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The recent “Jersey Sings!” project, which saw 1400 primary school children perform at Fort Regent, has been hailed as a great success. However, projects such as this don’t happen without a considerable amount of hard work and commitment from those behind the scenes. Organising charity Music in Action, received financial support from the Barclays Community Awards, to provide 45 young people with the opportunity to develop event management and business skills, by working on the “Jersey Sings!” project since its launch in January.
Participants of the scheme were responsible for all aspects of the planning of the event, were able to work alongside experts in these fields, as well as attending a series of workshops, and placements. The aim of the Outreach programme was to develop skills with a view to future work opportunities in line with Barclays’ key aims of helping young people obtain employment.
As well as working on “Jersey Sings!, the participants also had the opportunity to provide support to other events including the Liberation International Music Festival and with other partners such as The Arts Centre and Fort Regent.
During this period they have been encouraged to increase their digital skills by working on their Barclays Digital Driving Licence. The driving licence provides practical guidance and tuition of the digital world, through themed modules, interactive articles and quizzes.
Working with the Back to Work team, Music in Action also recruited three team members through the Community Jobs Fund, a States of Jersey initiative. By carrying out vital administration roles, these recruits have provided invaluable support including producing the schools information packs, coordinating event logistics and photography. The STEPs team from the Jersey Employment Trust had the mammoth task of packaging all of the school packs, t- shirts, water bottles and torches at Acorn Enterprises. Music in Action also worked with other agencies including; Jersey Youth Service, The Princes Trust, Careers Jersey, Victoria Prep School and Butterfly Training.
Chairman of Music in Action, James Mews said “One of the most exciting parts of our Outreach scheme has been developing relationships with other local Jersey charities including Mencap, Jersey Employment Trust (JET) and the Youth Service. We’ve had two amazing recruits join us through JET, Chris Lucas completed an eight week placement as our graphic designer and Jessica Montgomery has been with us for four weeks creating our fun animations which you will have seen come to life across our social media, promotional material and the performance programme. Since leaving the project, two of our Outreach workers have also been successful in securing full time roles and many more have received training and a boost in their confidence levels, which can only add to their chances of employability.
Music in Action was also able to launch their first Jersey Sings! ambassador scheme in conjunction with the Princes Trust. Training has been provided by Butterfly Training to give all the recruits WorldHost qualifications enhancing their CV’s and future employment opportunities. The ambassadors have been working hard putting this training into practice and ensuring the choirs had a great experience at the event.
Mr Mews said “Running outreach schemes alongside all of our events is integral to Music in Action’s ethos and we can’t wait to launch another scheme for “Jersey Sings!” 2017.”
“Jersey Sings!” 2016 was funded by Barclays as part of the Barclays Community Awards initiative which supports projects that give young people the skills to get into, or back into employment.
Managing director of Barclays in Jersey, Paul Savery, said: “At Barclays we understand the need to support young people develop the vital skills needed to gain employment. The “Jersey Sings!” project also appealed to us as it was a first for the island. Apart from the obvious benefits of engaging young people with music and performance, the outreach programmes which Music in Action proposed fit perfectly with Barclays work in providing our young people with the skills they need to gain employment. We also believe we have a responsibility to share our technological expertise and are committed to ensuring that all members of our community are confident in the digital sphere. The Barclays Digital Driving License provides an excellent platform to allow knowledge to be absorbed in a fun and interactive way.”
