By Helen Fay
Events venue Project House, in Armley Road, is set to host an inclusive SEND friendly club night on Friday 6 June.
The event – Spectrum Festival – will take place from 6pm to 11pm.
The night will include DJ sets and live performances from bands including Ultimate Thunder, Last Tourist, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners and headliners Pulled Apart By Horses. Armley’s very own Mik Artistik and his Ego Trip will also be appearing.
The Spectrum Festival event in Armley has come into fruition after 16+ learners at John Jamieson School, part of East SILC in Leeds, expressed that they would like to experience going to gigs, clubs and bars.
Jamie Darby, head of school at John Jamieson, told WLD: “They felt that they didn’t have the confidence to do this alone and they worried that they would stand out, increasing their anxieties around these social activities and lessening their chances of them going.”
In light of this, Jamie and his staff team started to hold some in-school raves which were organised by the learners themselves – they made UV responsive T shirts, chose the music and ran the door.
Following the success of the in-school events, gigs with live music were arranged at Headrow House, supported by Superfriendz, a local events management company.
Mr Darby said: “Again, these were organised by the learners who designed the logo, flyers, made merchandise to sell, did some promo and as before, ran the door. Those learners that were 18+ were also able to buy drinks should they want to. These were a real success and following this, we saw some of our learners starting to go to gigs themselves.”
Mr Darby was keen to organise a festival in a similar vein to the preceding gigs – SEND friendly, but not exclusive, so that learners can access experiences that are both supportive and authentic.
“Learners have worked with artists to create the logos and posters, they will be making merchandise to sell and coming on the night to enjoy themselves,” he added.
“We think the gig-going community are a good bunch and generally non-judgemental so it’s a really good starting point for people with SEND that might want to enjoy music played live.”
Tickets for Spectrum Festival can be bought for £15 plus fees on the DICE website here or e-mail tickets@eastsilc.org.