Simply Us music group debuts showcasing their year long achievements

A musical support group from Ferryhill’s LADDER Community Centre took the stage this Wednesday morning at the Shildons Foundations Livin Community hub to promote health and wellbeing through connectivity and sound, writes volunteer community journalist, Rhys Toomey.

“It is the first day the group has ever performed and their first proper gig, so they are both nervous and excited,” said Gary Miller, a songwriter, tutor, and founder of the group. “It is nice that they have this opportunity and are wanting to do this,” he said.

The music group initially started when Mr Miller was invited to “run a workshop with a group to write a song for a project that would combat hate,” he said. The project was called Hope Not Hate in collaboration with Bishop Auckland’s Artist Hub.

That was when the project grew beyond expectations and “rather than writing one song, the group started writing several songs,” he said.

Now the group gathers at the LADDER Centre, under the project name Music for the Mind, every Monday from 13:00-15:00 and is free for anyone aged fifteen years or older.

“Anyone can join the group; it doesn’t matter if you play an instrument or not, we are happy to help people learn,” said Carl Senior, the leader of the group who is currently learning to play Ukulele.

“There are no expectations or barriers,” said Mr Miller. “Everybody is equal, and everybody contributes in their own way.”

Initially, the group began its journey as a band of 7 last September, intending to support those with “mental health issues and others just wanting to take away isolation and loneliness,” said Mr Senior.

“We now have fifteen people,” he said. “We have formed a little band, and everybody has written their own songs and learned new musical instruments.”

Collectively, the band, named Simply Us as coined by the bassist, have written two dozen songs between them. This is where creativity takes flight with “no boundaries,” Mr Miller said, towards what the aspiring musicians wish to play or write about. Some have even “written songs about what the LADDER Centre means to them,” he said.

Mr Miller credits the LADDER Centre for making all this possible: “We couldn’t have done this without them,” he said. “It’s thanks to their efforts that the centre has been so successful.”

“A lot of people rely on the LADDER Centre for regular social interaction and support,” he said. Mr Senior has shared how the centre has personally aided him in that regard: “The LADDER has helped me in the last sort of 5 years in various ways with things such as my health, benefits, accessing groups, and employment,” he said. “Coming to these groups, I always enjoy it and look forward to it.”

To find out more information about the LADDER Centre and its projects, visit their main site, accessed with the following link: https://ferryhillladdercentre.org/.

With the performance branching outside of Ferryhill and at another local community hub, the group envisions the potential of other musical groups forming, “that would be wonderful if we could be the catalyst for others to start,” said Mr Miller.

The group also has ambitions to get “into the studio so they can record some of the songs and put them out for the world to hear,” said Mr Miller.

Mr Miller has hopes that the musicians will be able to “organise their own groups and go out into the world to play them.” This allows the members to become more independent without solely relying on the LADDER Centre for support, which “they have started to do, and it’s been great,” he said.

This Wednesday marks that “the music group has grown beyond its original concept,” said Mr Miller, and has “enabled all the group members to build confidence and give something back to show people what they have achieved as a group and as individuals.”

Although the group has many goals, “everybody coming together for fun is first and foremost,” said Mr Miller. “The fundamental reason for the project is enjoyment but also a safe space for people to come together and give them a chance to do something creative,” he concludes.