Lee Gibling

The original Aricle can be found HERE

By Emma Foster, Community Newswire

Performers from across Norwich will be showcasing their singing, dancing and performing talents at a charity event next week, organised by a group of local youngsters.

Slam Night, which will feature street dance, free running, drama, MCing, break dancing and beat-boxing performances, will take place at The Garage, an arts centre in Norwich, on January 22 at 7.00pm, with all proceeds going to local charity Asperger East Anglia.

The event, aimed at young people aged 14 and above, has been organised by 10 young people between the ages of 16 and 25. They have been supported by The Garage, thanks to funding from vinvolved, a youth volunteering charity.

The event will showcase a range of local dance acts and performers, alongside professional dancers and singers.

One of the young people who has organised the Slam Night is Dean Knight, 20. Speaking about working on the project, he said: “Brilliant experience, full of fun and laughs.”

“It’s good to have a group who are thinking positively and working hard. The project is led by the young people in the group, so all the ideas and themes have been thought of by us.

“The themes are personal to the members of the group and it’s a chance for them to bring them to life. It’s also a chance to show people, in an educative way, how they should question their perception of the themes.

“We chose Asperger East Anglia as we believe there is not enough awareness of what it is.

“A member of our events team has Asperger’s and has talked to us about it. We all feel not a lot of people know how to interact with people with Asperger’s.

“Our event is to generally raise awareness, and help un-alienate people who have Asperger’s.

“When we met representatives from the charity, they told us they weren’t well known but they do so much for people with Asperger’s, including helping them socially, personally and to learn new skills.

“They really inspired us, and as a group we decided we wanted to raise money for this cause, using our Slam Night event.”

Darren Grice, executive director of The Garage, said: “This is a really exciting event for us.”

“Not only does it provide an exciting place for young people to socialise safely out of school, it also gives them the chance to enjoy and take part in a first-rate performance.

“The Scratch Round is my favourite part, it’s a kind of ‘open-mic’ section that offers local talent an opportunity to step up and show what they can do.”

“This kind of work is really important to us as an organisation as it helps young people to use their skills and interests to make a positive community impact.”

“We know how energetic, skilled and talented young people are and events such as this help to show everyone just how important they are to vibrant communities.”

“For this event, the young people chose to donate all the proceeds to the charity Asperger East Anglia, so not only are they providing a valuable event for their peers, they are raising money for a really good cause.”

Tickets are on sale at £3.50 from The Garage in advance by calling 01603 283382 or on the door on the night (subject to availability).

There are also some places left for the open Scratch Round, call The Garage for more information.

The Garage is a city-centre cultural venue on Chapelfield North, Norwich. It delivers a range of projects that support young people to access creative arts activities and use their participation to help support development of their wider transferable skills such as leadership, communication, team work and citizenship. To find out more about activities at The Garage visit www.thegarage.org.uk.