Tuesday Hub

The online Tuesday Hub has been a great space for the young people and tutors to stay connected during these times.

Every Tuesday we have playing games, quizzes and have been running an online open mic within the hub! Everyone steps upon the virtual stage and shares something with the group. From transcendentally improvised solos, rehearsed renditions of amazing songs, and original compositions from singer/songwriters all the way to comedy, magic, stories, and more; there has been a space for everyone to share their work and their talent.

It’s been a great space to hang out and check in with one another and overall has been a fun and rewarding space to be.

If you are aged 10-18 and you’d like to join us in 2021,
contact us at admin@tinderboxcollective.org

Another term of the Tuesday Hub at North Edinburgh Arts is in full swing! Now in its 6th year, the Hub brings together young people aged 10-18 with a team of tutors for the opportunity to try learning instruments, singing, song-writing, rapping… and sometimes even dancing!

This term we’ve been working on some great songs – Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi, Thunder by Imagine Dragons and I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. It’s been fantastic to see so much enthusiasm and talent, both from our regulars and from those who have come for the first time this term. Some highlights include:

• Rhys, Sarah, Claire and Megan forming a tutor band to perform a jazzed up version of Umbrella by Rihanna.
• A crowd of 10 young people spontaneously jumping to the stage to dance along to Mark* singing Giant by Calvin Harris.
• Our volunteer Matthew helping participants try out vocal sampling on the iPad and performing with this in the song Thunder.
• The bass guitar section showing off having learnt to play the Thomas the Tank Engine theme.
  

Here’s to many more musical adventures to be had before our end of term performance on 31st March at North Edinburgh Arts. Bring it on!

The Hub runs from 6-8pm at North Edinburgh Arts in Muirhouse on Tuesdays during term time. All 10-18 years are welcome to drop in, regardless of musical experience. Come along and join the fun! – Jenny, Tinderbox Hub Lead Tutor.

It was a particularly emotional Youth & Community Hub last night and one that really highlights the power of creative expression.

One of our regular Tinderboxers arrived at the beginning of the Hub in a terrible state because of things that had happened earlier in the day. I could see that she was incredibly angry and struggling to keep it under control. We started having a chat and she was literally shaking with rage with tears rolling down her cheeks.

As the Hub started she asked for a pen and paper and started writing.

After 20mins or so she was visibly more calm and came to join  the rap group. She built up the courage to share what she had written and everyone could see it was a great piece of writing about dealing with anger.

Despite not wanting to perform her work in person she agreed to let Tinderbox Tutor Elek Kish share her words at the open stage. It was a really powerful moment and you could see that she had turned something very negative into a massive positive in a short amount of time.

This is what it’s all about.

There was also a jam with bagpipes, hip hop loops and rappers complaining about the reduced sugar in Irn Bru.

This is also what it’s all about.

Gret to have our partners, Rock Trust, back at out Tuesday night Youth & Community Hub this term.

The Rock Trust works with young people between the age of 16 and 25 who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. This includes young people who are in transitions, leaving care or home and those involved in offending, alcohol or drug misuse.

The gang have been working on their own performances at the Hub and have formed a new band who are hoping to organise a performance outside of the Tuesday night Hub.

Great for our Tuesday Hub to have a visit from Chris Read of ‘Fast Forward’. They have a really interesting project they were sharing with the Tinderboxers. Here’s what they are saying about it:

Young people have always been at the cutting edge. They’ve made their own scenes, their own fashions and their own music.

 Now we’d like to take to take a look at this amazing history and get you involved.

Fast Forward is going to run an exciting new project that looks at young people’s fashions, music, styles and dancing since the 1960’s.

 The project will give young people an opportunity to look at clothes, records, magazines and make-up, from hippies, punks and Rastafarians to skateboarders, emo’s and hip-hoppers.

to hear more, call Chris on 554 4300 or email chris@fastforward.org.uk   

Fantastic start to the year with our first Tuesday Hub at North Edinburgh Arts. 35 young people and a team of 18 volunteers, apprentices, youth workers and tutors.

The atmosphere was buzzing. It was brilliant to see so many people coming down. Lots of familiar faces and lots of new faces. It was great to see some people coming down from our other workshops at Craigroyston High on Thursdays and the Rock Trust on Mondays.

This is the second term of the Tuesday Hub where we haven’t felt the need to put up fliers or posters because we have found that word of mouth and the regularity of what we are doing is working enough on it’s own. Being based at North Edinburgh Arts really helps in being able to remind young people when we are going to be starting up again as we see them on their lunch breaks from school when they visit the cafe.

Tonight I was especially reminded of the value of the large age range at the hub. Having an even spread from 7 – 25 really means that there are all kinds of interactions and informal mentoring relationships happening. One particular person from the Rock Trust being an incredible drummer and showing off his skills on the open stage really blew everyone away and helped start the term of with some inspiration for everyone.