A FIFTEEN-year-old girl, who has been attending Holsworthy Youth Club for two years, hopes her music can help others the way it has helped her.

Holsworthy Youth Club is open twice a week, with music specific activities and support being provided by arts education organisation Daisi. Music leader Sam Lythgoe Jones and trainee music leaders Jaz Rogers and Bex Dennis provide the mentoring element of these sessions and one evening a week is funded as part of the C Youth Music Soundwaves project.

It is this programme of music therapy that provided Charley with the support she required during a difficult time in her life.

Charley lives in a tiny hamlet of less than 100 people and when Charley started secondary school, she felt she didn’t fit in, she didn’t have friends and she was bullied severely. The extent of her isolation left her anxious and depressed.

Her parents chose to move her to Holsworthy Secondary School as well as seeking help from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

It was at this time that Charley began to attend the youth club sessions.

She had always enjoyed singing in primary school and had previously taken a few guitar lessons but had never taken it further. When she started secondary school she was introduced to the ukulele.

She had already begun to write her own songs but was now gaining the skills to accompany herself on the ukulele.

Things at her new school continued to be difficult and challenging, but Charley used her music as a way of expressing her feelings and thoughts — some of which were very dark.

Attending the youth group gave Charley an opportunity to share her music making with others in a non-formal setting, with support from the music leaders who allowed her to be herself without judgement. Charley’s music tutor is YouTube, but her music support network is the youth club and the Soundwaves music leaders.

A spokesperson said: “When Charley plays and sings, the room goes quiet and her voice is mesmerizing.”

There have been a lot of positives to come from Charley’s time at the youth club working with the music leaders. From attending these sessions, Charley has gone on to join her local amateur dramatic group and has been given her first lead role. She has also been given her first gig, playing at the Apple Festival in Clovelly.

Charley summed up both the immediate and long-term impact of her musical journey, she said: “Doing something for myself with my music has helped me in so many ways and in doing that I know that I can help others.”

Daisi is a not-for-profit arts education organisation creating and promoting inspiring artistic and cultural experiences which enable more children and young people to access the transformative and inclusive power of the arts.

Daisi’s Soundwave project, which Charley is involved with, is supported by Youth Music through the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England (AMIE).

To find out more about Daisi visit www.daisi.org.uk or call 01392 494162.