The Irene Taylor Trust 'Music in Prisons'

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Music in Prisons delivers intensive high quality music projects in prisons and other secure facilities throughout the UK.  The focus of every project is the creation of new and innovative music, drawing out the ideas and influences of a group of individuals who rarely get such an opportunity to engage in the arts, or with their peers, in such a positive way.

Our five-day creative music projects provide prisoners of all ages with important accredited learning experiences that can act as a vital catalyst in the process of rehabilitation, embracing education and the forming of life skills, and enable them  to leave prison with more than just the stigma of having been there.  Annually, we run 22-25 projects working with around 220 prisoners.

In 2012, we are implementing two new projects to expand our work with vulnerable people.  Sounding Out, an extension of our well-established prison programme, adds a ‘through the gate’ progression route for prisoners who complete our OCN qualification inside, to continue music training on release as part of their rehabilitation. 

With a band at its core, Sounding Out participants will create, rehearse and perform new music, for example at the New Music 20x12 Cultural Olympiad event at the South Bank Centre on Sunday 15 July Sounding Out participants will also go on to train in music facilitation via the Making Tracks programme, a new music initiative for young people, specifically targeting 13-19 year olds at risk of offending in Lambeth.  The aim is to improve their life chances and facilitate a route to a more fulfilling and healthy adulthood by kick-starting the motivation to re-join mainstream education or to access further education, training and apprenticeships and by providing the pastoral support to make this transition realistic and achievable in partnership with Pathways SE11 and Code 7.

Many exciting performances resulting from these projects will be open to the public; please go to www.musicinprisons.org.uk for more details or to sign up to receive regular newsletters and performance invitations.