Transcript
Text: 18 year old James has been through difficult times. His involvement with Madcap has given him a more positive outlook on life.
JAMES
[00.07] I’m a lot more confident than I was. I mean, it’s easier for me to talk to people and like get involved in things like so I am not always at home like doing nothing.
Text: It’s a year since he was referred to Madcap by his Connexions adviser
JACKIE (sings)
[00.15] ‘..my spirits high. What do they expect me to do’
JAMES
[00.22] It’s a really good atmosphere, you know you can have fun for, um well for free. It’s just like yeah a very good atmosphere, you can record your songs and you go home at the end of the day, you know, and you’re like, it make you feel good about yourself.
Text: Madcap provides opportunities for James to develop his musical talent
JAMES
[00.43] I’ve got two music videos to show for it, um a song, no two songs actually –two new songs. Um, I’ve got a couple of photographs from a gig we did um a couple of weeks ago here at Madcap which Steve organised. Text: James also helps out as a session musician for other young people at Madcap.
JACKIE(sings)
[00.57] ‘..so turn again’
STEVE
Alright, ok you’ve given me what I need
JAMES
[01.02] Yeah, I would like to get more involved in like session musicianing,like going doing to the studio and like helping other people out with like their like songs and stuff because it’s really fun you know and its good to know you’ve helped someone else I suppose as well.
Text: James’ relationship with the project’s central worker, Steve, is a crucial part of his experience of Madcap
JAMES
[01.22] Steve’s really cool because he like helps you and if you stuck on anything he’ll always be there to try and like make sure you are doing the right thing and not going wrong and stuff. He’s er very good at talking to people and getting his point across. So he is um very clear in what he says and stuff and you can always understand what he’s talking about.
Text: Listening is an important skill for someone working with young people
JAMES
[01.45] He can be a good listener sometimes when he’s busy though you can’t sometimes get a word in because he’s always running about, so I think he’s a good enough listener.
Text: Madcap’s flexible approach has engaged with James to an extent that formal education could not.
JAMES
[01.59] When you’re doing music here you know you’re actually getting to do what you want to do and you are not you’re not getting the teacher saying no, you can’t do that, you can’t do this, he lets you do anything you want, like really creative ideas. ‘Cos I’ve come in and made a music video and like it’s a really, really strange like song and stuff, it’s not er nothing like you’d hear in the charts or anything. He is happy with anything you want to do, that’s the cool thing about Steve.
Text: Madcap’s atmosphere encourages informal learning.
JAMES
[02.28] They treat you like they treat anyone else, they make you feel comfortable basically and like you settle in and you’re like, this is like a cool place to be. You don’t realise you’re learning but when you go home you realise that I’ve learnt something so it’s cool.