Christian music ministry reaches Norwich youth
 A Norwich Christian youth project is running DJ and music production workshops especially for hard to reach groups of young people.
In January 2009 ‘The Tower’ was launched as a venue for DJing and music production. The studio is located in the area covered by the East Norwich Youth Project (ENYP) and provides the vehicle for delivering DJ workshops to young people, giving them the opportunity to work with different styles of music, make positive and clean lyrics alongside musical beats and also learn about aspects of music production.
In today’s world music can be a defining characteristic of youth subcultures is associated with a particular group of people such as with Hip Hop and Rap, RnB and Chart music.
Danny Doran-Smith, Senior Worker of ENYP, said: “Having been part of different subcultures in my teenage years - and particularly in the rave scene - I understood the importance of a strong 'in group' or tribal mentality. I can see clearly how much this notion has grown and been strengthened since I was part of it ten years ago.
“Unfortunately many young people within the ‘next generation’ do not get all the affirmation, self belief or unconditional acceptance from their family as they should, therefore they look for 'families' or tribes elsewhere, where they can gain that acceptance and feel part of something. The easiest and most accessible way to conform to one of these tribes in this day and age is with music. We want to use this in a positive light, as it can so often - as it did in my case -lead an individual down a dark and increasingly dangerous path.”
For this reason the Tower and Switch projects have been established. ‘Switch’ uses the same opportunities given through the Tower; except they are mobile and run in different venues – schools, youth groups, clubs and churches. So far both projects have drawn the attention of local schools, council and the police. Young people are signing up to be involved, and organisations are using the programme as a vehicle for referring young people to engage in positive and safe activities, deterring them from anti-social behaviour.
Sgt Julie Johnson, who oversees the police team supporting residents in Heartsease and Thorpe Hamlet, said: "The Heartsease Thorpe Hamlet Safer Neighbourhood Team supports the work being done by the East Norwich Youth Project. They have worked hard to establish activities young people will be most attracted to and to provide the facilities at a very local level. They have been particularly successful at encouraging those youngsters who traditionally have been hard for agencies and other groups to engage with. The Tower and Switch are great examples of this."
Wanted: a Christian MC for Switch and Tower events
Alongside DJ workshops and music production ENYP is pioneering dance parties and other events tailored to individual need, featuring DJ Flint. A wide range of styles are covered including trance, electro-house, Dub-step, RnB, Hip Hop, Disco, House, Drum & Bass, Chill-out café style music, Breakbeat and Chart. We are looking for a Christian ‘MC’ for these events - if you feel this is something you are interested in please contact us.
More information about The Tower, Switch or Dance Parties/Events can be found on the website; www.enyp.org.uk, by emailing dj@enyp.org.uk, or by phoning 07508 755025.
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