GK has attended the KYTHE hub for some time now, he was one of our first “regulars” after school on a Friday for drop in.
During this time, GK was quiet, reserved and never used to talk very much. He would respond to you but never more than 3/4 words then move onto something else. Over time, he used to use the small keyboard we have and often play a well known tune or two for people to enjoy.
We encouraged GK to then attend the after school club, youth band, he declined and never came across the threshold. However, when the band camp event in October was being organised, he expressed an interest in joining and attended this.
After this event, GK decided to attend our after school youth band every week. Missing only one day or so for appointments he had- he ended up being our highest attender of this group. However what happened during those times was something beautiful.
GK had never sang and wasn’t particularly accomplished at playing the guitar but his passion for this grew and grew. When asking if anyone wanted to sing in the band for somewhat of a joke, he replied “I will.”
Having never heard or seen GK sing before, naturally we were nervous as most would be, however we didn’t need to be, what followed that brave remark began GK’s passion for singing! His voice was great and his confidence was growing and growing because of this.
We created the safe environment for him to be vulnerable, but he did the rest! GK now sings lead vocals in the band and is our loudest supporter of the Youth Band, saying regularly how much it has helped his confidence to grow. We held our monthly Altitude youth group session in February where we created an open mic night type of evening where young people could sign up for a song or two.
GK obliged and sang in front of his first live audience ever! If that isn’t wonderful I don’t know what is! He said “my confidence has grown massively due to this [altitude event], just being on stage in front of people with a band and then again by myself, I heard people saying I was better than they expected me to be and I was better than I was expecting myself to be”.
He then said that our event had given him a place to perform, as this was lacking in Kinross-Shire and he has enjoyed his new venture greatly. We continue to see GK’s confidence grow and grow and look forward to his next adventures!