Innovate 2022-23 project evaluation
Innovate is Sound Connections’ annual investment programme to support music projects with young people aged 0-25 in London. Last year, the programme provided investment of £1,750 per project to explore new ideas and approaches to working with children and young people.
Our 2022-23 projects have just wrapped up and we’re pleased to release a summary of the feedback and evaluation following each project. This is detailed below. More information about the projects can be found here.
Angie’s Keep Calm and Sing Connect Project
Angie’s Keep Calm and Sing (AKCAS) helps people correct or become more aware of how they breathe. Founder and manager, Angie Anuforo, delivers fun, venue-based workshops in and around London, plus nature and online workshops. The projects seek to help transform people’s health in positive ways.
For this project, AKCAS partnered with the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (AACA).
The pilot project aimed to improve English speaking and comprehension skills and social integration among Afghan and Syrian parents and children through group singing workshops in Hounslow. Two separate weekly workshops were held, one for adults and another for children and pre-teens. They consisted of exposure to songs in English, and their language of origin for adult classes, with a focus on singing techniques and creative writing.
AKCAS group workshops resulted in an improvement in adult learners’ engagement with the English language and a recorded increase in well-being and confidence across all participants. By adapting their approach, AKCAS found innovative and fun ways to engage younger participants who were all very confident with using English due to its use in mainstream education.
Angela Anuforo (Founder and Manager of Angie’s Keep Calm and Sing group) said “I’m also grateful for how Sound Connections have promoted my organisation’s service during this pilot project. When I look back to when I founded my organisation and Sound Connections were one of the first funders to support me, I can see the growth not only in my organisation but also in myself.”
Based on the success of the piloted project AKCAS was approached to deliver their bespoke workshops to a different community group in Hounslow. AKCAS group are keen to expand its research and practice to creatively support Afghan and Syrian children who have just immigrated and have not yet integrated into the school system.
Future Rockstars
Be the Band is a social enterprise that uses innovative technology to give disadvantaged young people the experience of playing in a rock band, even if they’ve never picked up an instrument before. As well as providing educational benefits, our approach has been shown to improve the self confidence and mental wellbeing of those taking part.
This project saw Be The Band pilot their innovative rock band workshops with neurodivergent learners at two specialist autism schools. They were originally planning to work in an entirely different setting (with young offenders), but the partner organisation were unable to work the Innovate timelines, and so in agreement with Sound Connections this alternative plan was put into action.
The funding from Sound Connections enabled Be The Band to develop a pilot project specifically catering to young learners with autism. Working alongside staff from Ambitious about Autism (Treehouse School and Ambitious College in Haringey), they designed a series of workshops that gave pupils from both these schools the opportunity to perform in their own rock bands for the first time.
David Tshulak (CEO of Be The Band) said that “it was evident from watching the participants that the self-confidence of those taking part had improved.” A member of the learning support team at one of the venues said, “It was so sensory, autism-friendly and clear… The body language of the young person I was supporting changed during the session, from a hunched-up anxious presentation to sitting tall and smiling”.
Building on the success of these sessions, Be The Band will be expanding their innovative approach to work with specialist schools across the country.
Innovate 2023-24
We will be announcing a new application process for Innovate 2023-24 in June.
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You can find out more about Sound Connections’ Innovate fund here.
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