into mentoring sessions resulted in significant improvement to self-esteem. Where as in London he had found that new mentees often only engaged in surface level conversation for months, music provided a safe medium for youngsters to open up about their well being much sooner through lyric writing and creative expression.

Now, in 2020 a team of four mentors work with up to 20 young people a week and run weekly group sessions, specialising in music and now art as well.

AT A GLANCE

- mentored 68 youngsters 1:1 on a weekly basis (96% of these have been battling with poor mental health, considered ‘looked after’, been at risk of offending or encountering some level of difficulty) since Jan 2018

- 94% noted an improvement to their confidence or self-esteem

- 29 have completed a Level 1 or Level 2 accreditation

- 200+ youngsters have engaged with us (including weekly group Creative Hub sessions, Songwriting Workshops and our Village Green Festival workshop)

- we’ve built and furnished two studio spaces in Thorpe Bay

- hosted 3 Songwriting Workshops, 4 Open Mics and 2 concerts

- Grown from a one person to a team of x4 mentors

REFERRERS

Local authority (Southend’s Early Help, Family Support and Youth Offending teams), Southend’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service, Shoebury High Cecil Jones, Southchurch High, Chase High, Victory Park, Sutton House.