YOUNG people and children across the borough will benefit from a new scheme to encourage them to get involved with music.
Called Breakthrough Music the project follows recent exciting successes with young people writing, performing and recording their own songs across the borough.
The funding for this project has come from the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund and will be used for projects during the next two years.
Young people and children have already been involved with designing the programme and are talking to potential providers who will work alongside the Youth Services Team.
The programme will involve six-week projects including song-writing and DJ-ing, performance and taster sessions.
They will also be able to develop actual performance events over 12 to 15 weeks which will include developing concepts, branding, advertising as well as delivering the actual musical performances. Some funding has also been put aside to teach youth workers new skills to enable music to become integral to the service for years to come.
The money was granted following a number of recent successes for the council’s Youth Services Team. A total of 219 young people participated in the music sessions and performances between 2022 and 2025 as part of the Big Music Project, exceeding expectations and representing an increase of 84 young people compared with the 135 who took part between 2019 and 2021. More generally, the Youth Service Team engaged with 7,871 young people between April 2025 and March 2026, with 1,207 involved in direct work. The team delivered 279 disability sessions and 557 targeted interventions for vulnerable young people. An impressive 52,969 community attendances were recorded across the borough’s eight youth centres.
James Lilly, 34, Youth Music, Media and Arts Co-ordinator and Neighbourhood Youth Officer, has a degree in music from Newcastle University and is himself a singer-songwriter and pianist.
He said: “Music is a very powerful tool. It helps with health and wellbeing as well as socialisation and emotional development. It’s not just about musical learning but the social aspect. Even if a young person comes in to watch and gets talking it can make a big difference.”
Cllr Bill Suthers, Cabinet Member for Children, said: "This funding is fantastic news for young people across our borough and will help even more children and young people discover the opportunities that music can provide. Music has the power to build confidence, boost wellbeing, encourage creativity and bring people together.
"We've already seen the success of previous projects, with increasing numbers of young people taking part and developing new skills through music. Breakthrough Music will build on that success, giving young people the chance to learn, perform and shape exciting projects in their own communities.
"I'm delighted that young people have been involved in designing the programme from the outset, ensuring it reflects their interests and aspirations. I look forward to seeing the positive impact it has across the borough in the years ahead."
The funding will be invested across the borough, including at Loftus, Lingdale and Skelton youth centres in East Cleveland, the 25K Youth Centre in Redcar and Grangetown Youth Centre. The lottery has granted £51,300 for the project with a further £3,000 coming from the council.