The SEND Project was born 5 years ago in Sneinton when Moon Chester and Lee Marriott used their own equipment to teach local young people DJing skills. Since then, SEND has developed into a successful urban arts organisation delivering Music, Art, Film, Dance and Circus Skills based activities for young people across Nottingham and the East Midlands. We pride ourselves on our ability to engage a diverse range of learners, from age 11-25. We also provide various session with adult groups, in particular as part of a local family learning partnership.
One of our key strengths is our pool of dedicated, talented, professional and colourful tutors. Our tutors range from classically trained musicians to street rappers, hailing from all different walks of life, many of whom first hand have had to overcome challenging obstacles. Our Digital Music workshops/courses are lead by one of the worlds leading Ableton Music Software teachers. We also have an ever growing bank of volunteers who provide a wealth of skills and knowledge and add a significant dimension to our 3rd sector organisation. As a result of our diverse and highly skilled staff team, we are able to empathise with the young people we work with and facilitate deep-seated change in their behaviour and outlook through the creative force of music and arts.

Services

Workshops
Workshops are a great way of testing the water with a group of young people. SEND can deliver workshops in individual subject areas, or as a multiple subject workshop. Workshops may be as an extra-curricular activity, a taster session for an accredited course or as part of a longer programme of activities. These sessions usually run in 2-3 hour blocks and are a good way of getting young people to explore new creative avenues, providing a general overview of the subject area.

Bespoke Projects
Many of the projects we have developed, either delivered as a one off workshop or as a week on week structured programme of learning, have been created to support whole school programmes to confront and overcome issues such as racism and bullying. We have also delivered a number of projects in collaboration with a variety of local agencies, such as Youth Service, Connexions and Youth Offending Service. We bring to light how music and creative art can help to engage young people, unearth hidden talents, improve confidence and self-esteem and create a ‘can do’ and sharing environment.

We pride ourselves on taking the time to really get to know the young people we work with. Through the challenging experiences and difficulties we ourselves have had to overcome, we are perceived as positive role models. We can inspire young people to see that mistakes can be overcome and transformed into positive learning experiences, that people do move on and pick up the pieces.

Courses, Accreditations & Qualifications

SEND deliver a variety of accredited courses in music and art including AQA, NOCN, Arts Award and NCFE, having successfully done so for over 4 years. Clients include local bodies such as the Youth Inclusion Programme and Renewal Trust as well as statutory bodies such as schools, PRUs, YOTs and ACLS.

We deliver creative learning opportunities as extensions to curriculum or as alternative provision. Our work takes on a variety of styles and themes but our core provision is the delivery of workshops, bespoke projects and accredited courses for local authorities, schools and other young people’s groups.
Recent project themes have included:

• Cultural Identity
• Individuality
• Substance Misuse
• Respect
• Multiculturalism
• Environmental