An Oxford youth music organisation has been awarded £7,000 from the Thames Valley Police community fund to expand its work with young people at risk of criminal exploitation, violence or harm. In-Spire Sounds CIC will direct the funding towards targeted music interventions across Oxfordshire, reaching young people before they are drawn into the criminal justice system.
The grant backs a preventative model: rather than waiting for young people to reach crisis point, In-Spire uses music production, songwriting and mentoring to re-engage those facing exclusion or serious barriers in mainstream education. The organisation has just been accredited as an Alternative Education Provider, meaning the young people it works with can now gain formal qualifications alongside the music, for ages 12 to 25.
The impact is already audible. In-Spire’s participants have just released their debut mixtape, IN THE MIX: Volume 1, a 12-track record written and performed entirely by the young people on its programmes and launched at a release party in Oxford. Out now on Bandcamp, it spans rap, R&B and electronic production, with donations going straight back into studio time. It is the clearest evidence yet of what the funded work produces.
What sets In-Spire Sounds apart is who is in the room. Alongside Boyden, the young people are mentored by working professionals from the UK scene: Kemastry, a rapper signed to High Focus Records (CMPND); Sam Mansell, an SAE Institute alumnus who has worked with Adobe, Warner Music, Soho House, the University of Oxford and the BBC; and Evolucian, who has been releasing UK hip-hop on the label Gold On The Mixer for over a decade. Participants are not learning from a textbook. They are learning from people doing it for real.
Operating from its Park End Street recording facilities, In-Spire provides consistent mentorship and creative pathways for young people, working as a preventative, re-engaging alternative to disengagement from education. Its facilities were featured on BBC News and ITV News last year, and its recent accreditation was covered by the Oxford Mail.
“In school they can learn music theory, but at In-Spire Sounds they learn creativity,” said Kingsley “King” Boyden, Director of In-Spire Sounds CIC. “We provide a structured, safe space where young people can build confidence, develop skills and see a future for themselves.”
He added: “Our ultimate goal with the alternative provision is for young people not to need us anymore. If they don’t need us anymore, that’s success. Accreditation means we can now combine creative development with recognised qualifications, giving participants tangible progression routes. And IN THE MIX is what that looks like in practice, a record made entirely by the young people who come through our doors.”
Since launching in 2020, the CIC has supported more than 250 young people annually across Oxfordshire through workshops spanning rap, R&B, electronic music, lyric writing, beat-making and production.
The model is built on a growing evidence base. Youth Music’s Sound of the Next Generation report (2024) found that 71% of young people say music is a big part of who they are, and 70% say it helps them feel more connected to others. In-Spire Sounds integrates this evidence into daily delivery through one-to-one mentoring, group sessions and performance opportunities, with many participants describing meaningful improvements in confidence and wellbeing over the course of the programmes.
The organisation also aims to strengthen long-term pathways into the creative industries by improving access for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic minority communities, LGBTQ+ communities and those with disabilities, widening who gets the chance to build a career in music.
The development comes against a backdrop of rising need. National data points to increasing vulnerability among young people, with research indicating around one in four people aged 16 to 24 are living with a common mental health condition, and children eligible for Free School Meals significantly more likely to be permanently excluded from school.
IN THE MIX: Volume 1 is available now on Bandcamp
