DELIVERING COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Over the span of 14 years, Soul and Sound have delivered projects in the community which have positively impacted many young people and families. Our evaluation shows over 85% of our beneficiaries have upwards shifts in mental, physical and nutritional wellbeing after talking part in our projects. We co-create most of our projects with our beneficiaries, which has led to the improved development of skills which in turn has created more employment opportunities and entrepreneurs. Take a look at some of our projects below!
“Being part of the project has helped me become someone I never thought I would become! I want to thank Soul and Sound for their support and showing me there is so much more to life than than the streets, I now have started my journey into becoming a videographer! ”
“I am so glad my daughter found Soul and Sound, since she started working with them her outlook on life has been more positive, especially during the pandemic”
Mushroom Wellbeing & Enterprise Programme
Mushrooms, a fascinating form of life, are among the most sustainable foods one can grow. They not only thrive in waste material but also function as a natural way to enrich the soil, adding essential nutrients. Soul & Sound offers an AQA Accredited Mushroom Growing course. This course is led by the renowned Mycologist, Darren Springer, whose vast knowledge and passion for the subject provide an engaging learning experience. The course is designed specifically to give vulnerable young people and adults the opportunity to learn about the process of cultivating this sustainable and highly nutritious food.
The overarching aim of this programme is to empower school children, vulnerable youth and adult learners by equipping them with the tools and knowledge to develop valuable life skills. Furthermore, it provides an insight into the potential of pursuing careers in the fascinating world of Mycology and Mushroom Cultivation. The project fosters a healthy relationship with food, promoting good eating habits while simultaneously building valuable life skills and entrepreneurial capabilities. It's a testament to the belief that learning about the natural world and our relationship with it can be a powerful tool for personal development and growth.
Upon course completion, participants will not only have gained a wealth of knowledge but they will also earn a respected qualification. This recognition of their hard work and dedication will undoubtedly boost their confidence and open doors to explore alternative careers or further education options. Participants will be guided towards additional training opportunities in the fields of Mycology or Food Growing. These opportunities are abundant within Soul & Sound and its partner organisations, fostering a supportive network for the participants to thrive in.
Darren Springer, our Project Manager and Founder of the Mushroom Academy, has an extensive 20 year background in education and community initiatives. Working with organisations such as We Are Grow, LUSH, Organiclea and Somerset House. He continues to design workshops and projects with the goal of educating and empowering individuals from various backgrounds. These initiatives help them tackle social challenges, contribute to community development, and pursue self-improvement in a culturally-aware, innovative, and creative manner.
Additionally, Darren is a horticultural and food enterprise tutor, specialising in mushroom cultivation. He has pioneered the UK's first AQA accredited Mushroom Cultivation course. This program offers school children and at-risk youth the chance to engage in practical courses on sustainable mushroom cultivation. Through these courses, they can achieve an entry-level, Level 1 or 2 qualification in Mycology.
Self Development Programme
Healthy Mind healthy Grind was a Self Development 6-week (12 weeks in total) programme for up to 20 (two cohorts) unemployed and underemployed black young people aged 18-30 in Waltham Forest from disadvantaged backgrounds. After successfully accessing Awards4All funding in 2020 to pilot our Mind Over Matter programme, through evaluation we established that beneficiaries would benefit greatly from an increasingly holistic, wellbeing based programme and 'Health Mind Healthy Grind' was co-designed with them.
Through a series of 6 weekly workshops, led by experts, beneficiaries built confidence and skills in cooking, nutrition and physical exercise. Attendees crucially accessed an accountability group that offered the peer network and space to explore setting and evaluating goals, peer to peer support and created social ties on their new pursuit of wellbeing and boosted their confidence to speak up about the importance of health and wellbeing within their communities. The programme empowered participants to feel that they deserve to invest in their health and wellbeing, and that it positively impacted other areas of their personal, social and professional lives.
PLANT BASED COOKING WORKSHOPS
Plant Based Cooking Workshops are a series of cooking workshops where parents and their children learned how to cook plant based meals on a budget and learn about the nutritional values of each meal.
Participants work closely with a cookery teacher / personal development coach to learn how to cook succulent plant-based meals on a small budget. Not only will they learn new or improve their cooking skills, but they will understand the importance of the ingredients they put in their food and the nutrition benefits and health hazards around consuming fast food.
