Johnny’s Legacy
24th June 2022
Johnny Alfrey died unexpectedly from a genetic heart condition in 2022. He was a talented musician and songwriter. He also had Asperger Syndrome and struggled with social anxiety and he faced barriers in getting his music heard, often keeping his creations to himself and his band due to lack of opportunities. We want to give other young people the opportunities he craved.
This project is about expression, ownership and empowerment from the level of individuals through to bands and community. It is about shared goals and collaboration for those who would normally face obstacles to opportunities through societal expectation and social norms. We offer a welcoming safe space for individuality
Many of our members have neurodiversity needs and offer lived experience, unique skillsets and interests (not just music related) including video, photography and media, art and design, IT and web design, playing instruments, singing, mixing using software and much more. In summer 2024 we advertised our pilot mentoring scheme on social media and asked for young people with neurodiversity to join us for music and band mentoring sessions. Our sessions were very popular and oversubscribed with a waiting list. 10 young people benefitted from our individual and small group mentoring scheme. This led us to want to expand our reach and create further opportunities to make music or produce events collaboratively or towards a shared goal.
