 myplace Hartlepool
Hartlepool's Got Talent
Hartlepool's got talent. Loads of it. So much talent in fact, that the town recently held not one talent contest, but two: Hartlepool's Got Talent and Hartlepool Has Talent.
Beth Marshall, a key young person in the myplace team, who has a big talent for guitar playing, singing, and doing cover versions of Jack Johnson and The Beatles, lights up when she talks about the excitement behind the scenes at Hartlepool Has Talent.
"I didn't expect to, but I got through to the final and I met loads of dancers and singers and it was absolutely excellent. We were all backstage sharing ways of singing and different dance moves and I was sat there thinking, 'This is what it's going to be like when the Northern Lights Academy opens!'"
The Northern Lights Academy will open in September 2010, so Beth has only got a year to wait. Mike Young, project coordinator at the charity Headland Development Trust and the person leading myplace Hartlepool, says that the Northern Lights Academy, to be built in the most deprived area in the north of the town, will be a "centre for freedom of creativity". Living proof of the fact that when an opportunity knocks on your door, the best thing to do is to grab it with both hands, Mike's own talent was spotted when he was asked to sing Dear Lord and Father of Mankind for the beach scene in the film Atonement.
Mike had to go to London to audition and record, but the next time around, perhaps the composer of the film score, Dario Marianelli, might be persuaded to test the new myplace studio in Hartlepool?
"At the moment, we always have to leave the region to record," says Dez Minto, drummer with Yfriday and founder of Gatehead's Minto Music and Broadwater Studios, who is also advising Mike and the team on the creation of the recording facility for myplace. "I love the north east, but every time we've recorded, we've had to go out of the area."
The recording studio planned for the Northern Lights Academy will have an SSL console, something that could certainly put Hartlepool on the professional musical map.
"What they will have at Hartlepool is very much the real deal," says Dez. "I really believe in what they're doing." In addition to the console, there will be a ceiling that can be moved up and down and both a stone clad wall and a wood clad wall, which can be used to adapt the sound to suit the most demanding of bands - the likes of U2 or the newly reformed Spandau Ballet.
But in a climate where some of the oldest and most established recording studios are closing down, and at a time when more and more new stars are choosing to record without paying for studio time - Dizzie Rascal manages perfectly well with one keyboard, and Miss Dynamite's brother Akala produced his first album in his bedroom - will the Northern Lights Academy really attract top talent?
Why not? It's about being world class, after all. Reach for the stars. Literally. The myplace team has already received a letter of encouragement from Lemar, saying that if he hadn't had the support and access to the recording facilities he'd had when he started out, he wouldn't have got to where he is today. And EMI has also made all the right noises about their artists recording in Hartlepool.
"Some of the old studios have gone, but they were charging £1,000 per day," says Dez, citing Olympic, where the Rolling Stones and Queen have recorded. "At the Northern Lights Academy, we're going to keep it under £400." And even if some artists don't feel the need for top quality sound today - given the lust for downloading music, you might as well record at home because an MP3 player will make the best quality recording sound tinny - the really big stars will still need studios. And U2's Larry Mullen is never going to get his drum kit in a bedroom.
Yet what does the new myplace mean for Beth and her friends and for other young people in Hartlepool?
"Loads of my friends have got a passion for performing. But you can get really excited about things, then it ends up being in a school hall. You think it's going to be really good, but then you realise it's not." Beth believes that the interest in performing arts in Hartlepool has been fuelled by the likes of X-Factor and she says that people can't wait for myplace to open.
"And when the Northern Lights Academy opens," Beth says, "People with a passion are going to run wild and enjoy themselves."
And it's not just about music, singing and dance. The Northern Lights Academy, located on the disused playing field next to St Hild's Church of England School, will also be home to all kinds of services: health, wellbeing, counselling, and career and education advice.
There will also be a cafe, run by young people and open to everyone. In The Premises studio in London, where there is a music education programme with free studio access, and where everyone from Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys to Florence and the Machine and Little Boots record - there is the Premises Cafe, which was was recently included in Observer Food Monthly's 50 Coolest Places to Eat.
A cool cafe is yet another way in which Hartlepool's myplace could make a name for itself.
Income will be generated from promising partnerships, including one with Dance City, the national dance agency for the north east. Teeside University has already said that it will come and use the new facilities.
So, if the Northern Lights Academy nurtures new talent, perhaps the young artists will choose to record in Hartlepool rather than heading down the M1 to Abbey Road?
"Before I heard about this, I couldn't wait to leave," says Beth. "Now I'm thinking that I want to stay here; I really want to make the most of it. It sounds stupid, but this project is my thing. It's music, singing and dance. It's everything that I'm interested in."
Northern Lights Academy in a tag
Location: King Oswy Drive, Hartlepool
Theme: Providing fresh opportunities in music, dance and drama
Project value: £4.5m
Doors open: September 2010
Facilities:
Counselling
Career and education advice
Health and wellbeing drop-in services
Recording studios
Theatre
Dance studios with sprung timber floors
Cafe
Activities:
Music
Dance
Drama
Links:
Minto Music, Broadwater Studios, Northern School of Music, St Hild's Church of England School and College of Engineering, Cleveland College of Art & Design, Dance City, The Sage
Contact:
Mike Young
Headland Development Trust
Tel: 01429 420 302
Email: myoung.hdt@btconnect.com
|
Resources 
Northern Lights Academy Inspirational (
Background
When the young people of Wirral heard they were going to get a new and exciting youth hub they could hardly have guessed just how innovative it would be. Wirral certainly has a contender for most unusual place to build a youth hub - it was launched in a fire station!
In the aftermath of the 1981 race riots in Liverpool, Toxteth Centre was built as part of an effort to increase services for the city's racial minority residents. In this it was successful, but the centre now wants to develop and expand to become predominantly a youth facility and bring people of all races together at a refurbished and expanded facility. They envision a centre where young people of all backgrounds and from all over the city have fun and get support together. In March 2009 it was awarded ?2.3 million of 
One of the challenges many communities face is overcoming deeply entrenched territorial and racial divides. At the aptly named Culture Fusion, in Bradford, young people are leading the charge in overcoming this challenge in their community. Jenny Bass, Bradford Council Youth Participation Worker, points out that there are lots of young people that are proud of the area's diversity and who want to celebrate it rather than perpetuate the tensions and divides that exist. So what does it take to create a 
Involving young people in the planning of 
Objectives
This case study highlights the work done by Islington Council in securing local buy-in and agreement to a forward strategy for youth facilities. This allowed them to engage over 3500 stakeholders and create a compelling case for change that resulted in an overarching strategy for young people aged 11-19.
When Nicole Burke addressed the Blackpool business community at the Pleasure Beach at the end of the Knowsley and Blackpool ambassadors event, her audience was gripped. Nicole talked about what 
As part of my role as a young consultant I visit 
