主播大秀

1Xtra Live is on Saturday 15 November, an event where聽some of the best UK and international urban acts will descend on Birmingham to perform on one bill, on one night. Angie Pitt explains how the event's outreach project - 1Xtra Live: The Sessions - has taken shape.

What do young people in Birmingham need from 主播大秀 Radio 1Xtra?

This question was put to me on my first day as Radio 1 and 1Xtra's Outreach Manager. I had barely sat down. I wasn鈥檛 entirely sure I knew my Afrobeats from my Grime, and I had hardly spent any time in Birmingham since I was a student. Within a week I was on a train to聽the city. When I got there, I put the same question to the only people who could answer it 鈥� young people themselves.

The answers they came back with were loud and clear:

鈥淲e want to be heard by 1Xtra presenters and by the whole of the UK.鈥�

鈥淲e want to be recognized as creative, talented young people.鈥�

鈥淲e want to be given a platform without hierarchy 鈥� we are not the poor cousins to London!鈥�

鈥淲e want the 主播大秀 to be genuinely open, accessible and interested in us.鈥�

鈥溾��And if you want to engage us you will have to make the effort to come and get us.鈥�

Back in London, 1Xtra staff and presenters jumped at the chance to be part of the project and plans.听The plans - some聽genius, some sensible and some, quite frankly ridiculous - started to take shape. From this, 1Xtra Live: The Sessions was born:聽one incredible month of workshops and events across the city, not in one central location but in neighbourhoods around Birmingham including Aston, Nechells, Digbeth, Handsworth and Longbridge.

1Xtra Live: The Sessions is a first in many ways, not least in the way we are working. A聽collaboration between 1Xtra鈥檚 outreach, broadcast, marketing and live events teams with support from 主播大秀 Birmingham, , , and the amongst many others. We felt that if we wanted to connect with the hardest to reach 鈥� those who may be falling through the cracks but who still deserve to be heard - we should pool our resources.

We鈥檙e attempting to answer each of the points raised in that first focus group. DJ Target聽and other 1Xtra DJs will tour the city hearing the music that young people are making, while Trevor Nelson will host two Scratch Nights - where young local spoken-word artists and singer-songwriters will perform their new material alongside established names: an event with no 鈥榯op of the bill鈥� and no hierarchy.听We've also found a school with mixing desks (which no one knew how to use), so 1Xtra鈥檚 MistaJam will gatecrash a music lesson there and host a special mixing masterclass.

We鈥檙e taking the 1Xtra Playlist meeting to the West Midlands where four young people will have a chance to influence what music is played on the network in the week leading up to 1Xtra Live.

We鈥檙e joining forces with Punch and local talent alongside 1Xtra DJs to offer advice on the music and media industries.

We are opening up the 主播大秀, with career focused events across the month and a week of Open Studios where we will hand over the controls of a studio in the Mailbox to young people for them to create whatever they like.

And of course the culmination of these events is 1Xtra Live itself, a huge music event in the centre of Birmingham with an incredible line-up which includes Rick Ross, Tinashe and Lethal B鈥� and a secret surprise for some of those we will have met over the month.

We鈥檙e not working alone. It became clear very early on that there are already fantastic organisations in Birmingham working with young people. We wanted to engage with these groups to support and enhance their work rather than compete against them. So we鈥檝e joined up with partners such as Beatfreeks, MAIA Creatives, UpRising, Birmingham City Council Youth Services and Birmingham City University, as well as聽schools and colleges around Birmingham to deliver the right events, to the right people. We鈥檙e also working with Blastbeat to create event management work experience placements during the month, offering unique opportunities to some of the most challenged young people in the city.

As part of our legacy we aim to raise the profile of the brilliant work already being done by these organisations, and to bring groups together to forge new partnerships and further increase their reach.

So, almost 30 events, in nearly 30 days. Additionally, we'll聽continue to support and nurture young talent and those groups we鈥檝e met along the way.听We're hoping聽to pilot a 鈥楻1/R1X Take It On in Birmingham鈥� internship in 2015. And, we plan to connect with other 主播大秀 networks to help tell the stories of some of those young people we鈥檝e reached.

As I pack my bags and prepare to relocate to Birmingham for a month, I consider how incredible it is that a city I barely knew four months ago has inspired and captivated me so wholeheartedly. Its brilliant young people and those committed to supporting them, its vibrant music and arts scene and its regeneration into a new, exciting centre for innovation, all are truly awesome.听

Angie Pitt is Outreach Manager for 主播大秀 Radio 1 and 1Xtra

• Find out more and book for events at the .听