A DJing project aimed at young offenders in North East Lincolnshire, has scooped a regional award this week in the first ever ‘Just Creativity’ Awards run by the Arts Council England, Yorkshire, the Youth Justice Board, the Prison Service and the Youth Offending Teams in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The award, which was one of eight awards, was presented at a special ceremony at the Carriageworks in Leeds. It was given for the ‘Art and DJing’ project, run by the Young Offending Team, which took place at the Youth Service Centre in Grimsby and was selected from 30 nominees to win the category of ‘Outstanding Project in Youth Offending Team Setting’.

The project was a collaboration between the North East Lincolnshire Council’s Arts Development Team         and Youth Offending Service and Artlandish. The musical element has been supported by Music 4U – the Humber Region’s Youth Music Action Zone.  

David Power, Arts Development Officer for North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award in recognition of the excellent work done by the tutors and the young people themselves in the art and DJing workshops with the North East Lincolnshire Youth Offending Team. The awards evening as a whole made us aware of just how much excellent work goes on in the region and how important our contribution is to the young people in our part of the region.”

The winning ‘Art and DJing’ project was for a weekly DJing workshop with Hull-based DJ David Okwesia and art activities including puppetry, mosaics and painting. The young people were encouraged to create CDs of their mixes. One outstanding participant, Richard Tipple, has gone on to gain a grant from the Princes Trust to buy his own decks and gain professional work as a DJ and also runs his own DJing workshops for other young people . The artists involved in the project encouraged participants to develop their creative skills, enabling them to explore and develop their awareness of the cause and consequences of offending behaviour. 

The Just Creativity Awards have been set up to celebrate the achievements nominated young people, artists, arts organisations and youth justice professionals. The award-winning projects, which took place in the last two years, demonstrated high-quality arts activities and excellent results in work with young people  at risk of offending. All the projects have made a difference to the lives of young people at risk of offending  by giving them the opportunity to participate in arts activities that can lead on to education, training or employment. They demonstrated that the arts are effective in producing positive results in young people across the whole cycle of offending, from anti-social behaviour through to serious crime.

Andy Carver, Executive Director, Arts Council England, Yorkshire, said: “Arts Council England is pleased to be a partner in the first ever Just Creativity Awards event, which recognises best practice in the arts and young people at risk. These projects demonstrate the value of the arts in enabling young people to reach their potential and in reducing re-offending. Participation in high-quality and innovative arts projects such as these, can lead to opportunities in education, training and employment for the young people involved and help them to develop their interests and skills in the arts and creativity.”

Malcolm Potter, Regional Manager for the Youth Justice Board, found being on the awards panel rewarding: “I was fortunate to be involved in judging all the submissions for these awards and was struck by the enthusiasm of all the young people and staff involved in the various projects. Everyone who took part in these projects should be congratulated for the diversity and quality of work produced and it is great that we have the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate these achievements.”

For more information on projects run by Music4U, including work with Youth Offending Teams across the Humber Region contact Melanie Paris or Sam Sumerfield
T: 01904 632220 / T: 07968 558118
E: press@humber-music4u.com
www.humber-music4u.com

_{Editors Notes:}

_{Music4U is the Humber Region Youth Music Action Zone. Music4U is co-ordinated by the National Centre for Early Music working in partnership with the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Councils. The Action Zones have been instigated and funded by Youth Music and are supported by Arts Council England, Yorkshire. More info is available at www.humber-music4u.com}

<sub>Youth Music is a UK-wide charity that funds and facilitates music making for young people up to the age of 18, particularly those living in areas of social and economic need. By 2010, Youth Music aims to have reached 3 million children and young people in a UK-wide strategy to support youth music making.

Since the creation of the first Youth Music Action Zone in 2000, the concept has been rolled out over 24 regions across England and Wales, some of which are now in their sixth year of operation. With a remit to support music-making activities for some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, Youth Music Action Zones have gone on to reach over 230,000 children and young people, encouraging their talents, building their confidence and transforming the landscape of musical opportunity throughout the UK.  The music making supported is of the widest variety, from hip-hop and dj-ing to classical and jazz.</sub>