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Youth music charity fundraising for new home

YWMP A band are on the stage at Common Ground. The singer, keyboard player and drummer are poised to play.YWMP
YWMP launched the crowdfunder with a gig at nearby venue Common Ground

An educational charity that enables young women, trans and non-binary people to get together and make music is fundraising a new gigging and rehearsal space.

YWMP is setting up its new base in Little Clarendon Street, Oxford, where it wants to install music equipment and a PA system, transforming it into a purpose-built facility.

Director Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani told the BBC: "The community is buzzing and people are excited to see something new pop up instead of close."

The charity has been running for 25 years but has moved around several different locations in the city during its history.

Young people aged 14 to 25 can learn music production, events management, and how to play and perform music at YWMP.

"The main thing that we do is offer space for young people to come and try music for the first time or develop a craft that they've already figured out," Ms Tehrani said.

"It's not a space exclusively for women, trans, non-binary or young people, but it's a space that puts them at the centre of decisions and safety."

Haley Drolet Zahra is reflected in some tall mirrors. She has short dark hair and wears a dark shirt and jacket. Two other people are also partially reflected, possibly in conversation with her. The street outside can be glimpsed in the background, with people doing their shopping.Haley Drolet
Director Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani said the venue would put on live shows of a "super high standard"

YWMP, formerly the Young Women's Music Project, runs a "Safer Spaces" policy, funded by the Youth Music foundation.

It aims to make grassroots live music venues safer and more accessible for all demographics, particularly marginalised people.

Ms Tehrani said: "There is a wider issue that we all see.

"Venues are shutting down, they don't have the funding to keep up standards, so we're trying to transform the status quo of going to gigs and how venues are run... that's what our mission is."

Ms Tehrani also promised live shows of a "super high standard".

The funding will cover costs such as utilities and staffing, and the building will also include a library.

Haley Drolet A black and white picture of a group of young people smiling and cheering outside a building. The building has ground to ceiling windows across its frontage.Haley Drolet
YWMP is setting up its new base in Little Clarendon Street, Oxford

Ms Tehrani said the young of YWMP were excited about its future.

"Anytime someone has an idea they'll say 'we'll do that at the nest' which is what they've called the project, it's not called the space," she said.

"So to me the fact that people can see there are possibilities now that this space is opening, that gives me all that I need to know that it is needed."

She added: "It is so important for the community to have a place to organise, show up and be ed to create new things."

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