One young woman, recently arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied asylum seeker from Sudan, joined the GMYN & Music Action International project with limited English, low confidence, and no prior experience of creative activity. In early sessions, she mostly observed, quietly staying on the edge. She told facilitators she was “not good at music” and felt unsure about joining in.

The project team, made up of culturally representative and trauma-informed practitioners, used fun, informal approaches like singing games, call-and-response, and group beatmaking to create an emotionally safe space. With time and encouragement, the young woman began to participate, first through shared rhythms, then by singing in her own language.

Over the weeks, she grew in confidence and creativity, collaborating on original songwriting and performing publicly at Contact Theatre. Outside the sessions, she began to describe herself as “musical”, a shift from her previous self-identity as “just sporty.”

“When I went home last time I was singing the song we learned here!”

“It made me very happy.”

Facilitators observed a powerful transformation. “She contributed so much. It was beautiful to see her confidence grow.” Through co-designed, culturally grounded creative activity, the project reduced her sense of isolation, supported her cultural identity, and gave her a renewed sense of belonging. Her story demonstrates how accessible, non-clinical creative practice, when grounded in lived experience and co-created with participants, can play a significant role in emotional recovery, identity-affirming support, and connection for young people from global majority communities who have experienced displacement.