From teenage kicks to teenage hits
Music legend Feargal Sharkey met up with Shropshire Council councillors on Wednesday 26 January to discuss music opportunities for young people in
the county.
A number of elected councillors attended the meeting, including Councillor Keith Barrow, Leader of the Council, as well as Councillor Steve Charmley, Cabinet Member for culture and leisure, Councillor Aggie Caesar-Homden, Cabinet Member for children and young people’s services, and Councillors Bev Baker and
Karen Calder.
The visit was to promote ways in which teenagers and young adults can develop their talents, confidence and skills through a range of music activities. The discussions led to how the council could support the creation of live music rehearsal spaces for young people, including one at a new youth centre in Oswestry due to open in late 2011. ‘The Centre’ is funded through the Government’s
myplace initiative.
Sharkey, former front man of the 70s group The Undertones and 80s pop icon, is now head of UK Music as well as the chief executive of British Music Rights, and is a keen advocate for promoting the UK’s commercial music industry.
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Keith Barrow, Leader of the Council, said,
“It was a great honour to meet with Mr Sharkey and I thank him for meeting with us today. We’ve had very positive discussions and we are extremely enthusiastic about these proposals. We will now look at developing this project to link with the new youth centre being developed in Oswestry. I am immensely proud of our involvement in this unique project, and the part we can play to provide young people with new opportunities to make music and benefit from a range of youth services.”
Councillor Aggie Caesar-Homden, Cabinet member for children and young people’s services, added,
“We were absolutely delighted that Fergal Sharkey came to visit us in Shropshire. His music continues to inspire people and his enthusiasm for involving young people in the music industry is to be applauded. This is a fantastic opportunity to give young people the chance to be involved, to bring out their creativity, learn new practical skills and have fun at the same time. We are looking forward to working on this project with Feargal Sharkey.”
There will be plans to hold a young people’s event later in the year to capture young people’s views and ideas about the scheme.
The project has been inspired by the success of the Music Rehearsal Space Scheme, which supports 14 pilot music rehearsal spaces for young people in a range of urban and rural areas of England.
The scheme’s objectives are to address urban and rural social issues, developing grass roots talent and nurturing creativity in a broad range of music industry disciplines. The scheme was set up with a £500,000 fund from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and supported by the music industry. Instigated by Feargal Sharkey, the scheme has been supported by the Music Industries Association (MIA).
