Many young people feel marginalized from society. They fail to connect, fail to see that they can contribute and fail to see that society has any interest in them. This we believe leads to antisocial behaviour and crime. But the first step in reconnection is for the wider world to understand these young people. The absolute best way for us all to understand each other is through the Arts. We all watch other people’s lives every day through audio-visual media. We all listen to music that moves us. Only the Arts can ‘tell the story’ with its full impact. A particular success was working with a young Film Maker Jason Impey from JI Productions and creating music videos, with marginalized young people. The approach, as always, started with ‘What do you want to do? What work is in your mind?’. The results were varied and startling. They ranged from music videos of songs, to Horror movies, to ‘How I spend my Day’ movies. They all expressed the minds and souls of the youngsters who created them in a way that engages everyone who watches them, and the filming and music was done by the young people themselves working creatively, in ways that were new to them. The whole process was the ultimate self-esteem builder. We propose that as part of the ‘Open Evening’ initiative, we establish a weekly session using an appropriate space in the YMCA. The sessions would be run by a Music practitioner and a Video practitioner, both highly experienced in this kind of creative work. Each week we would bring in professional quality sound recording and music creation equipment together with video cameras and video editing equipment. We would work each week for two hours with small groups all engaged together in the same project. In principal we could complete a short project each session so could work with a new group each week. This would allow for the transient nature of the YMCA residents, but we could also develop projects over time with residents who are more permanent. All the work would proceed from the residents own interests, be that musical, or filmic. The results would build into a portfolio of gritty exciting short films that would grab the attention of any audience and would give the residents of the YMCA a real opportunity to tell their story in the most impacting of ways. We want to run and sustain this project for three years and the annual cost would be £14,500 per year, which includes £9000 per annum to our partners and technical experts, Kik Music.