Working with young people

Our volunteers have been taking a look at member groups' social media to see how they measure up when it comes to engaging young people. Here are some tips they passed on to us that you might find useful.

Posting on social media can be overwhelming. What to post, when, how often, how much of other people's content should you engage with? A simple tactic to keep you on track is to follow the rule of thirds: promote, share, interact. After all, three is the magic number! 

We have teamed up with the Child Protection Company to develop an online safeguarding course designed specifically for leisure-time music groups, available to Making Music members at a discounted rate.

The course is a valuable opportunity for music group organisers to gain relevant and pertinent information about safeguarding today. Thought provoking scenarios used in the course ensure that appropriate awareness of safeguarding is the learning outcome of the course. - Andrew Adam, Congleton Youth Orchestra

Many music groups tell us they find it challenging to attract younger members. With the help of a generous legacy from lifelong choral singer Pauline Thompson, we have been able to compile a bank of resources aimed at helping you to reach out to under-35 year olds.

We'll continue to add to these resources, but in the meantime if you think we're missing something that would be helpful for groups like yours, or if you have any questions,  just get in touch. 

Working with both young people and adults at risk can be hugely beneficial for the individuals and group involved. It also comes with a responsibility for the group to ensure they:

There is a well documented drop off in young people’s involvement in music making aged 18 when they leave the formal education system. Collaborations with Music Education Hubs could be one way to prevent some of this drop off.

Arts Award is a range of qualifications provided by Trinity College that supports anyone aged up to 25 to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world. This resource looks at why this could be a useful scheme for Making Music members to know about, and how to best interact with it as an Arts Award Supporter.

Our research into engaging under 35 year olds in music groups pointed to a need for better outreach and publicity. Young people might not be specifically looking for a group to join, or might not be aware of groups in their area. So instead of waiting for them to find you, go to where they are! But where might they be? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Go to local businesses and offices

Most offices will have a fair number of under 35s amongst their staff. Try the following:

Policies aren’t necessarily the most exciting thing to think about when you’re running a music group. But they are important and will help you run your group more efficiently and effectively. We have provided a list of the most common polices you might consider having, together with links to further resources and some template documents. But first, a quick word on why you should have polices in place.

A policy sets out your commitment to a particular area. This can:

We have developed a template Safeguarding policy for use by our member groups, consisting of the policy itself and some guidance notes to help you adapt it appropriately.

It is designed to be a starting point for you policy and can be adapted to suit your group’s circumstances. As well as the accompanying notes, we recommend you read our general Safeguarding guidance.