We educate young people and families around the the importance of gut health and the connection between the gut and brain. We are currently working with the council and the NHS as we are facilitating our workshops as part of the social prescribing initiative during the cost of living crisis and tackling obesity in the borough.
We are working in schools and community centres across the borough and look to expand across London and the UK.
MUSIC MASTERCLASS WITH ORPHY ROBINSON
Music students had the opportunity to have a personal, intimate musical masterclass from Jazz Legend Orphy Robinson. The students had the opportunity to learn vital musical techniques and hear industry stories from the musical great and also create an amazing piece of music together with Orphy and mixed and mastered by Aaron Mayers. In partnership with Serious and Barking and Dagenham College, Soul and Sound facilitated a day long workshop for students, during the week of The London Jazz Festival 2021, who looked to ‘raise the bar’ musically and creatively.
THE LIBRARY SESSIONS
The Library Sessions is an online musical platform for up and coming talent from Barking and Dagenham as well as from across London and the UK. Within the sessions, singers, instrumentalists and spoken word artists will have the opportunity to perform their music at Barking and Dagenham College’s new Idris Elba Film Studio.
Soul and Sound are working together with a team of students from Barking and Dagenham College, who will take full control of key areas of production: set design, sound and lighting, filming, editing, social media, marketing and outreach giving them more of a hands-on experience in the world of media production. Mix and mastering professional Aaron Mayers also worked alongside the students to make sure they produced high quality work. The sessions will be released weekly via Soul and Sound’s youtube channel and shared with industry professionals allowing undiscovered acts to be seen.
The Library Sessions are also a part of the Becontree Forever programme led by LBBD (London Borough of Barking and Dagenham) to celebrate the Becontree Estate’s groundbreaking and radical beginnings and reimagine its future.
Online Self Development Programme
Healthy Mind Healthy Grind is an eight-week health, wellness and cooking programme providing self-development and motivational sessions.
Taking place online, the programme will engage individuals who are interested in shaping new health and wellness goals but currently face a multitude of personal, mental and physical challenges, as well as limited access to professional networks and business opportunities.
Soul and Sound is interested in working with young men and women aged 16-30 in Barking and Dagenham who are BAME, from disadvantaged backgrounds or working precarious zero-hour contracts.
Learning key facts around nutrition and working closely with a Vegan Chef over the course of eight sessions, the programme will cover topics including the importance of sustaining a clean diet, cooking healthy meals on a budget, exploring ways to implement a new healthy lifestyle and empowering participants to start realising their full potential.
New approaches to wellbeing will be explored through these sessions which prioritise mental and physical health in relation to career success. Participants will be able to take part in weekly challenges and also keep a diary to document their progress.
Plant Based Cooking Experience - Summer Project
We delivered a plant based cooking experience for young people (6-12) taking part of the holiday programme at Company Drinks in Barking and Dagenham.
The young people were immersed in a series of daily workshops in which we provided hot meals that were beneficial for their overall health and wellbeing.
GROW, EAT & LEARN!
Grow, Eat & Learn was an amazing horticultural experience for the young people on the Blak Outside Project. Soul and Sound were commissioned to work with Create London and Blak Outside to create amazing plant based Caribbean infused recipes with the organic food the young have been growing in the kitchen garden.
Mind Over Matter Coaching Programme
Mind Over Matter is a new online 12-week programme for up to 20 young men 18-30 who are BAME (primarily black men) from disadvantaged backgrounds and are currently NEET or working precarious zero-hour contracts. The participants will have a desire to become an entrepreneur, but face a multitude of personal, mental and physical challenges that inhibit their progress e.g. low self-worth, low confidence, low aspiration/motivation, limited business know-how and limited access to professional networks/opportunities. They will work closely with a qualified Life Coach and Mentor / Motivational Speaker.
@ Home With...The Community
This was a 12 week accredited arts programme (18 weeks total) developed by a group of 57 young people living in East London.
The programme provided a unique creative development experience for the aspiring local artists aged 16-18 that are classified as NEET. The participants were mentored one-to-one and immersed in a series of 36 AQA accredited creative arts and business industry workshops and also the importance of health and wellbeing.
This was a real hands-on experience for those involved and culminated in an online music showcase and a virtual art exhibition celebrating the talent and achievements of our community during these unprecedented times.
Soul Garden is back!
