Feel Good Festival 2016

A celebration for young people, by young people.

This years Feel good festival was brought together by different organisations: all learning that through co-operation and not competition much can be achieved!!! Middlesbrough is often given a hard time by the national press and it seems that everything negative from the town is reported but the positives are often overlooked or ignored completely, however that doesn't stop us from pulling up our socks and getting on with "The great work".

Headstart are a Middlesbrough based charity As well as working alongside Headstart we also used the festival as an opportunity to showcase another project that MSTW is part of. The Teesside Musical Inclusion resource or Musinc; develops projects and helps train musical workshop leaders and youth workers in the area. This is an excellent resource for community members and musicians alike to find training and development opportunities as well as find out about available funding for projects in the Teesside area. Musinc funds a music project at the MyPlace Middlesbrough Mixed Ability Youth Club which enables young people of all backgrounds and abilities to participate in inclusive music making activities. The Feel Good Festival provided an inclusive platform for the young people involved in the project to share their talents with the local area.

As far as first time festivals go this one was a huge success with so much amazing talent on show and a great testimony to what hard work and co-operation can achieve. All the acts where local to Teesside and all played an important part in making the musical side of the event a success. The talent was incredible and video's are to come! What I really found amazing about the event was the joy that it brought to the young people who may not have ever been given an opportunity to perform or experience live music.

It takes a lot of confidence to get up in front of an audience and sing and this in itself is a personal achievement. When you get that performance that you have been working so hard towards absolutely spot on, you feel that audience reaction then there is no greater sustenance for the health and well being of an individual: except of course a loving supporting community who want to see you grow and develop in a positive environment.

This is what we are trying to achieve in Middlesbrough. Build a foundation that supports our young people and give them the ambition to dream of a better future. One which is full of confidence and self belief. The self belief that we as a community can overcome our problems. That we as a community can co-operate and establish meaningful links that will be sustained for generations to come.

When I see the national news condemning the North East and Middlesbrough in particular it saddens my heart. This is not a time to look for the state to mend society. It is a time in history for society to become cohesive in our aspirations for change, to organise ourselves for ourselves and for our communities. Solidarity!

#FeelGoodFestival #Middlesbrough #Myplace #HeadstartUK #WSCollective