Lottery stories

Many teenagers are obsessed with music, but not many have a professional recording studio at their fingertips. The young people who use the Tanyard Youth Project in Pembroke, Wales, however, have been laying down tracks at their very own studio, built thanks to a grant from The National Lottery.

The youth centre has been providing a welcoming, safe environment for young people since 1997, offering a range of activities like arts, sports and field trips. The project runs 27 hours a week and hosts up to 50 teenagers a night.  Naturally, the new Boatyard music studio has them queuing up to get involved – and as private groups can buy studio time, project manager John Heffernan says the new addition to the centre is helping to fund its other activities.

“We’ve had such a positive reaction,” says John. “People are desperate to use it. We’ve unmasked some real talent.”  The Tanyard Youth Project caters to some of the most deprived wards in the country and John says the music studio is having a knock-on effect on anti-social behaviour. “Teenagers who have been socially excluded and disengaged are behaving better because they’ve got something they really want,” he explains.

The process of creating music is also having a positive effect. “I’ve been surprised by the sensitive and powerful nature of the lyrics that have been written,” says John. And for those dreaming of quitting school and becoming the next Dizzee Rascal, the studio is helping in a surprising way, says John: “I say, ‘how are you going to know how much money you’re making without maths, or how are you going to check your contract without English?’ And they listen.”