Owners
What it's all about
As an experienced DJ I would like to use my skills for the benefit of others. I would like to tackle boredom and lack of direction in young people by providing a structured, reproducible and most importantly fun project to teach them to mix and put on their own shows. With the £750 available for DMU based projects, we will purchase some second hand record decks, mixers and stereo systems to play them through as well as records from charity shops.
For premises we will aim to secure an empty shop, using recent government legislation to make such premises more easily available for community projects. To make the proposal attractive to the landlord of the premises and to keep rent low, we will aim to use a property that has been empty for some time and carry out basic renovation ourselves, or raise extra money with events to pay for more major repairs. With luck we will be able to find a landlord who would be open to the project remaining in the premises long-term and who will allow us to decorate the place as we see fit.
Once the premises are in a suitable state to be used, we will hold regular sessions where youths can attend, learn the basics of music theory and DJing, and take it in turns to practise on the equipment. The aim of this training is to get the young people to the stage where they would be happy DJing in front of others, then put on events for other young people to attend. These events will provide entertainment for other young people to help keep them off the streets and away from alcohol and drugs, provide a showcase for our new talent, and attempt to raise funds to expand the project.
Future plans could include adding and improving further premises, increasing the library of equipment and music available and renting these out to other groups and venues, promoting the DJs who have come through the program, gaining computer and printing facilities and teaching the young people basic IT and Internet skills so they can promote their own events and learn basic business skills and holding DJ competitions with prizes.
What's needed to make it a reality
Organisers and volunteers to research the terms of using disused shops, contact relevant council departments, landlords and the organisers of Glastonbudget festival. Assistance with funding ideas, other DJs who would be willing to help teach young people on their own time, help and advice on whether we need things like CRB checks for working with youngsters and any other possible legal issues such as premises insurance, performance licences etc
Comments
This sounds great and the project has some real potential. You don't happen to be one of the contestants for the DJ49 competition do you?
Speaking of renovating a community space, I found out about a competition today which you might be interested in - you have to nominate an indoor community space for the chance to be designed by professionals in the field and you can find out more about it by clicking here:
http://www.junction49.co.uk/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=157&page=1#Item_1
Here's another similar idea on Junction49 which you might be interested in:
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2148/community_dj_project/
Junction49 is where young people can develop their own ideas for positive change in the community and students who wish to develop a voluntary project to benefit the community can access up to £750. De Montfort is one of 12 Universities who are taking part in the scheme where students can access funding, training and support from your Volunteer Support Officer (Glen) to help you get your project up and running. Glen will also be able to let you know if you're eligible to receive funding. Check out:
http://www.junction49.co.uk/university/42/de_montfort_university/
Good Luck and let us know how you get on by entering diary entries and adding any photos, would be great to see the renovation :-)
Sarah Report Abuse
Thanks for the kind words and suggestions Report Abuse
Well am tryin 2 sort the same thing out but in sunderland av been dj'ing for about 6 years now, And i think it's a great idea . Let me no how it goes.
Cheers
snaithy ...... Report Abuse
Ah well, never mind. If I hear of any other events that you might be able to attend I will let you know.
Sarah Report Abuse
it's gaining momentum already! One of my aims is to be able to reproduce this idea in other places, so I am going to keep records of everything said and done. If I manage to make it work here I would be more than happy to help you out as well.
For Everyone
I have spoken to a Leicester Councillor who is going to put me in contact with some existing community spaces with Audio Visual equipment, which he thinks would be a quicker, cheaper and easier way of getting it off the ground. If it works, then we can look at renovating and regenerating premises!
There is a Facebook group for the idea here http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=85032972359&ref=nf Report Abuse
This idea looks wicked! Are you still around in Liecester at the moment to have a chat about it?
Glen Report Abuse
Take it easy : ) Report Abuse
best get a set together, are there any guidelines for what to play, like no swearing or anything?
THANK YOU : D Report Abuse
That's great. I'll speak to the rest of the team and get back to you about the format, but in terms of what to play - yes no swearing please :-)
Speak soon,
Sarah Report Abuse
Just want to say thanks for the chance to mix at the after party for the Urban Fete, I had a great time and met some quality people!
I have an excellent collaborator on this project now and we are trying to thrash out the details. What sounded like a relatively simple idea has actually proven to be somewhat complex, and we are trying to work out exactly what we want to achieve and how to tackle it.
There are so many issues involved such as protecting the welfare of young people involved in the project and health and safety for all concerned.
If there are others out there who run similar projects, or wish to, I would love to get in contact and see how we can help each other out.
Thanks again to everyone at Junction 49 for all the help and support.
Matt / Cavortex Report Abuse
Just thought you might be interested in this. A group of people have taken over this video shop in London for the month of June to put on a range of activities all by volunteers. http://www.liveattheapollo.org/ Might be worth contacting them to see if they can offer you an advice in this venture.
I reckon a first step could be to approach a local community centre/organisation and see if you could trial the workshops for a month or so (summer would be great with all the young people on their holidays) to gauge people's reaction to it and what interest there is. Hopefully this way all you would to do is get a CRB check done and health and safety would hopefully be covered by the centre. You can then expand it into your own shop and use all the learning from the pilot and working in a community centre itself.
In terms of similar ideas, this ideas was added today:
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2200/manyhands_-_chorlton_s_vegan_community_arts_cafe/
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2193/community_centre/
http://www.junction49.co.uk/idea/2068/community_arts_centre/
I hope that's useful,
Sarah Report Abuse
How are you? I know you put this idea on the backburner for a while, but I heard about this funding opportunity and thought I'd tell you about it incase you were interested. The funding is for projects which want to turn disused shops into creative spaces/workshops etc... and it might be something you could apply to for your project if you were still interested.
Hi Rich,
I hope everything is going well. I just got told about this funding initiative where you can turn empty shops into creative spaces/art galleries etc... and thought I would let you know incase you were interested. There's more information here, but thought it was worth letting you know about it.
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/about-us/investment-in-arts/action-recession/art-empty-spaces/
Sarah Report Abuse
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