Piece of the Pie – Elijah

Elijah, 21

“I joined Pie Factory Music when I was 15. I was new to Kent, didn’t know a lot of people in the area but I wanted a place to record my own music.

I’ve always loved listening to and playing music, I really appreciate it. It brings out a strong reaction in me.

I didn’t have much confidence and was very reserved and insecure about my music. I would rather blend in with the crowd than be the centre of attention. When I first joined Pie Factory Music, I would sit at the back, looking at other people recording their own music rather than getting involved. 

I opted to have a private workshop session with Matt, one of the music leaders, and I felt comfortable enough to record my own song. He was an amazing mentor to me, he worked at my pace and I grew in confidence. I then had the courage to get involved in the Monday evening workshops where lots of young people make music together. 

I’ve since recorded my first album, performed at gigs in Kent and London, and Pie Factory Music introduced me to another music hub that has offered me funding for a new project that I’m currently working on. 

I’m now a mentor at Pie Factory Music, running studio sessions for young people who are interested in creating their own music. When I see them grow in confidence and make progress, it makes me really proud. 

I didn’t just gain confidence and make music at Pie Factory Music, they taught me life skills, like how to collaborate with people, networking skills, how to set up my own gigs and how to approach others in the industry. 

Matt showed me how to handle myself in situations and be a better person. Whilst Zoe was another big inspiration, she showed me how to market myself, be professional but most of all she helped shape who I am today.”

To find out more about our continued support of young people during lockdown click here

By now we’re sure that you would have heard the great news that The Libertines are headlining this year’s Wheels and Fins festival at Joss Bay, Broadstairs. But did you know that Pie Factory Music has been chosen to benefit from some of the proceeds of this gig?

We’re blown away by this generous gesture and want to thank The Libertines and Wheels and Fins for making this possible. Your donation will make a difference to the lives of young people and we’re exceptionally grateful.

To find out more about the festival and to grab your tickets, click here >

To celebrate, here’s our favourite The Libertines song – enjoy!

As part of POW!Thanet we are hosting a colourful finale in celebration of the many wonderful events throughout POW! 2017. We’ve got a jam-packed programme including performances from local artists Kub and Brigitte Aphrodite, Neelam Saredia, and debut performances from the Pie Factory Music Young Female Performers Programme. There will be music, dance, poetry and general merriment.

Hosted by Brigitte Aphrodite and Amber Butchart you are in for a treat as we celebrate all things POW!

Book your FREE tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2856719

Check out our new short film created by young people to raise the profile of resilience and wellbeing and spread the love…

In June 2016 we were asked by HeadStart Kent to develop a creative product that would spread the key messages of their project from the last two years. We asked our wonderful Art31 group to come up with a concept and turn it into a product that could be shared. The group decided that they wanted to write a song to capture the key messages and then get this animated into a short film. The young people We then contacted A&C Studio’s to see if they could help. The young people had the ideas for the main characters Bounce Back Barry and Deflated Dale and A&C worked their animation magic to bring it all together.

The young people have also produced a resource pack with more information and activities to spread their messages. You can download the FREE resource pack here: Bounce Back Barry Resource Pack

Spread the Love

We want more children and young people to know that they’re not alone in whatever challenge they are facing.

You can help by:

1. Sharing our video: https://youtu.be/3K48268HZiU

2. Telling us what you think…

Do we talk about how we’re feeling enough?

Do we teach children and young people to express how they are feeling articulately?

Do people get enough information about resilience, wellbeing and support?

What else could we do to spread the message of resilience and wellbeing?

A huge thanks to A&C Studios, HeadStart Kent, all of the young people and staff who worked hard to bring Bounce Back Barry to life. We love him!

Are you 13-25?

Are you a poet, musician, dancer, comedian or performer?

Would you like to perform at the first #OURNIGHT event in December?

This is an open call for young people in Thanet who would like to perform at the first #OURNIGHT event on the 2nd December 2016. We are holding open auditions for young performers and are looking for a mix of great acts for our first event.

To book an Audition Slot please click here to contact us

#OURNIGHT Auditions – 18th November – 4pm – 6pm @ Turner Contemporary

#OURNIGHT is a young people’s creative event in partnership with Turner Contemporary where Young People will run the show from programming to performing, hosting to sound engineering.

#OURNIGHT Event – 2nd December – 7pm -10pm @ Turner Contemporary

To book tickets for the event please click here

Thanks to funding from Early Help and Preventative Services we are launching a creative project called Let’s Dance (with a respectful nod to David Bowie). The idea of this programme is to offer a number of opportunities to support young people and improve their emotional wellbeing and confidence whilst at the same time offering training to the wider community to ensure that the impact is long-lasting. We know from experience and research based evidence that taking part in creative sessions such as music and dance has a enormous positive impact on wellbeing and mental health so please make the most of this free provision over the next year and spread the word. The project has four strands:

Let’s Dance is a year-long project designed to support vulnerable young people by offering creative interventions in dance and music, peer mentoring, training and a celebration event to showcase their achievements:

Creative Interventions

Throughout the year we’ll be offering free 1:1 and small group sessions to the young people of Thanet who may face barriers to participating in our wider programme such as low confidence and anxiety. We can work with young people from the age of 8-19 years (up to 25 years if they have a disability), offering sessions in dance and music. There is also the opportunity for young people to achieve an Arts Award whilst taking part in these creative interventions.

If you have a child or young person who would really benefit from some 1:1 or small group work please get in touch and book in some free sessions. We will try to be as flexible as possible around times and dates so that the sessions work best for your family.

We’ll also be running 5-week small group sessions using movement & dance to explore wellbeing starting in January. Please contact us for more details.

Training

We are offering free training for families and professionals working with young people in Thanet. We’ll be looking at how creativity can support young people’s development and some strategies for improving emotional wellbeing. We will host two identical training days:

Tuesday 27th September, 10-4pm @ Pie Factory Music

Tuesday 18th October, 10-4pm @ Turner Contemporary

Get in touch today if you’re interested in this free training opportunity.

Peer Mentors

We’ll be training and facilitating a group of young people to support the more vulnerable young people; training will include Restorative Approaches and Mental Health First Aid. Once trained, peer mentors will be called upon to to offer support to young people who may be struggling e.g. accompanying a young person to a open session for the first time or meeting at school during a lunch time to see how they are doing. This opportunity is a great way to improve skills, a good way to complete volunteer hours and a great addition to a CV. Once trained, we’d be happy to supply a reference for any young people who successfully complete this course. Please get in touch if you are interested in becoming a Pie Factory Music Peer Mentor.

Our goal is that once we have worked with young people in a more intensive way, they can build the confidence to a level where they can then attend our open programme above, with the support of our peer mentor group. We have an exciting ongoing programme of creative sessions on offer for young people including our very own Dance Performance Company.

So Thanet… Let’s Dance