Posted on: 24 April 2024
Following a successful first project in 2023, Harrow Acute Mental Health Services have completed their second music intervention in collaboration with Finding Rhythms.
The 12 week project gave young Black men the opportunity to work with professional record producer Aron Kyne, and professional musician Zola Marcelle to produce a fully mastered album of their own original music. The new album titled Every Effort Counts will soon be launched on Spotify after a celebration event in early May.
This project provides young men, who typically face significant barriers to engaging in mental health support, the opportunity to express themselves in a supportive community. Each session involves the men identifying inspiration for the music, drawing on personal stories, experiences and narratives to then begin writing their own lyrics and creating beats from scratch. Music is therefore the vehicle through which the men are enabled to explore narratives and stories about themselves, and identify preferred narratives and express themselves freely – often for the first time.
Run by Dr Shona Herron a Clinical Psychologist at Northwick Park Hospital, this project has been specifically funded in attempt to address the social inequalities faced by young Black men when accessing care in the NHS. Feedback is highlighting the value of specific groups and spaces which work to engage and support these young men with 100% of the men reporting that they felt safe, supported and respected in the group. One participant reported:
“In the past I have been made to feel invisible by people, and I’ve been treated badly. But in the group, I felt acknowledged and important and cared for”.
This project is funded to run for a final time from June to September, giving another 10 young men the opportunity to come together to share stories, and collaborate on an album together.