We delivered a series of 48 gardening workshops over 12 weeks that focused on gardening for fun, community food growing and health & well-being. Residents at the Barking Foyer had access to 2 weekly AQA accredited workshop sessions that helped them to develop their practical horticultural skills, and also supported them to live a more healthier and productive life.
Lissen Up
An online music platform that solely focused on Hip Hop music producers. The programme was developed by a group of 15 NEET young people living in East London over 12 weeks.
Weekly AQA accredited workshops gave them the opportunity to film, edit and direct their own content and also earn a qualification in video production.
Participants sourced the music producers, venues and locations, managed time schedules and also worked alongside experienced videographers to help develop the content.
The young people had the opportunity to interview music producers who have produced for Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Giggs plus much more.
@ Home With…
Mica Paris
This was a 12 week accredited arts programme (18 weeks total) developed by a group of 36 young people living in East London.
The programme provided a unique creative development experience for the aspiring local artists aged 16-18 that are classified as NEET.
The participants were mentored one-to-one and immersed in a series of 36 AQA accredited creative arts and business industry workshops.
This was a real hands on experience for those involved and culminated in a music showcase and a pop up art exhibition celebrating the legacy of Queen of UK Soul Mica Paris.
@ Home With…
The Road to Manhood
This was a 12 week accredited arts programme (18 weeks total) developed by a group of 42 young people living in east London.
The programme provided a unique creative development experience for the aspiring local artists aged 16-18 that are classified as NEET.
The participants were mentored one-to-one and immersed in a series of 36 AQA accredited creative arts and business industry workshops.
This was a real hands on experience for those involved and culminated in a music showcase and a pop up art exhibition celebrating the legacy of musician and social activist AKALA.
@ Home With… Omar
This was a 12 week accredited arts programme (18 weeks total) developed by a group of 36 young people living in east London.
The programme provided a unique creative development experience for the aspiring local artists aged 16-18 that are classified as NEET.
The participants were mentored one-to-one and immersed in a series of 36 AQA accredited creative arts and business industry workshops.
This was a real hands on experience for those involved and culminated in a music showcase and a pop up art exhibition celebrating the legacy of multi-instrumentalist and soul singer Omar Lye-Fook
Biodiversity Programme
In partnership with Earth Tone Arts and in close collaboration with the TRLA, the project was initially developed to increase biodiversity on the Aldriche Way Estate and funded by Waltham Forest Council as a series of 3 sessions in August 2017. Since then the project has taken a life of its own and the Gardening Club has become a routine that families attend on Sundays. Stuart Robinson, a local resident and chairman of the TRLA says: “The kids have really taken to gardening and wildlife and it’s become a truly inter-generational affair”.
The Soul Garden
Soul Garden was a 24 week organic food growing and enterprise project for homeless families. In partnership with East Thames' Barking Foyer in East London we developed the rooftop area into a roof garden. We did this through delivering a series of 48 workshops that focused on sustainable organic food growing, food enterprise and health & wellbeing.
Helping to redesign the green spaces, participants will also get to learn about growing their own healthy food.
The Young London
Experience
Funded by Arts Council
A participatory arts programme celebrating Barking and Dagenham’s 50th anniversary and historic cultural youth diversity through Street Art.
The project provided a unique creative development experience for eleven established London based Street Artists, who were paired with aspiring artists aged 16-24 classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). These aspiring artists will in turn now mentor eleven young people aged 11-16.
The participants were immersed in a dynamic series of workshops and creative activities and produced a 2 week exhibition.
The Family Music Experience
Funded by Awards for All/ Big Lottery Fund
Over a 10 week period we delivered 2 weekly workshops, 20 in total for children aged 5-11 and their parents. The project took parents and children on a cultural and educational music journey. Each session families learnt about and played different music styles e.g. African, Caribbean, Asian and European which was combined with rhythmic reading, writing and literacy techniques.
We used rhythm, words, tempo and melody, which are important skills for reading.
We developed listening techniques which is an important for communication and literacy skills.
We explained the connections between print and spoken word.
We practiced motor development and motor coordination while experimenting with various instruments and dancing as well as develop thinking techniques; creatively and holistically. Parents who played a musical instrument was also encouraged to bring it in, talk about and demonstrate to the children their instrument of choice.
The weekly sessions used storytelling, drama and other creative learning activities which aimed to develop reading, writing, literacy skills and increase values and qualities such as integrity, teamwork, leadership and creativity
