This month's YMI Spotlight - from the YMI team itself - delves into the new research just published on the impact of the Youth Music Initiative in Scotland in 2021 and 2022.
ARTs Afternoon on Make Music Day 2022. Image: Mihaela Bodlovic.
Each year the YMI team have the opportunity to read end of project reports, which often include pictures, videos and recordings of the children and young people who have benefited from the programme. The reporting process allows us to experience and understand the joy, wonder, excitement and personal development that is enabled though individual projects and stories.
Through working with BOP Consulting to create our annual evaluation report, we are able to gain a broad perspective of the trends, challenges and developments across the full YMI programme as well as identify areas of future development.
Allowing all projects to join in evidencing the overall impact of the programme makes for a powerful confirmation of the positive impact the programme has for children and young people across Scotland, and attests to the alignment with, and significant contribution of, the programme to national policy. This report demonstrates that the Youth Music Initiative is a key asset in Scotland’s cultural portfolio.
Figures taken from the YMI Evaluation Report 2021-22
During the design of this year’s YMI Evaluation Report, we created space and settings for those delivering projects to self-identify what they saw as the most significant impacts of the YMI programme for children, young people and the sector.
They spoke about the ability of the programme to address inequality, to reach into communities and settings where participatory work has the greatest impact, forging and sustaining partnerships with third sector organisations to support the children and young people who would benefit most.
Those delivering projects communicated passionately about the impact YMI activity has on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. There is overwhelming evidence in this report that YMI provides music-making opportunities that the support the reduction of stress, the chance to bond and connect with others, capitalising on the impact of music and music making on our emotions and life experiences.
These opportunities are made possible by the teachers, tutors, and support staff who use their skills and creativity to create safe spaces for children and young people to explore and develop- The YMI team
The reports also sent clear message about how projects create progression pathways for participants to develop through projects and connections with different partners, but also the ‘circular pattern’ which enables those who benefited from YMI activities to become volunteers, trainees and tutors themselves.
YMI is only one part of the rich music ecology of Scotland, but key to providing meaning and direction for children and young people in terms of their personal development and to creating bridges that connect with the wider youth music sector in Scotland.
Morag Macdonald, YMI Manager
The findings in the report are contextualised by the aftermath and slow recovery of the youth music sector from the Covid-19 pandemic, giving added weight and meaning to the significance of the outcomes achieved and attesting to the ability of YMI to support not only resilience in children and young people during challenging times, but also to the youth arts and wider cultural sector.
We send our thanks to all the children and young people who took part in the programme, and the tutors, teachers and support staff who delivered activity and supported the creation of this report.
Explore the YMI Evaluation Report for 2021-2022 and its case studies
