Wakefield Long Division Festival brings rapper into schools

Dean Freman and Paul Bateson - who will run the course together - hope it will help to give the next generation of musicians a voice and the power to create new music scenes.

They brought rapper Leon Rhymes into schools across the district to talk to and perform for the pupils.

Leon ran workshops in which the pupils learned how to write and record raps.

Dean said: “School budgets are tight and it can be tricky to even get music students face to face with professionals like Leon so the kids were buzzing.

“Paul and Leon played me back some raps and they are really good.

“Kids who said they didn’t even like rap dropped some really good stuff.”

The organisation’s website says: “Our mission is to use music to inspire and educate young people, empowering them to find their voices and create their own culture.

“We run face to face and digital projects that vary from a couple of hours to a few months in duration and are suitable for a range of age groups from five to 25.

“At Long Division we believe that music does people good, and music can change the world, and so all our #YoungTeam projects are free, and are built around the Arts Award format, meaning they all result in a qualification.”

For opportunities to get involved visit longdivision.org/youngteam

learning: Leon Rhymes with pupils. Picture by Mark Ratcliffe