We Value Our FREEDOM

After the summer of 2024 we took some time to reflect on what we'd achieved so far and how we could shape the future of The Rockstar Experience so that we could continue to help our young rockstars develop but also reach more people and connect with a wider section of the community.

The Rockstar Experience: 90s was an absolute trip

We made plans to run after school events in Margate and even booked spaces to do that. Life had other ideas though and I ended up on medication to help with anxiety. Unbeknownst to me at the time, that medication would send me spiralling into illness and I eventually ended up in hospital while The Rockstar Experience came to a grinding halt. In the middle of that spate of illness I was also diganosed with ADHD and while I believed that having a diagnosis would help me immediately, the truth is that I fell into a state of grief and deeper anxiety. I felt like I'd lost myself to the gods of regret and resentment and that I'd never recover from it. Thankfully, I was worng. In February this year I ran out of medication and went without for two weeks. During that time all my symptoms and chronic physical pain went and the lightbulb came on. It was the meds that were making me sick. I went cold turkey and after a couple of turbulent weeks I started to feel 'normal' again. I'd also been learning a lot about ADHD and I started to see which of patterns of behaviour were affected, or caused by it. My life changed drastically as a result and I felt more in control of myself than I'd ever been.

There I am with my new short hair and a reinvigourated lust for life

We held ROCKSTAR 2000 at Easter and on the last day, before performances, we asked the guys what they wanted to do next (for summer). We gave them several options and the winner by a huge margin was "WRITE OUR OWN SONGS!" FREEDOM became the platform for that but the journey leading to it was most definitely not smooth. Oh no, in fact it almost never happened at all and when added to the events of the past 15 months or so, The Rockstar Experience almost became a memory. But we're a tough bunch, chock full of grit and dertermination, but more importaantly we recognise just how important The Rockstar Experience is to the people who attend it - our young rockstars. So, some perspective. We applied for HAF funding in June as per normal but our bid was rejected by Kent County Council who'd taken control of distributing HAF funding. We were left in a state of shock as we've been a trusted HAF partner for four years now. As frustrating as that was it didn't deter us and we were contacted by Social Enterprise Kent who had a pot of funding we could apply for. Things moved quickly and we were successful. HOO-f***ing-RAY! FREEDOM WAS GO! We booked The Albion Rooms, procured what we needed and planned our approach. We were in good shape. Or so we thought... With just 10 days to go before FREEDOM was due to start The Albion Rooms cancelled on us meaning we had to move very quickly to find somewhere new. We contacted a bunch of people, went to view prospective places and in the end, thankfully, Baypoint Sports had space for us. Finally, things seemed settled.

Pizza day at Baypoint was a particularly popular one

So FREEDOM commenced on August 4th. We didn't quite have the attendance we'd hoped for on the first week but because of the venue change some people were unable to make it. #sadface Despite that, things were going pretty well although the space wasn't ideal because we were too spread out. Baypoint is a pretty big site and it was difficult to settle into the rooms that we had. On top of that there were a number of other programmes taking place there and some of our rockstars found it overstimulating. We discussed things as a group and felt that Baypoint wasn't working for us so once more we went on the hunt for another venue.

POWER, 6-7 The Centre, Margate, CT9 1JG - Legends

In stepped Lexi and the gang at POWER. We booked in for the final three weeks and it was incredible. POWER was such a good fit for us and we got to do lots of things that we'd never been able to do before, especially where food was concerned. We invested in three pizza ovens, some toatsed sandwich makers and a bunch of serving equipment. Children got to design their own pizzas, toasties, wraps and we also served soups and pasta dishes, all of which the children were directly involved in. This gave us a fantastic opportunity to discuss nutrition and demonstrate how easy and cheap it is to make healthy, nutritious meals. Life skills, man. The venue itself was a great space for us. We had a live area where we performed the shows but we also had space downstairs (Coor's Goth Dungeon) which meant we were able to work on multiple projects at once. The children took to it beautifully and they loved the feel of the place, the lights, the sound system, it all just worked. We also went for picnics in the park which gave everyone a chance to burn off some energy, get some fresh air and rest their ears.

Meal times at The Rockstar Experience: FREEDOM were messy, educational AND fun

I couldn't round things off without talking about the music. The songs these guys wrote were phenomenal and we were blown away by the maturity they displayed, not just in their attitude and application, but in the quality and content of their lyrics and playing. We're still working on the videos and song mixes and once they're ready we'll add them to the site for your pleasure. And it will be pleasurable. FREEDOM was an unmitigated success in the end and it's already made some positive waves for us. We met some very helpful and influencial people this summer and we've already had offers to expand on what we do. Once we have more info about that we'll let you know. But yes, from almost disappearing off the map, The Rockstar Experience has come back stronger and with another 12 months of HAF funding secured we have a platform to continue the amazing work we've been doing to date. Thank you so much to everyone who took part and to the wonderful people who supported us throughout. I must mention Heather Biddles from Social Enterprise Kent who threw us an absolute lifeline, without her support it's unlikely FREEDOM would have happened. Big thanks also to Lexi and POWER for giving us their space at such short notice and believing in The Rockstar Experience. We're part of a community and when we work together incredible things happen. Let's keep doing that because right now our wider community needs us.