Sound Fusion 2: A Year of Music, Business and Belonging in East London

We're backed by Youth Music

We are proud to announce that Sirlute has been awarded a grant from the Youth Music Trailblazer Fund to deliver Sound Fusion 2, a year-long music creation and music business programme for young people aged 13 to 16 who face barriers to making music.

Sound Fusion 2 runs for twelve months at Sirlute Studios, and it is free for every young person taking part.

Youth Music is a national charity that helps young people facing inequity, exclusion and discrimination to make, learn and earn in music. The Trailblazer Fund is one of the most competitive grant programmes in the sector, with an overall success rate of around 18% last year. Being chosen means a great deal to us, and it means far more to the young people who told us what they needed and then watched us go and build it.

What Sound Fusion 2 is

Sound Fusion 2 is designed for young people who are too often designed out of music. Participants include autistic and ADHD young people, those with learning difficulties, SEMH needs, physical disabilities and speech and communication differences, alongside young people who are socially isolated, out of mainstream education or simply short of a place where they belong.

Over the year we will work with up to 200 young people across Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and Waltham Forest, with 60 core participants attending sustained weekly sessions. Young people can refer themselves, or be referred by special schools, alternative provisions and youth services.

Every session is SEND-friendly by design, not by adjustment after the fact. Room layouts are risk assessed, sensory adaptations are built in, communication styles flex to the young person, and the pace is set by the room rather than the curriculum.