Brixton charity which combines music and mental health set to expand following £1.2m investment

A community charity which supports mental health through music is set to expand after receiving £1.2million in funding.

Running for more than 20 years, Raw Material is a creative arts centre based in Talma Road, Brixton, which runs projects to “support the creative and personal development” of people in South London.

Housed within a purpose built, three-storey block, Raw Material hosts recording studios, a digital audio production suite, DJ and video equipment and a live room for performance, workshops and ensemble work.

A major refurbishment is currently underway after the charity received just under  £1.2million of funding from Arts Council England, Lambeth council, the GLA and a variety of smaller trusts and foundations.

The funding will be used to make the building more environmentally efficient and accessible. Works will also see the top floor of the building transformed with a new roof opening up the space for affordable co-working facilities to be used by creatives in the area.

Rachel Nelken, chief executive of Raw Material, said: “Through placing people and communities at the heart of this project we can create the conditions for turning creativity into careers, growing social capital, fostering collaborations, and extending our welcome to more people and communities under-represented in the arts and society in general.”

Raw Material offers two strands of programming. 

The Young Creatives programme offers training and industry experience to young people at the early stages of their career whilst the Arts and Wellbeing strand uses social and creative activities to encourage self-expression and improve participants’ mental wellbeing.

According to Raw Material, 69 per cent of participants said their symptoms of anxiety had been alleviated whilst working with the charity, whilst 70 per cent said their confidence had improved.

A further 90 per cent reported an increased sense of pride and ownership in their creative work and 64 per cent said their musical skills had improved.

Karl Paterson, 60, was referred to Raw Sounds – Raw Material’s adult arts and wellbeing programme – by his care coordinator seven years ago after he experienced a mental health episode.

Mr Paterson said: “I am not very good with meeting new people but I found RAW to be very welcoming, and right from the induction I felt it was a safe place to be. 

“Various options were offered to me and I decided to take advantage of some DJ tuition.”

He said: “I graduated to a new weekly live band session which was proposed for ‘us more senior members’ and upon first arrival found that we were lacking a Bass Guitar player. 

“I was already familiar with the instrument although still a beginner and decided to take on this role. 

“It has also been great to be asked to play on other peoples sessions in the RAW MATERIAL studio. Interacting with people has helped me a lot and playing in the band has been particularly beneficial.”

Mr Paterson has now decided to move out of South London, a decision he says “would never have been possible” without the confidence that Raw Materials helped him develop.

Pictured top: Raw Material’s digital audio production suite (Picture: Raw Material)