Created by young person Jude, aged 11
On the 20th of July 2026 myself and Ava attended a 2 hour showcase event held in the early afternoon which was organised by the NewBridge Project to celebrate their older groups achievements within music. The theme of the event was to combat racism through rap with support from Show Racism the Red Card.
The event named Sheffield Sound was hosted at Cobalt, a gig event place which offers a stage, the inside was very colourful and creative with led lights all around creating a lively atmosphere.
There were lots of different activities available throughout the day. We had the chance to play instruments such as the drums and piano, as well as take part in bracelet making and photography. Local professional photographer Ellan was at the event doing photos while Headliners brought extra cameras to give me and others the opportunity to develop our skills. My friend Ava, as seen in the top right photo, was often seen on the drums and said she felt like she had learned the important starter skills from it.
Another activity included DJing with record mixing, track fading in order to support the performance and karaoke which sparked a newfound passion for some. I found this required a lot of perseverance and trusting of the process in how the mixing was going to turn out. It felt like I was in a control room with all the switches and buttons.
Food and drinks were provided at the event with young people Hannah,Helia and Ava making boba tea for everyone to try. It was very sticky, but it tasted great! There was also some absolutely delicious pizza locally made by Hizzy’s Pizza Van.
I was extremely proud of my older sister, Joy, who wrote and created a song. When I interviewed her she explained how the meaning is all about her personal faith and spreading positive vibes amongst each other. I personally found Kema Kay’s song very powerful and showed the importance that things can change over time and the power of being able to say in the future racism should no longer happen.
It was interesting to hear about the issues in the local community through the voices of others. The event allowed people to reflect on racism and discrimination. I feel many people think If it doesn’t happen to them they don’t see it as a problem. Racism is not cool and it isn’t just the elderly that see it but also the youth and if we don’t break the cycle it will just continue. It’s empowering to show that as a generation we are also putting in the effort to combat the issues in our local community.
The key message I took away is that there are times in life where you may feel like you’re not making any progress or the community sucks but in the future we should be able to say no not any more and it was nice to see everyone come together as a group.