Youth Charity is Using the Power of Music to Alleviate Boredom

The chief executive of a youth music charity has described how it is experiencing the most ‘unusual and unexpected difficulties’ of its existence.
Magdalene Adenaike, who is also the founder of Music Relief which recently opened a base at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre will have spoken for many in the youth sector facing similar uncertain times.

She added: “As a face to face charity, closing our doors as a result of this
pandemic is something that is proving very difficult for us and on the young
people, because this has deprived us from the energy and buzz that comes
when we gather together, the hands on support and mentoring we offer, sharing ideas together and hearing the young people teasing each other in playful manners. It has also caused us to lose out on some of our financial streams purely because we are unable to meet for now.

“As a result of this, we are having to think creatively and move some of our
services online to ensure that we are still meet the needs of the young people and providing them with levels of comfort during this unprecedented time.

Services being offered include: music and vocal lessons; lessons in how to make a documentary, a mentoring service, introduction to multi dimensional motion art and how to create a DIY multi dimensional experience using Unity and Adobe.

The charity is asking all young people who want to register for any of these
services to send a Whatsapp message to: 07535990735 with their name, age,
parents name and contact details and staff will get back to them with further information.

Magdalene added: “We strongly believe in utilising the power of music because we understand the benefits and its ability to alleviate boredom, improve an individual’s mood, reduce stress and anxiety, improve memory, ease pain and provide comfort. This is very relevant now in a period of uncertainty and anxiety.”

Music Relief is asking for support to ensure it can continue to serve the
young people and also the tutors many of whom are freelancers and
deeply affected by the lockdown. https://music-relief.org/covid-19-music-support