The Warren Youth Project is proud to announce a major new phase of Three Minute Heroes – the mental health & music initiative that gives young people a voice to express the worries and concerns of their generation through an album of powerful music written by young people and recorded by bands and musicians from our region.
Over six months The Warren’s THREE MINUTE HEROES team of tutors and counsellors has supported more than 70 young people of Withernsea High School in East Yorkshire to express themselves through creative writing with the help of Warren tutors, staff and counsellors. Their writings were then anonymised and passed to bands and solo artists to turn into powerful impactful songs.
Withernsea High School took the bold step of embedding Three Minute Heroes in the school’s day/curriculum – an ambitious forward-thinking step in terms of supporting young people who are struggling.
To-date 12 new songs have been created and recorded and will be released over the coming weeks and months beginning with three music videos – with a full worldwide digital album release of THREE MINUTE HEROES through Warren Records in January 2020 as part of a live event celebration for the young people who took part (featuring many of the bands who will be playing the songs they created from young people’s writings). The project was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
JJ Tatten, Manager of The Warren Youth Project, said: “Three Minute Heroes gives young people a powerful authentic voice to express what is bothering them and gives adults a new way to hear them. It is entirely the words of young people. Working with Withernsea High to make Three Minute Heroes part of their curriculum was a hugely impactful experience.”
Mark Crofts, Headteacher at Withernsea, said manager of the Warren’s Counselling Service said: “Three Minute Heroes is doing the right thing in exactly the right way. We’ve seen massive changes in our young people who took part. They’ve come such a long way in terms of building their confidence. I can’t think of a quicker way than Three Minute Heroes for getting the support that is needed, in a manner which is exciting and engaging to so many students in such a short period of time. What really struck me was the number of students who came to me and asked if we could do it again.”
Former Project Lead (and lead singer of Hull Band LiFE) Mez Green said: “The words created by the young people of Withernsea High are raw, honest and breathtaking and the new album is a body of work that is fresh, energetic and exciting”
The plan now is to roll Three Minute Heroes out to all schools in Hull who are willing to follow Withernsea’s lead and embed the project in their school day.
