DJ Collective at Music Works

We received a wonderful handwritten letter during lockdown from Olly Wallis coupled with a collection of photos. When the correspondence landed on our desks we really wanted to find out more about this story and reached out to Olly. He had received a grant from Barnwood a few years before and was writing to tell us what it had led to.

The grant enabled Olly to buy a Macbook Air which helped him to further pursue his passion for Djing. The Macbook air allowed Olly to begin to explore more fully the world of digital djing. He was able to practice using djing software and add to his collection of drum and bass tunes by downloading them from dedicated websites.

Olly is a part of the innovative DJ Collective, led by the Music Works disability lead, Lee Holder. His support worker initially introduced him to the group in its early days of conception.  It has been going strong for 4 years now and they meet regularly on a Thursday afternoon. The collective use modern, hi-spec equipment including both vinyl and CD decks. They enjoy having the option to have their music broadcasted live on the Music Works YouTube channel on some events.

It has been really great to get to know Olly and hear about his long standing passion. The DJ Collective played at the Midsummer Fiesta in Cheltenham and at PRIDE Gloucester earlier in the year with great success.

Music Works is a Gloucestershire based charity whose mission is to transform young people’s lives through music. They’re specialists in working with young people in challenging circumstances to help them reach their full potential in music, learning and in life.

Their programmes and activities take place in their impressive studio spaces in Gloucester as well as through outreach with our community partners.

Their Hub in Gloucester is fully accessible and includes a custom fitted sensory room with vibroacoustic equipment for disabled, deaf or hearing impaired people. In addition there is a huge range of musical instruments and interfaces to engage those who cannot access conventional instruments and an entirely adjustable lighting system for those with sensory issues.