This iconic music venue is helping Manchester’s young migrants find their voice

Finding a place to belong is a struggle almost every teenager endures. But for teenagers fleeing war, persecution or poverty, finding a place to belong is everything.

Band on the Wall, Manchester’s iconic music venue, has long been viewed as a safe place which supports disadvantaged, underrepresented and marginalised groups.

Our home on Swan Street is a place where communities come together through the unifying and restorative power of music, and now we’re turning up the volume across the city.

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Thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re delivering a two-year programme to explore and support the rich diversity of music and culture that migrants bring to the UK. The World of Song programme features six projects and is being delivered in partnership with Community Arts North West.

One of the projects, our Without Borders Youth Band, is aimed at young people from the global diaspora aged between 12 and 19.

Anyone who’s familiar with Band on the Wall will know how we strive to enrich Manchester’s internationally renowned music scene. In addition to our gigs and events, we already engage with 7,500 people each year through our existing community programme.

But what’s brilliant about Without Borders is that it will see our outreach extend to teenagers who will be supported to create a unique band inspired by their cultural heritages.

They’ll have the opportunity to create new music, perform and record – and perhaps most importantly they’ll forge new friendships and find a place to belong.

Anya is one of Without Borders’ youngest members. Aged just 13, she sings in the ensemble with her twin sister, Ana.

Both girls are Kurdish and were born in Iraqi Kurdistan. As first-generation young people, they seem actively connected to their mother tongue and Kurdish identity, while also being interested in lots of contemporary Western music.

Anya and Ana are writing songs in Kurdish, which the ensemble is now performing. They’re growing in musical proficienc,y and their positivity is infectious.

Nazar is 14 and moved to the UK from Ukraine. His brother and father are fighting in his homeland, whilst he begins a new life in Greater Manchester with his mum.

Playing the guitar and learning to play the drums is giving Nazar focus. He’s quite literally finding his own rhythm in a new country and new city.

Dropping into the sessions and hearing the beats echo through Band on the Wall’s performance spaces, it’s clear to me that music is a way in which these incredible young people can process and share their lived experiences.

Whether they’ve been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, climate, or poverty – or whether they’re second-generation migrants or asylum seekers, as many are – music and songwriting are playing a powerful role. It’s helping them make sense of change.

Without Borders has the potential to help shape identities and forge a sense of community for young people who might otherwise be at risk of isolation or exploitation.

There’s a lot of negativity in today’s political narrative around migration, but much of it is misplaced. I believe music is a brilliant way to challenge those views and, especially for young people, music fosters understanding, empathy and builds connection.

Manchester, like so many UK cities, is richer thanks to its diversity. Over the years, migration has shaped its identity. We’re a city of migrants, and that’s something to be celebrated.

There’s far too much focus on the negative when it comes to refugees and migrants and that’s why it’s so important to spotlight the more hopeful stories.

Band on the Wall is helping to nurture and tell stories of creativity and resilience. Together, we’re creating that vital place to belong.

It’s my genuine hope that participants from our entire World of Song programme feel at home here – not just at Band on the Wall but in Manchester and the UK generally.

Gavin Sharp is chief executive officer at Band on the Wall.

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