High Peak Community Arts is celebrating a double triumph for its youth programme, with face-to-face music and arts workshops starting up again in Gamesley and Buxton.

The team has also secured three years funding from the National Foundation for Youth Music, which will allow professional musicians to continue to run activities for young people in communities and in schools until 2024. 

Programme manager, Sophie Mackreth said: “It’s such a relief to be back in a room with people and working in real time and to know we’ll be doing this for another few years.

“We really appreciate Youth Music’s support, as well as our other funders, such as Arts Council England.”  

The youth programme began testing face-to-face activities from the Easter holidays, when they ran outdoor walks exploring the local area, to re-connect with former participants and those they’ve only seen on Zoom.  

From now until the end of the school term there are weekly sessions every Thursday from 4-6pm at Gamesley Community Cafe, Winster Mews and 6-8pm on Wednesdays at Fairfield Scout Hut, behind One Stop, Buxton, where young people aged eight and over,  can try playing in a band, writing songs and stories, learning vocals or making art.  

The sessions are made Covid-safe by limiting numbers inside the venues and running writing and art activities outside.  

Instruments and equipment are cleaned between users, with some things, like drum sticks, just used by one person each session. 

Anyone who ‘gets hooked’ can sign up for summer school activity where the groups come together to create original pieces of work in film, art or performance. 

Sophie said: “It’s a relaxed environment for anyone who wants to try a musical instrument, write a song, draw or write stories.  They should come down to Gamesley or Fairfield and give it a try.” 

For more information, contact sophie@highpeakarts.org or 01663 744516.

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