Stroud MDN

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"Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity, for all to sing dance and clap their hands"
Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder

Hi there, my name's Emma and i'm working for the Gloucestershire Music Forum as the Music Development Networker for Stroud. The organisations aim is to increase the quality and profile of music in the area, and specifically to create more opportunities for young people. Hopefully this blog will keep you all up to date with what i'm doing, and give you a chance to get in touch if you want to be involved, have any suggestions, want me to promote something you're involved in or just want to say hi.

Gloucestershire Music Forum is a not for profit social enterprise that is committed to increasing music opportunities and raising the quality and profile of the county’s music makers and providers.

May 15, 2009

End of month 1

Wow, time has flown, a month has gone by already. Starting to settle into the job now, have worked out what i’m meant to be doing, and feel like i’ve made some key contacts in Stroud. Still lots of people i haven’t had the chance to meet face to face yet, for instance Sue from the Space, but contact has been mad and hopefully we will soon.

Ruben (my son) and i have been recovering from flu, so the last 2 weeks have been a bit out of action, however the most exciting thing to happen recently is my meeting with Danny James, youth worker for Stroud Youth Centre. It looks pretty likely that we are going to run a rock school course next term. He’s really keen, going to do a kind of scoping exercise in the next week or 2 with his members and also going into local secondary schools, and he is also going to look into funding - the plan is that i will apply for the youth intiative fund and he will get young people to apply for the youth opportunity fund (both through the stroud district youth council), and hopefully we will both be successful and raise enough money to put on a 10 week course at the youth centre. Just need to get an exact cost from graeme who will be running the course with a team he has got together. So fingers crossed on that one…

Also met with Steve Miles, youth worker who facilitates the stroud district youth council. He’s passing on information to the members and hopefully thet will want to be involved, maybe on an advisory level, and also hopefully funding (as mentioned earlier).

Also working with the subrooms. They have asked me to find some young bands to support the acts at the fringe festival in september. So need to set up a database of young bands in the area.

Also hoping to meet up with Will Thiekler who is setting up ‘Stroud Music’. Don’t know much about it yet, but he has been offered a space at the british school for free, and i think they plan on putting on jam nights and stuff. So looking forward to hooking up with him.

So overall, feel pretty happy with the way things are going, let’s hope it stays that way! Looking forward to the weekend, have a gig with Soul Destroyers at the Kingshead in Kings Stanley tomorrow night which shoul be fun, and then chill out on sunday so i’m all refreshed for more networking next week!

2 years ago