St Mirren and Comic Relief team up with Kibble to provide music sessions to pupils.
THIS week, young people got the chance to learn the art of beatboxing thanks to an innovative partnership between Kibble Education and Care Centre and St Mirren Football Club. The music lessons are designed to give young people in care the opportunity to learn about different instruments.
The project was funded by Comic Relief and the Scottish Professional Football League. It was co-ordinated by Glasgow East Arts Company, with expert tuition provided by famed Glasgow beatbox artist Bigg Taj. Taj has become well known for his appearance on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent as well as coming 8th in last year’s UK Beatbox Championships.
Speaking ahead of the event,Taj said:
“Many of the kids will have probably heard beatboxing before but never tried it. These tuition sessions will teach them the basics and to let them have a go themselves.
“Beatboxing has been a passion of mine for over a decade and I always love teaching young people some of the skills. Who knows, hopefully someone here today will be inspired to take up beatboxing after today.”
Ross Paterson from St Mirren Football Club said:
“The aim of the project is to provide music making opportunities for young people in care. With funding from the SPFL trust we are looking to deliver a 10 week programme to work with at least 15 young people.
“We are trying to engage the young people through music and to hopefully lead into other activities the club can offer such as football coaching sessions.
“Collaborations like this with Kibble are a key part of our social mission at the club, and we are looking forward to more joint work in the future.”
Neil Govan, Head Teacher of Kibble Education and Care Centre, said:
“I would like to thank Taj and Ross for their help in providing this programme for our young people. Events like this are an important part of their learning whilst attending Kibble, and it is great to have something so different like beatboxing.
“We are always looking for new and diverse ways of engaging young people in rich learning experiences. Partnerships such as these so very helpful and I look forward to linking up again with St Mirren Football Club in the future.”