The Sing My Own Song project gives young people a space to express themselves without judgement

For the past eight weeks, Kids Inspire’s Sing My Own Song project has been supporting a group of Brentwood based 13-19 year olds to write lyrics, make music and creatively express themselves. 

Zoe, Kids Inspire’s Marketing and Communications Assistant, was invited to attend one of the online sessions being facilitated by Music and Play Therapist, Fiona, who also has the support of two young singer/songwriter volunteers.  

Zoe tells us how she found her experience:  

As I logged on to the Zoom call, the group were in the middle of a “Stream of Consciousness” exercise. The young people were asked to write down whatever came to mind, whether that was in form of sentences, individual words, ideas or lyrics.  

As the group individually shared what they had written, I was blown away not only by their talent but their honesty. One young girl wrote a short piece about a clown that contained fantastic imagery, a couple of the older participants shared their thoughts about returning to school and some read aloud a list of words that came to their minds, which gave a subtle insight into their inner worlds. 

There was a calm, non-judgemental energy in the session that seemed to make the participants comfortable sharing their inner thoughts with the group. Fiona later shared with me that many of the participants experience severe anxiety and that, for her, creating this atmosphere was fundamental to the project being a success. 

It was then time for me to ask the group some questions. Taking turns, the participants shared how they were finding the weekly sessions. It was great for me, Fiona and her volunteers to hear how participants had been enjoying the sessions. A few mentioned that they always had an interest in music but didn’t know where to start and that they appreciated having a space to explore their creative ideas. 

I think the highlight of the session for me was when I asked the group to share some advice they would give to their younger selves, their responses were articulate, passionate and emotionally aware.  

One participant, age 12 shared this thoughtful insight:  

“Don’t give up on your hobbies or something you really enjoy because it takes too much work or it takes a lot of time because it all pays off eventually.” 

I think as a society we often underestimate the complexity of the thoughts and feelings that teenagers in the modern age are experiencing. Gaining these insights into their worlds helped me to realise how powerful projects like Sing My Own Song are for young people. It gives them a space to share their viewpoint and express themselves without judgement. The work Fiona and her team are doing is vital.  

Read more about the project here 

The project is run by Kids Inspire and funded by Brentwood Borough Council, Axis and Essex Youth Service.