With1Voice Summit Manchester: music to raise awareness of homelessness

‘Have You Ever thought About?’ is a track about being homeless and it came together at the first With1Voice Summit in Manchester, UK, which brought together organisations from all over the world who work with the homeless and the arts. Producer of this track and Director and co-founder of WAYout Arts, Hazel Chandler, is an RSA Fellow and one of the network leads of the Fellow Artist’s Network.

The track was written by WAYout’s Nathaniel Sesay aka Mash P who has lived on the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone, for 12 years. A makeshift studio was set up at the summit and studio engineer Gibrilla Kamara recorded contributions from the USA, Spain, UK, Sierra Leone and Brazil and features WAYout patron Frank Turner and the track will now be used to raise awareness of the issues surrounding homelessness for example 150 million homeless worldwide, 1.6 billion in inadequate shelter and 600 people died on the streets of the UK in 2018

WAYout is a UK registered charity working in Sierra Leone since 2008, that offers free training and facilities in digital media, music and the arts to disadvantaged youth. We seek to change the lives of street, vulnerable and conflict affected young people through music, poetry, filmmaking and the arts. WAYout’s theory of change has seen considerable success, engaging often hardcore gangsters in activity that initially seem ‘cool’ but from them they often reconnect with family and community, learn skills, gain confidence, motivation and communication skills and a greater sense of self worth. 

Mash P was a child soldier struggling with PTSD. After the conflict his anger issues meant he could not settle back home and he left for the streets of Freetown. Music changed his life.

‘Have You Ever Thought About’-  Have You Ever Thought About? -Mash P ft Frank Turner

See website here: www.wayoutarts.org